Connors, Severns win SCAC lacrosse awards, four players named all-conference

After completing a historic turnaround in its second season of play, the Centre men's lacrosse team was well represented when the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference released its individual awards and all-conference teams on Monday.

Head coach Bert Severns was named Coach of the Year while sophomore attacker Zack Connors (Louisville, Ky.) was selected as the conference's Offensive Player of the Year. Fellow attackers Connor Stubbs (Decatur, Ga.) and Peter Murphy (Louisville, Ky.) joined Connors as members of the All-SCAC First Team while defender Jay Reed (Louisville, Ky.) earned a spot on the second team.

After finishing 3-10 in their first season of competition in 2011, the Colonels showed dramatic improvement in the 2012 campaign, finishing at 12-4 overall with a 7-2 mark in SCAC play. That record was good enough to tie for second place in the conference in the regular season standings and earn the young program its first appearance in the SCAC tournament. Additionally, Centre finished the year with an 8-0 record at home and ranked sixth nationally in scoring offense at 15.4 points per game.

The Colonels' all-conference honorees also put up impressive individual numbers as well. Connors had 44 goals with 41 assists for 86 points, ranking him third nationally in points, third in assists and 16th in goals. He led the SCAC in both assists and points while finishing third in goals.

Stubbs finished with 55 goals, which ranked second in the conference and fifth in the nation, while adding 22 assists for 77 points, which ranked third in the conference and ninth nationally. Murphy finished with 26 goals, 38 assists and 64 points. Those numbers were enough second in the SCAC and sixth in the nation in assists while coming in fourth in the conference and 26th nationally in points.

On the other end, Reed was a key player on the Colonels' defense, causing a team-high 15 turnovers while picking up 51 ground balls. He also tallied one assist on the season.