Mercyhurst junior defenseman Andrew Wagner has been named winner of the William C. Schmeisser Award as USILA’s outstanding defensive player for the second straight year. Wagner, who has recorded 25 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers this season, spearheads a defense that has held 16-of-18 opponents under their scoring average by consistently covering teams’ top offensive performers. Wagner is the school’s first two-time winner of this award. He joins senior attackman Brian Scheetz and former Laker Gregory Bensman as winners of major USILA awards.

West Chester beat out Indiana (Pa.) to win the Dixon Trophy for the 2012-13 season. The award, given in each of the past 18 years to the PSAC’s top athletics program, is the first for West Chester.

The Dixon Trophy is awarded to the PSAC school that accumulates the top score based on results of conference playoffs and/or regular-season records.

Edinboro placed fifth overall, while Gannon was eighth and Mercyhurst finished 11th out of 16 teams. The Gannon women led all PSAC women’s sports programs with an average score of 11.75. The Knights claimed a PSAC crown in women’s volleyball.

Edinboro won conference titles in wrestling and men’s cross country, while Mercyhurst had a PSAC title in men’s soccer.

Check out the Dixon Trophy totals here.

Among its 22 sports, West Chester had an average score of 10.77 while IUP compiled a 10.74 for its 19 sports program. Shippensburg, with a 10.05 average, took third, while Slippery Rock (9.94) and Edinboro (9.85) were also in the top five.

West Chester won four conference championships (men’s and women’s swimming, field hockey and women’s lacrosse), while runner-up IUP won league titles in football, men’s golf and men’s basketball.

Shippensburg won more PSAC titles than any other school with crowns in men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and women’s cross country.

Shippensburg has the most Dixon titles with seven since the trophy was first awarded in 1996. Bloomsburg and Lock Haven have won three apiece.

Gannon sophomore swimmer Michael Decsey and junior water polo standout Daisuke Takagi have been named to the Capital One Academic All-District II men’s at-large first team. With the honors, Decsey and Takagi are now eligible for the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

Decsey, a political science major, compiled a 3.89 cumulative grade point average and won three individual titles and two relay gold medals this past season. He posted 13 PSAC-qualifying times and earned all-conference honors as the opening leg of the 200-yard medley relay team, which finished third at the PSAC Championships.

Takagi, a computer science major with a 3.54 cumulative GPA,  recorded 45 goals, 47 steals, 34 assists and 27 earned kick-outs this season. Takagi is only the third Gannon player ever to earn All-Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) honors. He ranks third all-time at Gannon in assists (90), sixth in goals (131) and eighth in steals (125).

Mercyhurst women’s volleyball standout Elyse Texido and Luis Leao of the men’s basketball team were named the Lakers’ Senior Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year, respectively, at the university’s annual Senior Sports Banquet this past weekend.

Elyse Texido

Luis Leao

Texido, a defensive specialist/libero, racked up a school-record 666 digs and was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year and All-PSAC first team selection. She helped Mercyhurst go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Texido finished third in program history in digs (1,627) and aces (126).

Leao, a 6-foot 5-inch forward, was the first Lakers’ player ever to be named to the NABC All-American Team. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this past season. Leao also was named PSAC West Athlete of the Year to go along with numerous other accolades.

Leao  finished ninth in program history in scoring (1,221 points).

Gannon’s Shayne Herold, Mercyhurst’s Ben Rawding and Penn State Behrend’s Vinny Rice each were named to all-region baseball teams Monday.

Herold made the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region first team. The redshirt senior right-hander finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.

Rawding, a senior left-hander, made the Rawlings/ABCA second team after finishing 9-3 with a 2.66 ERA.

Herold and Rawding each were named to earlier all-region teams.

Rice, meanwhile, made the D3baseball.com Mideast Region third team. The senior first baseman had a .378 batting average with 45 hits and 26 RBIs.

Anne Carlson

Edinboro hired Anne Carlson as the head track and field coach/director of cross country operations today, replacing retired coach Doug Watts.

Athletic director Bruce Baumgartner said Carlson will serve as the men’s and women’s track and field coach and will oversee the incoming cross country head coach. Edinboro will begin searching for a cross country coach soon, Baumgartner said.

Watts announced his retirement in April after coaching Edinboro’s running programs for the past 44 years.

Carlson has been an assistant women’s track and field coach at Edinboro since June 2011. She is a former Central Missouri All-American and won the pentathlon national championship in 2009.

“Obviously, Anne has some big shoes to fill,” Baumgartner said. “But we are supremely confident that she is a young coach with a bright future.”

Watts supported the choice of Carlson for the job.

“In the two short years she’s been here, Coach Anne has proven to be a superior technician and an excellent role model,” Watts said. “Having her inherit the program made it easy for me to pass the reins of this outstanding tradition of excellence to her.”

Andrew Wagner

Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse player Andrew Wagner was named to USILA’s All-American first team for the second straight year, while teammates Brian Scheetz and Zac Reid were named to the second team and honorable mention, respectively.

Wagner, a junior defender, totaled 25 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers while also consistently defending opposing teams’ top offensive performers this season.

Scheetz, a senior attackman, leads the top-ranked Lakers (18-0) with 72 points (26 goals, 46 assists) while also collecting 36 groundballs. Reid, a senior midfielder, has 29 goals – including seven in an 18-17 overtime win against second-ranked Limestone in the NCAA Division II semifinals this past Saturday — and 43 points.

