Seven Lacrosse Players Earn All-America Honors
5/28/2005 5:44:50 PM | Men's Lacrosse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Junior midfielder Greg Rommel (Syracuse, N.Y.) was the headliner of Syracuse's 2005 USILA All-America class, earning his first career All-America nod by being selected to the second team. A total of seven SU starters earned All-America honors, the most for the Orange since 2002. Senior Jay Pfeifer (Towson, Md.), junior Brian Crockett (Yorktown, N.Y.) and sophomore Steve Panarelli (Farmingdale, N.Y.) earned third-team honors, while senior Scott Ditzell (Geneva, N.Y.), junior Brett Bucktooth (Onondaga Nation, N.Y.) and freshman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) received honorable mention accolades.
Rommel started in all 13 games as a member of the Orange's top midfield line this season. He posted a career-high 28 points (25 goals, three assists) to rank fifth on the team in scoring overall, third in goals. He scored at least one goal in every game and had two or more goals on nine occasions. In the NCAA First Round against Massachusetts, Rommel tallied three goals, equaling his career-high for goals in a game. On May 26, Rommel was named to ESPN the Magazine's Academic All-District I team.
Pfeifer completed his fourth season as Syracuse's starting goaltender. He posted a 10.57 goals against average and a .521 save percentage in 2005. He finished with 725 career saves, second on SU's all-time saves list. In a March 29 contest at Hobart, Pfeifer recorded a personal-best 21 saves.
Crockett was chosen to the All-America Third Team for the second consecutive season. He finished 2005 as the team's leading scorer with 42 points and a team-high 35 goals. After switching positions from attack to midfield near the end of the season, Crockett responded with 18 goals in Syracuse's final four games of the year. He had a season-high six goals in a 14-13 win against Albany on April 22.
Panarelli, who was an honorable mention All-America in 2004 from his long-stick defenseman position, made the third team in 2005. He started all 13 games, had a goal, an assist and 31 groundballs on the season. He was often assigned to cover the opponent's top threat from the midfield.
The Orange's three honorable mention picks are all first-time All-Americans. Ditzell, a defenseman, started all but one game because of illness. He scored a goal, had an assist and collected 30 groundballs.
Bucktooth made the switch from midfield to attack this season and poured in a career-high 41 points (21 goals, team-high 20 assists) to finish in a tie for second on the team in points behind Crockett. Bucktooth tallied four goals in each of SU's final three games of the season.
Leveille was the freshman attackman who finished tied for second on the team in points with Bucktooth. Starting in all 13 games, Leveille posted 30 goals and 11 assists. He recorded a career-high five goals against No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins on March 18, and finished with a total of five hat tricks on the season.
Syracuse finished the 2005 season with a 7-6 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd consecutive season before losing in the first round to Massachusetts, 16-15.
