Men's Lacrosse Trio Earns NEAC All-Conference Honors
GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – Sophomore Alex Milliken (Hilton, N.Y.), senior Hayden Shuster (Careywood, Id.) and junior Connor Jansen (Horseheads, N.Y.) all picked up North Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse All-League honors for their performances on the Wells College men's lacrosse team in 2015.
Milliken and Shuster each secured Second Team All-Conference merits while Jansen was tabbed as a Third Team All-League representative, as voted by the conference's coaching staffs. As a team, Wells posted their best record to date with a 4-9 mark while picking up their first NEAC victory since 2012 versus Medaille near the midpoint of the season.
The reigning NCAA Division III leader in goals per game from the 2014 season, Milliken scored 24 goals and 21 assists for 47 points (24-21=47) as a sophomore to rank seventh overall in the NEAC. Against conference opponents in 2015, Milliken racked up 23 total points after scoring 14 goals and nine assists.
Against Wheelock in the final game of the season, Milliken became the fourth player in team history to reach 100 career points in a Wells uniform. He is also ranked 34th in the nation with 1.92 assists per game. A Third Team All-NEAC selection as a freshman in 2014, he enters his junior year in 2016 ranked fourth in team history with 104 points off of 71 goals and 33 assists. He has scored at least one point on offense in all but one game in his two-year career.
Shuster, who finished the 2014 season as the NCAA Division III leader in caused turnovers per game, concluded his career ranked fifth nationally in 2015 with an average of three per contest. He led all NEAC players in caused turnovers in 2015, posting 36 overall on the year that included a NEAC-leading 21 against conference opponents. Defensively, Shuster has recorded at least ground ball in 48 of his 49 career games and caused at least one turnover in each game as a senior.
His 45 ground balls ranked him 16th overall in NEAC play as Shuster and the Wells defense posted the lowest goals-against average in team history in 2015. He concludes his career having played in 49 career games while ranking first in career caused turnovers (141) and caused turnovers per game (2.88). His 233 ground balls rank second and his 4.76 ground balls per game place him fourth in the team's eight year history.
Jansen finished in eight place amongst NEAC players with 45 points via 25 goals and 20 assists in 2015. In his team's 13-2 NEAC victory against Medaille on Apr. 18, Jansen became the third player in team history to reach 100 career points on offense. The team leader in goal scoring with 25, Jansen racked up 20 points against NEAC opponents in 2015. As a sophomore, Jansen secured Second Team All-Conference honors.
Across his three-year career, Jansen has recorded at least one point on offense in 35-of-36 games. The team's all-time leader in assists (41), Jansen will head into his senior campaign ranked second in the team's history with 118 career points. At the face-off "X", Jansen posted nearly a 50% percentage in 2015 and his career winning percentage of .457 is the second best all-time mark.