Donnally, Tortora All-New England for second time, Saint Michael's quartet honored
COLCHESTER, Vt. - Four Saint Michael's College men's lacrosse players landed on the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) All-New England team on Wednesday, with senior Paul Tortora Jr. (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep) and junior Pete Donnally (Madison, N.J./Morristown-Beard School) each being honored for the second straight year. Juniors Neil Kelly (Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) and Marty Vanzo (Westford, Vt./Essex/Vermont) were both lauded for the first time.
Donnally netted 43 goals and finished with 49 points this spring, coming within three markers of matching the school record. Six of his tallies came with a man advantage, tying him for second in the Northeast-10 Conference, while three went down as game-winners. He also scooped up 35 ground balls. Donnally stands third in the NE-10 in goals and sixth in points, as well as fifth in Division II in goals per game. Forty-two games into his college career, Donnally has 96 goals and 116 points, leaving him just 13 markers short of matching the program record.
One of the team's top defenders, the 6-foot-5 Kelly is fifth in the NE-10 in caused turnovers (33) while having added 49 ground balls, nearly tripling his career totals entering the year in both categories. Kelly anchored the sixth-best scoring defense in Division II (6.13), which yielded as many as eight goals only four times in 16 games.
Tortora was a key member of the midfield, totaling 11 goals, a career-high 15 assists, and 26 points while snagging a personal-best 36 ground balls. He scooped up multiple ground balls in 11 contests, including a season-high six while causing two turnovers and potting a hat trick versus Southern New Hampshire University on April 28. During the team's previous game, on April 21 at American International College, Tortora had a goal and five assists.
Vanzo, who also landed on the NE-10 All-Conference second team, tallied a career-high 32 goals, nearly doubling his sophomore total (18), while adding 15 assists for a career-best 47 points. He is tied for second in the NE-10 in man-up goals (6), sixth in goals and seventh in points. In addition to adding 40 ground balls, the attackman caused 13 turnovers, the most among NE-10 players with 20 points. Through 30 games over two years, Vanzo has 50 goals, 34 assists and 84 points.
The quartet led the Purple Knights to an 11-5 record and their fifth NE-10 Tournament semifinal appearance in seven years this spring. Saint Michael's set a school record for victories and was ranked 10th in the May 7 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national poll.
