Army Black Knights Claim Three Top Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Awards

The Army West Point Black Knights claimed three of the six top prizes in the Patriot League men’s lacrosse season-ending awards released on Monday.

AJ Pilate was named the league’s top defensive player for the third straight season. Jack Eicher claimed the offensive player of the year award and Sean Byrne was named the goalkeeper of the year.

Four other Army players were named to the first team. One Navy player was also named to the first team, but none claimed superlative awards.

Eicher is the fourth Black Knight in the last five seasons to win offensive player of the year after he scored 51 goals and dished out 28 assists for a total of 79 points. Both were league highs. His goals per game (3.92) and points per game (6.08) are ranked second in NCAA Division I

His 51 goals tied the Army program record for a single season and tied for the sixth most in a single Patriot League season.

Pilate is the conference’s dominant defensive player. He caused 17 turnovers and scooped up 38 ground balls. He added four points on one goal and three assists. He was named the defensive player of the week twice this season.

He is the second student-athlete in League history to earn defensive player of the year honors in three consecutive years, joining Chris Fennell of Navy, who did it from 2015-17.

Byrne was in goal for 13 contests and finished with a 6.77 goals-against average and a .633 save percentage. He led the league and NCAA Division I in goals-against average and save percentage, and he ranked first among active career leaders with an 8.15 GAA. He was the league’s goalkeeper of the week three times.

First-team selections for Army that were not superlative winners included midfielders Evan Plunkett and Hill Plunkett, along with long-stick midfielder Christian Fournier and short-stick defensive midfielder Christian Mazur.

Navy’s lone first-team selection was defender AJ Marsh.

Second-team selections for Army included defender John Sullivan and faceoff specialist Will Coletti. Navy’s second-team selections included midfielder Jack Ponzio and long-stick midfielder Sean Gallagher.

The Midshipmen are the No. 6 in the Patriot League men’s lacrosse tournament and will face No. 3 Lafayette on Tuesday. Army is the No. 1 seed and is awaiting its semifinal opponent in a game set for Friday at Michie Stadium.