EDISON, NJ (5/1/2019) -- On the eve of the MAAC Championship, several University of Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse student-athletes were honored by the MAAC and the Titans tied for the league lead in All-Academic selections as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference held its annual championship banquet on Wednesday night.

Three Titans took home major awards as senior Matthew Vangalen was named the Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore Logan Shamblin was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year and sophomore Paul Manuszak was selected the Long Stick Midfielder of the Year.

In addition, all three were also named First Team All-MAAC, while juniors Alex Akins and Alex Jarzembowski, redshirt junior Sam McClain and freshman Cam Kostus were named to the Second Team and freshman AJ Van Voorhis and Kostus were selected to the All-Rookie Team.

Matthew Vangalen * Sr. * Orangeville, Ont. * Hill Academy * Offensive Player Of The Year - First Team All-MAAC Attack

• The first Titan to earn the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year
• Third All-MAAC accolade as he was Second Team at attack the last two seasons
• Broke his own school record with 55 points on the year on 19 goals and a career-high and school record 32 assists 
• Is second in the MAAC with 3.93 points per game, while his 55 total points leads the conference
• Tops the MAAC and is 12th in the nation with 2.57 assists per game as his 36 assists are the most in the league
• In MAAC play, he leads all conference peers with 26 points, 3.71 points per game, 20 assists and 2.86 assists per game
• Has 10 games on the year with at least three points, including a nine-point effort on three goals and six assists at Bellarmine, a six-point performance on a goal and five helpers at Marist, as well as two goals and four assists against Canisius and four goals with a helper at Notre Dame

Logan Shamblin * So. * Washington Township, Mich. * Troy * Defensive Player Of The Year - First Team All-MAAC Goalie

• The second Titan to earn the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, following former teammate Jason Weber in 2014
• In MAAC play, he leads the league in save percentage at .616 and with 14.0 saves per game, while ranking fourth with an 8.71 goals against average
• Has posted double-digit saves in 10 games on the year, with a career-high 21 saves at Siena in a postseason-clinching win
• Stopped 17 shots in the come-from-behind win at Marist
• Tallied 15 saves against Monmouth, where he allowed just four goals and also finished with a career-best three caused turnovers 

Paul Manuszak * So. * Sterling Heights, Mich. * De LaSalle * Long Stick Midfielder Of The Year - First Team All-MAAC LSM

• The second Titan to earn the LSM of the Year, following Jordan Houtby (2011, 2012, 2013)
• He is tied for the team lead with 16 caused turnovers - tied for ninth in the MAAC - and is second with 64 ground balls to go with four goals and three assists, all career highs
• Second on the team and fifth in the MAAC with 4.57 ground balls per game
• Three of his four goals are in MAAC play at St. Bonaventure, at Quinnipiac and at Marist, and has 11 games on the year with at least three ground balls
• Picked up a career-best 10 ground balls at Siena
• Registered a caused turnover, an assist and six GB's against Canisius and tied his career high with three caused turnovers and picked up seven ground balls against Manhattan

Alex Akins * Jr.  * Indianapolis, Ind. * Carmel * Second Team All-MAAC Defense

• The third-straight year he has earned All-MAAC honors
• He is tied for first on the team with 16 caused turnovers - tied for ninth in the MAAC - to go with 26 ground balls
• Posted a career-best four caused turnovers and picked up five ground balls against Canisius
• Had two caused turnovers at Quinnipiac and recorded three caused turnovers and scooped up six ground balls at St. Bonaventure

Alex Jarzembowski * Jr.  * Livonia, Mich. * Catholic Central * Second Team All-MAAC Faceoff Specialist

• Second-straight All-MAAC selection
• Second in the MAAC and 23rd in the nation in faceoff percentage winning a school-record 59.4 percent (192-of-324), while in MAAC play only, he is third winning 61.2 percent with 40 GB's
• Leads the Titans with a career-best 78 ground balls and is second in the league and 28th in the nation with 5.57 ground balls per game
• Has won double-digit faceoffs in 13 of Detroit Mercy's 14 games and has also scored six goals 
• Won a school-record 27-of-33 with a program-best 15 ground balls in the victory at Bellarmine, where he won the game's last 13 faceoffs and also scored a goal
• Was 18-of-24 with six ground balls in a win at Siena
• At Marquette, he was 19-of-30 with five ground balls and a goal and put together a 19-of-22 effort with 13 GB's and a score at St. Bonaventure

Cam Kostus * Fr.  * Rockford, Mich. * Rockford * Second Team All-MAAC Midfield & All-Rookie Team

• One of the top freshmen scorers in the league as he is fourth on the team with 23 points and tied for third with 19 goals
• Also tied for first on the team and in the MAAC and seventh in the nation with seven man-up scores
• Has scored a goal in 12 of the Titans 14 games, including a season-high three at Marquette and at Utah
• Struck for two goals against Monmouth and Canisius and had two goals and an assist at Siena

Sam McClain * RJr.  * Ann Arbor, Mich. * Orchard Lake St. Marys * Second Team All-MAAC Defense

• Recorded 13 caused turnovers - third on the team - and 27 ground balls
• Scored his first collegiate goal going coast-to-coast at Cleveland State
• Helped shut down All-BIG EAST First Team selection John Wagner, holding the Golden Eagles attackman two just two assists and no goals on his 10 shots, to go with a caused turnover and two ground balls in the Titans win at Marquette
• Tallied three caused turnovers at St. Bonaventure and had a takeaway and a team-high four ground balls at Quinnipiac

AJ Van Voorhis * Fr. * Columbus, Ohio * Hilliard Davidson * MAAC All-Rookie Team

• Is fifth on the team with 18 points and tied for second handing out 10 assists
• Had three points on a goal and two assists at Marquette and against Manhattan
• Posted two assists at Bellarmine, including setting up Matthew Vangalen's game-winning goal with 10 seconds left in the game
• Added back-to-back goals in the win at St. Bonaventure
• Recorded two goals and an assist in the postseason-clinching win at Siena 

MAAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

• The 19 Titan student-athletes who made the grade for the MAAC All-Academic Team were Alex Akins, Mark Anstead, Connor Bennardo, Zenzo Beresford, Nick Boynton, Brett Erskine, Emmett Green, Sam Horton, Alex Jarzembowski, John Kailunas III, Zach Kennedy, Brent Lubin, Paul Manuszak, Seth Mendell, Ollie Nigh, Bo Pickens, Logan Shamblin, Matt Turner and Matthew Vangalen. 
• To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
• Detroit Mercy was tied with Manhattan for the league lead with 19 student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team, the eight-straight year that the Titans either led or tied for the most in the MAAC. 
• Quinnipiac was third with 15, Marist had 14 and Canisius and Monmouth had 10 student-athletes on the All-Academic Team. Seven student-athletes from Siena and one from first-year program St. Bonaventure University also earned a spot on the All-Academic Team.

The Titans will open the MAAC Championship Semifinals as the No. 3 seed tomorrow when they take on second-seeded Quinnipiac at 4 p.m. at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, New York, where top-seeded Marist will serve as the host of this year's MAAC Championship.

For more information on the 2018 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship, visit MAACSports.com/MLAX. Championship tickets can be purchased at maac.ticketleap.com, and will also be sold on-site during the event.