Men's Lacrosse | 5/11/2010 10:12:22 AM

ROCHESTER, NY -- Junior midfielder Jordan MacIntosh (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) was named the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Co-Player of the Year on Tuesday. The junior joins seven other Tigers who were named to the all-conference teams. First year head coach Jake Coon was named the Empire 8 Coach of the Year.

Joining MacIntosh on the first team was fellow junior MJ Kiekebelt (Caledon, Ontario/St. Andrews College/Aurora) and seniors Sean Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/Albany Academy), Jerry Ragonese (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston) and Dan MacRae (Oakville, Ontario/Holy Trinity).

Senior David Burke (Fairport, NY/Fairport) was a second team selection and RIT's Sportsperson of the Year. Junior Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) was an honorable mention selection.

MacIntosh, who helped lead RIT to the Empire 8 title, enters NCAA tournament play with 33 goals and 16 assists for 49 points. He has scored two game-winning goals this season and picked up 36 ground balls. He scored 11 goals in regular season conference play in just four games, and added five goals and three assists in the Empire 8 tournament.

MacRae anchored the Tigers' defense and was named MVP of the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Championship with five caused turnovers and five ground balls in the title game. MacRae, a first team selection in 2009, led the Tigers with 47 caused turnovers and grabbed 64 ground balls.

Kiekebelt recorded 34 ground balls in eight regular season conference games. He was second on the team with 85 ground balls and second on the squad with 47 caused turnovers. The long-stick midfielder also contributed offensively, tallying 13 points on 11 goals and two assists.

Gillies received first-team honors after scoring a conference-high 24 goals in regular season Empire 8 play and enters the NCAA tournament with 46 goals. He leads the Tigers in scoring this season with 55 points on 46 goals and nine assists. He has six man-up goals and three game winners this season.

Ragonese, a face-off specialist, was named to the first team after recording 70 ground balls and a .641 face-off percentage (116-for-181) in conference play. He leads the conference and is among the Division III leaders in ground balls averaging 7.94 goals per game. He has won 61.2 (238-for-389) percent of his face offs this season.

Burke is currently fifth on the team in scoring with 30 points on 18 goals and 12 assists. He combined to score four points on three goals and an assist in Empire 8 Tournament including a goal and an assist in the title game versus Ithaca.

The senior midfielder was also named RIT's Sportsperson of the Year. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

Junior Adam Vlassis (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) sits sixth on the team on the team in scoring with 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists.

Coon led RIT to 13-5 record and the Empire 8 tournament title and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in his first year as head coach of the Tigers.

RIT will make its 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 2006. The Tigers, 13-5 on the season, will face Connecticut College on Saturday, May 15 at 1 p.m. in New London, Connecticut.