The Lakers, which have recorded All-Americans in 10 straight years and 13 honorees overall in program history, face third-ranked Le Moyne (17-2) in the national championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

As the college spring sports seasons come to a close, area athletes continue to collect postseason accolades.

Aaron Cressley

Nick Grow

In this week’s On Campus notebook, read about a pair of former Erie County 
high school pitching standouts — Corry’s Aaron Cressley and North East’s Nick Grow – earning all-conference honors.

Cressley, a sophomore pitcher at Pitt-Bradford, was named to the AMCC second team after leading the team with a 2.25 ERA.

Grow, a relief pitcher for Westminster, was named to the honorable-mention all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference team. He broke the Titans’ single-season saves record with eight and set the career saves mark with 11.

Three area softball players recently were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Atlantic Region all-star team. Mercyhurst sophomore Shaina 
Bunker and Edinboro senior catcher 
Marissa Pullo made the first team, while Gannon freshman center fielder Alexa Archambeault made the Atlantic Region second team.

Also featured in this week’s notebook:

• McDowell graduates De’Vion Tate and John Dahlstrand helped Akron’s track team win the Mid-American Conference outdoor championship.

• Fort LeBoeuf grad Anthony Peluso, a sophomore at Seton 
Hill, was a member of a WVIAC-title winning 400-meter relay team.

• Mercyhurst North East recently named Conneaut Lake graduate Aaron Smith its Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.

Get all the details in this week’s On Campus notebook.

The Mercyhurst lacrosse team’s top midfield trio of Deven Alves, James Chayka and Zac Reid rebounded from a tough outing at the perfect time.
They combined for 12 goals and one assist, including the game’s final three goals, in the top-ranked Lakers 18-17 overtime win against No. 2 Limestone in a NCAA Division II semifinal Saturday at Tullio Field. This after they were held scoreless by Lake Erie in last weekend’s national quarterfinals.
“We didn’t have our best game last weekend,” said Reid, who had a career-high seven goals – one shy of the school record of eight set by Bryon Lindner against Molloy on April 22, 2008, and the most since Cameron McLean scored seven against Dominican (N.Y.) on April 4, 2009. “We benefited from having an off week and being fortunate enough to can our shots when we had the chance.”
Reid scored his seven goals on 14 of the Lakers’ 49 shots. Mercyhurst outshot the Saints by four despite being dominated on faceoffs – Limestone won 28-of-39 overall – and losing the groundball battle 45-33. The Saints’ 16 turnovers, which were nine more than the Lakers, helped Mercyhurst’s offense.
“You find a way to adapt and overcome at that point,” Lakers coach Chris Ryan said.
* Speaking of faceoffs: Ryan used four players – faceoff specialist Mitch McAvoy, midfielder Kyle Lindsay and defensemen Patrick Maloney and Ryan Sullivan – against Limestone’s Jake Ternosky. Yet Ternosky, the nation’s sixth best at faceoffs entering the game (.650 winning percentage), still dominated that category as the Saints’ lone faceoff man. “The Ternosky kid is just exceptional at what he does,” Ryan said. “We have a pretty good faceoff guy (in McAvoy, who was 10th in the nation at .597). But Jake Ternosky is the best in Division II, and he proved it today. You just have to find another way to beat a team, and we found a way to keep ourselves in the game and get the ball back at times.”
Ternosky said “I just felt like I was in a groove. When it all came down to it, it was the offense. These guys were producing and making my job a lot easier (and) just giving us momentum to do whatever we wanted.”
* Complete faith: Mercyhurst trailed 17-15 as the final minute of regulation began. Yet Ryan believed his team could complete the comeback.
“Everyone chips in. Everyone buys in. Everyone has a good idea of what has to be done on a daily basis,” he said. “To tell you the truth, hat comes from the seniors. They’ve been there and they’ve seen both ends of it, winning and losing. They know how to get it done. As far as I’m concerned, as a coach you can put a lot of trust in these kids. They just know how to get stuff done. They know their way around the block.”
* Taking blame: Limestone coach J.B. Clarke praised his team for “the battle these guys fought today.” Then he blamed himself for the loss.
“Coach Ryan did a great job getting his team ready to play. I think my team came ready to play,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I did a very good job of having them in the right spots at the right time.” Clarke also gave Ryan and the Lakers “because they played our way and beat us.”
* Erasing bad memories: Reid said thoughts of a 7-6 overtime loss to Dowling in the 2012 national semifinals at Tullio Field crept into his mind late in Saturday’s game. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” he said. “I felt terrible last year after the Dowling game. I didn’t want to feel that way again.”
* News and notes: Ryan and Clarke apparently had a heated verbal exchange after the game. When asked what happened, Ryan said, “I said good game.” … Riley scored three goals – his 52nd, 53rd and 54th of the season – for Limestone to finish his four-year career with 154 goals. … Mercyhurst has lost all four all-time meetings with Le Moyne, their national title-game opponent, including a last-second 6-5 loss in the 2007 championship game. … The Lakers can become the first team to win more than 18 games in a national championship season with a win next weekend.

- Victor Fernandes

James Chayka scored with 4.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then Deven Alves scored with 2:56 left in the extra period, to give No. 1 Mercyhurst an improbable 18-17 win against No. 2 Limestone in the NCAA Division II lacrosse semifinals Saturday at Tullio Field.
The Lakers (18-0) will face the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between Adelphi and Le Moyne in the title game May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

- Victor Fernandes