NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - First year program Wilmington University men's lacrosse team placed five student-athletes on the first ever Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference All-Conference Teams, as voted on by the league's six head coaches and announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

The Wildcats produced five All-CACC performers in its first season, the third most honorees in the league. Their four Second Team All-CACC performers were the most among any other team.

Junior defender Kyle Leary (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) led the Wildcat honoree as the lone First Team All-CACC performer. Junior attack Dylan McCleaft (Media, Pa./Penncrest), junior midfielder Chris Smith (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional), senior defender Michael Adams (Middletown, Del./St. Mark's), and freshman goalkeeper Noah Given (Middletown, Del./Appoquinimink) were all selected to the All-CACC Second Team. The team also picked up a Major Award, being award the Team Sportsmanship Award by a vote of their peers.

Leary helped anchor the defensive all season, starting all 12 games. He currently leading the CACC with 29 caused turnovers on the season, while chipping in with two goals on three shots. He is also fourth in the CACC with 42 ground balls on the year. Leary had a season high six caused turnovers in the team's second win of the year at Davis & Elkins while also tying his season high with seven ground balls. He had seven ground balls and five caused turnovers in the program's first ever game against the District of Columbia as well. His goals came against Felician and Chestnut Hill.

McCleaft paced the offense with a team leading 25 goals on the year, finishing fourth in the CACC. With his five assists, he totaled 30 points to put him second on the team and eighth in the CACC. McCleaft tallied a season high five goals in a 14-10 victory at Davis & Elkins, adding a four-goal effort in an 11-4 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas. He produced back-to-back hat tricks against Georgian Court and Felician as well.

Smith led the team with 34 points on the year, scoring 22 goals while adding a team leading 12 assists. His 12 assists put him seventh in the CACC while his 34 points rank him sixth in the league. His most memorable goal came in the waning seconds at Dominican, scoring with nine seconds left to give the Wildcats a 9-8 victory and lock up a postseason berth. He scored a season's best five goals twice, first at Alderson Broaddus and again against Felician. He had a season high seven points twice, first with three goals and four assists at Davis & Elkins and a five-goal, two-assist effort against Felician.

The lone senior on the team helped anchor the defense as Adams finished third on the team with 17 caused turnovers and seventh on the team with 26 ground balls. His 17 caused turnovers rank fifth in the CACC, coming up with a season high three in three separate games, including games against Alderson Broaddus, Felician, and Chestnut Hill. He collected a season high six ground balls against Felician, a 12-8 win at home.

Given was the lone netminder for the Wildcats this season, and proved to be the last stop on multiple occasions throughout the year. He had a season high 23 saves at Chowan while also collected 22 saves against Chestnut Hill. In the team's four wins, he stopped 11, 10, eight, and 15, respectively. His 15 saves at Dominican in a 9-8 victory helped propel the Wildcats into the postseason. He finished the regular season with 149 saves and a .521 save percentage in his freshman season.

Chestnut Hill's Dylan Klusaritz and Georgian Court's Michael Saladino split votes and were named Co-Players of the Year in the CACC's first ever season. Chestnut Hill's J.R. Howell was named the CACC Rookie of the Year while Georgian Court's goalie Austin Geissel was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Year. The league's sports information directors voted Georgian Court's coach Mickey Hover as the Coach of the Year.

The Wildcats participate in the CACC Tournament Semifinals this weekend, hosted by Georgian Court in Lakewood, New Jersey. The fourth seeded Wildcats will face top seed and host Georgian Court in the first Semifinal on Friday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.

AGATE:

2018 CACC Men's Lacrosse All-Conference Teams:

First Team:
A    Dylan Klusaritz (Chestnut Hill College)
A    Frank Nichols Jr. (Post University)
A    Michael Saladino (Georgian Court University)
M   Jeffrey Galatola (Georgian Court University)
M   Joshua Pope (Chestnut Hill College)
M   Scott Wilden (Chestnut Hill College)
LSM    Troy Longley (Georgian Court University)
D    Kyle Leary (Wilmington University)
D    Kyle Newman (Chestnut Hill College)
D    Kyle Souza  (Dominican College)
SP   Blake Turner (Chestnut Hill College)
G    Austin Geissel (Georgian Court University)

Second Team:
A    J.R. Howell (Chestnut Hill College)
A    Tanner Lee (Georgian Court University)
A    Dylan McCleaft (Wilmington University)
M   Dominick Parente (Post University)
M   Chris Smith (Wilmington University)
M   Ryan Wiberly (Dominican College)
LSM   Chris Stahl (Post University)
D    Michael Adams (Wilmington University)
D    Garven Hadden (Georgian Court University)
D    Phil Shields (Dominican College)
SP  Brendan Heggers (Georgian Court University)
G   Noah Given (Wilmington University)

2018 CACC Men's Lacrosse Award Winners:

Co-Players of the Year: Dylan Klusaritz (Chestnut Hill College)/Michael Saladino (Georgian Court University)
Rookie of the Year: J.R. Howell (Chestnut Hill College)
Defensive Player of the Year: Austin Geissel (Georgian Court University)
Coach of the Year: Mickey Hover (Georgian Court University)
Team Sportsmanship Award: Wilmington University
Regular Season Champions: Georgian Court University