Longo named NEAC Coach of the Year for fifth time
The North Eastern Athletic Conference office announced its major award winners in the sport of men’s lacrosse Wednesday, naming Morrisville State head coach Jason Longo, the 2019 NEAC Coach of the Year as voted by his peers across the conference for a fifth time in his coaching career.
Longo guided the Mustangs to a fifth straight regular season conference crown with a undefeated league mark in 2019 (7-0), its fourth in the last five years.
Within conference play, Longo’s squad tops the conference in six different categories, including goals scored (130), extra man scores (15), ground balls (334), caused turnovers (121) and goals per game (18.57). The Mustangs also lead the league in the fewest goals allowed (53).
Under his leadership, the Mustangs had seven selected to the All-Conference teams this season, while having two earn the top honor of Offensive Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
Alongside his coaching staff of Tim Barth, Tyler Gale and Jim Longo, the 10th year head coach for the Mustangs earned his 100th career victory on Wednesday, March 27th as they defeated Mount St. Vincent 23-5.
His team also ranks sixth overall in the NCAA, Division III in caused turnovers per game (out of 240 ranked) with 14.71 per game, and is 36th in scoring offensive, averaging 14.71 goals per game. They also rank 52nd in points per game (22.29) and are 28th in ground ball pickups per game (39.36).
Longo has guided the Mustangs to four appearances in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament throughout his career, coaching the squad to their first post-season victory a year ago as they topped Eastern in overtime to advance to the second round. Across 10 seasons, his Morrisville State team has amassed an overall record of 108 wins and 56 losses (65.8 winning percentage), with a NEAC record of 69 wins and just five losses (93.2 winning percentage).
Morrisville State will have the opportunity to defend their tournament title on Saturday and potentially reach the NCAA tournament for a fifth straight season. They take on SUNY Poly in the championship final at 5 p.m. on Drake Field in Morrisville.
Boles named 2019 NEAC Defensive Player of the Year
NEAC also announced its major award winners for 2019 in the sport of men’s lacrosse Wednesday afternoon, naming Morrisville State senior defender, Brendan Boles (Goshen, N.Y.) the Defensive Player of the Year, as voted by conference coaches.
Boles is one of the top defenders for the Mustangs on the year and across the conference, collecting 22 ground balls and causing 27 opponent turnovers during the regular season.
He posted a single game high four caused turnovers in a critical regular season matchup against Keuka College, where the Mustangs secured their fifth straight regular season championship title with an undefeated 7-0 record.
The senior ranks seventh overall in the NEAC in caused turnovers and was a main component of the defensive unit that limited conference opponents to a 7.57 goals against average in conference play. Across the NCAA, Division III, Boles also ranks 93rd in caused turnovers per game (1.93), with the defensive unit ranking sixth overall in the nation in caused turnovers per game.
Boles was a second team All-Conference honoree as a junior, and repeated honors this season, but as a first team selection.
Across his four-year career with the Mustangs, he has appeared in 57 games, and earned the starting role his sophomore year. Throughout his time in the Mustang uniform he has posted one goal, collected 64 ground balls and caused 52 turnovers.
He currently ranks fifth in the Mustang record books in all-time caused turnovers in a single season (29), and is also fifth in the career record books in the same category (52).
A seven-time Dean’s List honoree, Boles was also named to the NEAC Scholar-Athlete team as a sophomore.
The graduate of Goshen High is majoring in business administration at SUNY Morrisville. He is the son of Trish and Eddie Boles of Goshen.