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Brown Lacrosse - 2014 Team Awards
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Providence, R.I. - Brown men's lacrosse coach Lars Tiffany announced the 2014 Brown lacrosse award winners at the team's recent Annual Banquet. The 2014 award winners are: Most Valuable Offensive Player: Sam Hurster '14; The Vincent Marinelli Award: Larken Kemp '17 and Dylan Molloy '17; Most Valuable Defensive Player: Phil Pierce '14; The Dom Starsia '74 Coaches Award: Will Swindell '15 (Greenwich, CT); The James E. Tepper Most Improved Player Award: Tommy Capone '14; Charles Kenney '10 Alumni Award: Tyler Landis '15; The Richard Q. Whelan Jr. '04 Unsung Hero Award: Dan Mellynchuk '14; and the Cliff Stevenson Most Valuable Player Award: Jack Kelly '16.
Most Valuable Offensive Player: Over the past three years, Brown Lacrosse came to rely upon Sam Hurster '14 to score goals in bunches. Despite only playing a limited role as a freshman, Sam eventually scored 84 goals throughout his career, placing him 17th all-time in Brown Lacrosse history. With the addition of his assists, Hurster surpassed the 100-point milestone during his time on College Hill. As a captain, teammates looked to Sam Hurster to bring his shooter's confidence and calming, soothing demeanor to the team offense, a critical temperament as an offensive leader especially considering all of the youth surrounding him his senior season. Another one of Hurster's strongest attributes was his equally prolific shooting skills with both his right and left hands. More than one opposing coaches have admitted to not knowing what to tell their defensemen as to how to best defend Hurster. During his final season at Brown, Sam earned 6 goals in a game not once but twice, against Hartford and Marist. When Hurster was on, there were few who were better than him in the nation. At one point, Sam had a streak of scoring on 7 consecutive shots. In 2014, Hurster was our Man Up team's most effective producer with 5 goals. Now based in Minneapolis working with Lazard, Sam graduated this past spring with a degree in Economics.
Vincent Marinelli Award: The Vincent Marinelli Award is an annual freshman award, distributed to the "pup," who best exemplifies the competitive spirit and commitment to the quality of life that Vinnie himself demonstrated as a freshman and starting attackman at Brown in 1987 before tragically passing away in April of that spring. During the 2014 season, many of our freshmen quickly made the transition to the speed of college lacrosse and earned significant playing time. Two pups in particular made huge impacts on the field for our program, one on the offensive end with his scoring and the other roaming all over the field creating plays. Each of them was recognized by the Ivy League for their outstanding play as they earned All-Ivy honors at the end of the season. Dylan Molloy '17 established himself as a collegiate goal scorer in his very first game, finding the net four times versus Quinnipiac in our opener. Opposing defenses were designed to limit his dodging, but the four-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week found multiple ways to attack the cage and to finish the ball. When he scored, he often scored in bunches. Molloy had at least a hat-trick in half of our games (7), and he put away four or more goals four times, highlighted by a 5 goal performance versus Bryant. On the other end, long-stick midfielder Larken Kemp '17 wreaked havoc as one of the nation's leaders in caused turnovers (24), which is even more impressive considering he was only called for two penalties throughout the season. Kemp often scooped up the ground balls he had created, as well as many others. He picked up 50 ground balls in our 14 games, second only to faceoff specialist Tommy Capone. With the ball in his stick, Kemp was looking to make more happen and he often did. Out of the 15 shots he took, Kemp scored three goals to go along with the four assists he dished out. The 2014 Vincent Marinelli Award winners: Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations concentrators Dylan Molloy and Larken Kemp.
Most Valuable Defensive Player: Every defense needs a field general, a man who directs the others with his voice and leads by example as a stingy, back-down-to-no-one warrior. To know Phil Pierce '14 is to know him both as a gentle giant and a fearsome bruiser. Pierce served as a captain, as the director of the team's defensive slide schemes and he was pivotal as our enforcer, more than eager to create bone-crunching hits that set the tone for our defense and kept the opposing attackers wary of his presence. Pierce did all this while battling through a foot injury that impacted his mobility throughout his senior year. His 60-yard goal in the second half of the Princeton game proved to be a critical score in a game Brown won 11-10. For all of his accomplishments on the field, Phil Pierce was as strong a force off of it as a captain. More so than any other man in our program last year, Pierce embodied the spirit and traits of Brown State with his words, his competitiveness, his coolness under pressure and his physical play. The Psychology concentrator is now working for SIG in New York City.
