St. John's University Athletics
Dillon Ayers Named To All-BIG EAST Preseason Lacrosse Team
1/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Jan. 19, 2012
Queens, N.Y. - St. John's junior long stick midfielder Dillon Ayers earned the distinction of becoming the first Red Storm lacrosse player to be named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team in program history. Ayers is coming off a stellar sophomore season where he led St. John's in both groundballs (56) and caused turnovers (21).
"There has been a long list of exceptional LSM's in this conference over the last two years, including Syracuse's Joel White, Villanova's Brian Karulanas and Notre Dame's Andrew Irving," said head lacrosse coach Jason Miller. "To have Dillon Ayers added to that list is a nice step forward for our program."
The Lynbrook, N.Y. native earned an appearance on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll last year for the week of March 13-20, 2011. In games against non-conference opponents Stony Brook and Vermont, Ayers totaled 10 groundballs and five caused turnovers. He spearheaded the defensive effort against Stony Brook with six groundballs as the Red Storm held the Seawolves to one of only three single-digit scoring outputs on the season.
Ayers was the lone selection from St. John's joining selections from conference foes Syracuse, Notre Dame, Villanova and Georgetown. Syracuse, Notre Dame and Villanova are ranked No. 7, 9 and 10 respectively in Inside Lacrosse's preseason rankings.
St. John's finished fifth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, as Syracuse, Notre Dame, Villanova and Georgetown were slotted ahead of the Red Storm. Rutgers and Providence rounded out the poll in the sixth and seventh positions. Syracuse is the two-time defending BIG EAST champion and was joined by Notre Dame and Villanova in last year's NCAA tournament.
2012 BIG EAST Preseason Awards & Poll
BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Kevin Cunningham, Villanova, Sr., A
BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Players of the Year
John Kemp, Notre Dame, Jr., G
Brian Megill, Syracuse, Jr., D
All-BIG EAST Preseason Team^
Zack Angel, Georgetown, Sr., M
Travis Comeau, Georgetown, Jr., A
*John Kemp, Notre Dame, Jr., G
Liam O'Connor, Notre Dame, So., SP
*Kevin Randall, Notre Dame, Sr., D
Sean Rogers, Notre Dame, Sr., A
Dillon Ayers, St. John's, Jr., LSM
Tim Desko, Syracuse, R-Sr., A
Matt Harris, Syracuse, So., LSM
*JoJo Marasco, Syracuse, Jr., M
*Brian Megill, Syracuse, Jr., D
Matt Bell, Villanova, Sr., M
*Chris Creighton, Villanova, Sr., D
*Kevin Cunningham, Villanova, Sr., A
^ - two players were added to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team due to a tie in voting
*- unanimous selection
BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll
Points Overall Record
Syracuse (4) 34 15-2, 6-0 BIG EAST
Notre Dame (1) 29 11-3, 5-1 BIG EAST
Villanova (2) 28 11-5, 3-3 BIG EAST
Georgetown 21 7-7, 4-2 BIG EAST
St. John's 16 4-10, 2-4 BIG EAST
Rutgers 12 6-9, 1-5 BIG EAST
Providence 7 3-12, 0-6 BIG EAST
(-) - First-place votes
