St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Lands Three On All-BIG EAST Team
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 28, 2015
QUEENS, N.Y. -- St. John's junior attackman Eric DeJohn has been named to the All-BIG EAST First Team while senior co-captains Stefan Diachenko and Mark DiFrangia have been awarded second-team honors, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. This season marks the fourth in a row that at least three members of the Red Storm have been named to the all-conference first or second teams.
DeJohn becomes the fourth player in program history to earn All-BIG EAST First Team accolades while garnering his first career end-of-season honors. DiFrangia, the only defenseman in program history ever to be named All-BIG EAST, earns second-team honors from the conference for the second-consecutive season while Diachenko collects his first all-conference accolades after a breakout campaign in attack.
"We are really proud of Eric, Mark and Stefan," said St. John's head coach Jason Miller. "Eric really improved in his ability to quarterback our offense through the season. We are looking forward to building on that next year. Mark and Stefan each had the best year of their careers at St. John's. I'm pleased those guys went out on a high note, playing their best lacrosse as seniors."
In his second season with the Red Storm, DeJohn tallied a team-high 64 points on 38 goals and a team-high 26 assists, all career-best totals. The Syracuse, N.Y., native finished the regular season ranked second in the conference and 10th in NCAA D-I at 4.57 points per game, while the junior ranked third in the conference in both goals (2.71) and assists (1.86) per game, good for 17th and 24th in the country, respectively. The attackman recorded eight hat tricks in 2015 in addition to five games of three-or-more assists and three games of seven-or-more points. In a 17-7 home victory over BIG EAST foe Providence on March 28, DeJohn scored a career-high five goals and recorded four assists to post the second-highest single-game points tally in the BIG EAST this year. The junior also tallied eight points on four goals and four assists in an overtime loss at Jacksonville on Feb. 21 and finished with seven points with four assists in another narrow defeat at No. 13/12 Marquette on April 4. DeJohn, who moved back to his natural position of attack in 2015 after playing in midfield in his first year with the Red Storm, earned six BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selections this season, the most by a St. John's player in a single campaign in program history.
DiFrangia led the BIG EAST in caused turnovers per game for the second-consecutive season in 2015, averaging 1.64 per contest during the regular season to rank 14th nationally in the statistic. The defenseman and Red Storm co-captain also corralled a team-high 44 groundballs in his final season while recording the first two points of his career, both on assists. DiFrangia had one of his best games in a St. John's uniform in last weekend's season finale at No. 13 Georgetown, causing a career-high five turnovers and corralling six groundballs in a closely-fought defeat while leading his team to a second-half comeback. The senior and Fort Washington, Pa., native also tallied a career-high eight groundballs to go with three caused turnovers in St. John's 13-8 come-from-behind home victory over rival Stony Brook on Feb. 14. A unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team and the only defenseman in program history to earn the honor, DiFrangia was named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award in 2015.
In his first season as full-time starter, Diachenko tallied a career-high 46 points while establishing himself as one of the top goal scorers in the BIG EAST and St. John's history. The attackman scored 40 goals in 2015, tying former teammate and three-time All-American Kieran McArdle for the program all-time single-season mark. Prior to McArdle's 40-goal tally just last season, St. John's all-time single-season goals record was held by John Salerno, who scored 38 times in 1992 during a 15-game campaign. Diachenko also tied the school's all-time single-game goals record, scoring seven times on 11 shots in the Red Storm's 10-goal home victory over Providence to earn BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors. Two St. John's players have previously scored seven goals in a single game, the last in 1992, while the senior added one assist against Providence to finish the game with a career-high eight points. Diachenko also scored five goals and corralled a career-high seven groundballs in the Red Storm's season finale, recording his eighth hat trick of the campaign.
A year after graduating 11 seniors and the most successful class in program history, St. John's (3-11, 1-4) missed out on a spot in the 2015 BIG EAST Championship on the final day of the regular-season.
All-BIG EAST Team and Major Awards in Men's Lacrosse
Coach of the Year:
Kevin Warne, Georgetown
Attack Player of the Year:
Wesley Berg, Denver, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, So., D
Midfielder of the Year:
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Fr., FOS
Goalkeeper of the Year:
Peter Badgley, Providence, Sr.
First Team All-BIG EASTÂ %
Wesley Berg, Denver, Sr., A ^
Connor Cannizzarro, Denver, So., A ^
Eric DeJohn, St. John's, Jr., A
Bo Stafford, Georgetown, Sr., A (at-large selection)
Zach Miller, Denver, So., M ^
Erik Adamson, Denver, Sr., M ^
Kyle Whitlow, Marquette, RS-Jr., M
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, So., D ^
B.J. Grill, Marquette, RS-Jr., D
Jarrod Neumann, Providence, So., D
Carson Cannon, Denver, Sr., D
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, RS-Jr., LSM ^
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Fr., FOS ^
Peter Badgley, Providence, Sr., GK
Nick Marrocco, Georgetown, Fr., GK
Second Team All-BIG EASTÂ
Jordan Greenfield, Marquette, GS, A
Stefan Diachenko, St. John's, Sr., A
Connor Gately, Marquette, Jr., A
Reilly O'Connor, Georgetown, Sr., A
Craig Berge, Georgetown, Fr., M
Sean Cerrone, Villanova, Fr., M
Jack Curran, Villanova, Jr., M
Mark DiFrangia, St. John's, Sr., D
Michael Mayer, Georgetown, So., D
Charlie Ford, Georgetown, So., LSM
Remington Pope, Villanova, GS, DM
Mike Riis, Denver, Sr., LSM
Ryan LaPlante, Denver, Sr., GKÂ
^ - unanimous first-team selection
% - first team included two goalkeepers and four defenders due to a tie in voting
