TU Lacrosse Grabs Several Postseason Honors
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference recently announced its 2019 men's lacrosse postseason awards, with Taylor having seven student-athletes recognized.
Nathan Sahly claimed the top honor for the Trojans, earning a spot on the 13-man All-WHAC First-Team, with Grant Gerig making the All-WHAC Second-Team to join Sahly as the first-ever all-league standouts in TU's program history.
Tyler Gerig, Jeff Kaczmarek, Nathan Mortensen, Josiah Peterson and Nate Phillips were also among the 28 student-athletes from the conference to receive Academic All-WHAC honors for posting cumulative grade-point averages of 3.25-or-higher as a junior or senior. The five honors from Taylor matched Lawrence Tech for the most of any program in the nine-team WHAC.
Peterson claimed a second award as Taylor's representative onto the WHAC Champions of Character Team. The nine-man list is designed to recognize one student-athlete from each team who best represents the NAIA's five core character values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.
Sahly and Grant Gerig were touted for their on-field excellence, as Sahly served as a defensive catalyst for the Trojans and Gerig paced the offense during TU's first-ever varsity season.
Sahly rated second among all WHAC players with 19 caused turnovers in league action and finished third with 67 ground balls over eight WHAC contests. On the year, the junior started all 10 games for Taylor, tallying a team-best 84 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers, while adding four goals and two assists.
Gerig excelled in his playmaking role, piling up 31 goals, nine assists, 40 points and 52 ground balls over nine outings. The sophomore finished his first collegiate season rated No. 9 in the NAIA with 3.44 goals per game and No. 16 with 4.44 points per contest. Over seven WHAC games, Gerig ranked fifth in the league with 24 goals and sixth with 33 points, while leading the Trojans in each category.
Taylor closed its historic first season at 6-6 overall and in seventh place in the stacked WHAC standings with a 2-6 clip. TU received votes in the NAIA Top-10 Poll and finished one win shy of claiming a spot in the six-team WHAC Tournament, which featured the No. 2, 3, 6 and 8-ranked teams in the NAIA.
The Trojans are set to return 17 players from the 2019 squad, led by returning All-WHAC standouts, Sahly and Gerig.