MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's lacrosse team had five players named to the 2025 All-Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Teams in addition to sporting the program's first conference Defensive Player of the Year, announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.

Juniors Aidan Knoetgen, Owen Wills, and James Davies collected First Team recognition while Wills was named the SSC Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year. Junior defender Jimmy McGonigle was voted to the All-SSC Second Team for a consecutive season while sophomore faceoff specialist Andrew Graham earned All-SSC Third team honors.

Wills set a single-season program record with 34 caused turnovers and grabbed 60 ground balls. Wills anchored a Lions defense that paced the conference in ground balls (557) and ranked second in caused turnovers (150). Additionally, Saint Leo had the third-best scoring defense in the SSC with a goals against average of 10.99.

Knoetgen tallied his first All-SSC nod with 28 goals on the year, ranking sixth in the league while leading the SSC in assists and points with 28 and 56. The Green and Gold offense scored the third most goals in the conference with 180 with an average of 11.25 goals per contest. The Lions recorded 280 points on the year that was runner-up in conference standings.

Last year, Davies was an All-SSC Second Team honoree before elevating to one of the premiere defenders in 2025 for All-SSC First Team recognition. Davies caused 16 turnovers and collected 54 ground balls. The North Carolina native recorded a season- and career-high with four caused turnovers versus Colorado Mesa. Offensively, Davies dished out a trio of assists on the year as well.

McGonigle was named to the All-SSC Second Team in back-to-back seasons. In 2025, the New York native ranked third in the SSC with 27 caused turnovers and notched a career-best in ground balls (49). In addition to the stout defensive play, McGonigle was a threat on offense as well with a pair of goals this season.

Graham was labeled a two-time SSC Men's Lacrosse Specialist of the Week during his 2025 campaign. The Georgia native recorded .556 faceoff percentage, the sixth-best in the league as he went 194-for-349 in face off opportunities. Graham ranked second in the SSC with 84 ground balls for an average of 5.25 per game.

The Saint Leo men's lacrosse program has registered five All-SSC selections for consecutive seasons and its three First Team honorees is the most the Lions have had since 2019 when four were tabbed First Team.

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- SaintLeoLions.com -