May 13, 2010
WASHINGTON - Georgetown University senior Chris Nixon (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday and he was one of five members of the Hoya men's lacrosse team to earn league honors from the conference office. Nixon shared BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors with Villanova junior Brian Karalunas.
Three Hoyas earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors, with Nixon joined on the squad by senior attack Craig Dowd (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) and senior middie Scott Kocis (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington). Senior Andrew Brancaccio (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Prep) earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors along with senior middie Chris Schuville (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Lloyd Harbor).
Nixon was among the leader of a Georgetown defensive unit that limited opponents to fewer than 10 goals per game in four of the final six games this season. He finished third on the team with 43 ground balls and led the team with 30 caused turnovers, typically guarding the opponents' top offensive player. Nixon ranked 12th in the country in caused turnovers, forcing 1.93 per game He finished his career with 156 ground balls, which ranks tied for 16th all-time at Georgetown.
Dowd, one of the team's tri-captains, led Georgetown in scoring this year with 13 goals and 31 assists for 44 points. His 31 assists were the fourth-best single season mark in Georgetown history. He led the BIG EAST, and ranked No. 5 nationally in assists per game (2.21) and 37th nationally in points per game (3.14). Dowd appeared in 55 career games, scoring 54 goals with 88 assists for 139 points. He ranks second all-time in career assists with 88 and is 10th all-time in scoring.
Kocis, a tri-captain, had the best season of his career, finishing tied for third on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points. A preseason all-league selection and a Tewaaraton nominee at the start of the season, Kocis, who missed most of his sophomore season with an injury, appeared in 45 games during his career, scoring 44 goals and recording 22 assists for 66 points.
Brancaccio earned second team All-BIG EAST honors after scoring a career-high 25 goals this season, tying for the team lead in that category. Brancaccio finished fifth on the team in scoring with 26 points and he ranked seventh in the BIG EAST in goals per game with 1.79. He appeared in 56 games during his career, recording 85 goals and seven assists for 92 points. Brancaccio's 85 goals are the ninth-best career mark in Georgetown history.
Schuville, who earned second team honors as a specialty player, was one of the top short-stick defensive middies in the country. He finished second on the team in ground balls with 71 and caused eight turnovers. Schuville helped the team rank second in the country in ground balls per game (37.0), routinely taking possession after face-offs. He ranked 15th in the country with 5.07 ground balls per game, and was tied for second in the BIG EAST. , The Hoyas finished the 2010 season with a 9-5 overall record and finished in second place in the BIG EAST with a 5-1 record in league play, the only loss coming to No. 2-ranked Syracuse. Georgetown is ranked No. 10 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll and No. 10 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll.