Dom Starsia Coaches Award: The Dom Starsia coaches' award is given by the coaching staff to the player who best represents the spirit of Brown lacrosse year in and year out. Thinking of the description "spirit of Brown Lacrosse" brings to mind many high-level competitors of this program, and it was a challenge to select just one. But one man did shine above the rest, due to his indomitable positive aura and team-first commitment his teammates have come to depend upon from him. As a critical member of our defense, Will Swindell '15 is trusted by his fellow defensemen to make the right decisions, to win his match-up and to be a voice of reason in the face of withering opposing barrages. He knows how to weather the storms of competition, and life, and come out smiling and ahead in the end. But lets not forget this: Swindell will knock an opponent on his backside when given the opportunity to make the big hit. The fierceness of his defensive game should not be overlooked due to his warm smile. This is the spirit we celebrate here, and it is certainly found in Swindell. His teammates have recognized this balance of intensity and coolness under pressure by overwhelmingly electing Will Swindell as one of our captains for the 2015 season. Swindell is concentrating in Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (economics track).
James E. Tepper Most Improved Player Award: Established in 1991, this award is given in honor of Jimmy Tepper, a Brown lacrosse player who was killed while working on a construction site during the winter break of his Brown University freshman year. The award is for the most improved player in the program: the man who grew more and more critical to his team's success throughout his career. In recent Brown Lacrosse history, consistent success had not been found at the faceoff X, including the low point of 38.9% in 2013. This was due in large part to not one, but two torn menisci suffered by Tommy Capone '14. Having overcome his knee issues through surgery and committed rehabilitation, Capone came back his senior year to prove he could consistently earn possessions for Brown. He would not be proven wrong! Competing against some of the very best statistical faceoff men in the nation, such as the Bryant University specialist Kevin Massa, Capone countered their mastery and showed he was a man we could rely upon to neutralize great opponents. Tommy finished his senior season and college career with an exclamation point, winning 17 of 23 draws versus Dartmouth and scoring his first career goal in his final game. Thanks to his 2014 faceoff winning percentage of 53.6%, Brown Lacrosse was able to earn a winning record of 8-6. Tommy, a dual concentrator at Brown University in History (Ancient Warriors) and Political Science, now lives in Manhattan and works for law firm Winston & Strawn.
Charles Kenney Alumni Award: Presented annually to the lacrosse player who through sportsmanship, performance and influence contributed the most to the sport at Brown, the Charlie Kenney Alumni Award honors a man for traits critical to our team's success. Charlie Kenney '10, a four-year midfielder and team captain his senior year, embodied the greatest of qualities we all search for in our men: all-in commitment, joyful spirit of life and always, always looking out for his teammates. After graduation, Charlie went on to become a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps before passing away in August of 2012. This year's Charlie Kenney Alumni Award winner and Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (organizational track) concentrator is Tyler Landis '15. Perseverance may best describe Tyler, an attribute shared by Charlie. Plagued by both major and minor injuries throughout his career, Tyler knows the operating table and our training room all too well. But he continues to get back up on his feet and onto the field. Though Tyler may not be as much of a vocal leader as Charlie was, we gave Tyler the ball often in 2014 and he successfully kick-started our engine. Initiating the offense from up top or on the wing, Tyler became our quarterback for many of our possessions due to his potent combination of quickness and outstanding field vision. Regardless of the outcome of the play before, Tyler maintains is positive outlook and is ready to strike again.
The Richard Q. Whelan Jr. Unsung Hero Award: Re-named in 2005, this award is given in memory to the Brown lacrosse player who best exemplifies Ricky's unselfish play, dedication to the program and overall commitment to excellence. This year's winner precisely matches Ricky's unselfish play and dedication to making his teammates better. Captain Dan Mellynchuk '14 was the ultimate team-first player. When asked to change positions, at times on a daily basis, Dan never flinched or asked why. He brought a short and long stick to practice and games, willing and ready to fill multiple roles for this program. In his senior year alone, Dan served as a starting close defenseman, a short-stick defensive midfielder and a relied upon member of our man-down unit. Throughout his career, we came to trust Dan as a sure-footed defender, a man who was tough to beat 1v1 regardless of the length of his stick. During his senior year he was often assigned the toughest of match-ups, defending the opposing team's most challenging dodgers. Spending most of his time in the shroud of obscurity, common for most defensemen, Dan did have his glorified moments highlighted by the Brown - UMass game his junior year where he scored 2 goals, including the game-winner in overtime. The American Studies concentrator is now working as a trusted teammate for talent agency ICM in Los Angeles, California.
Cliff Stevenson Most Valuable Player Award: The commander, not only of the defense but the entire team, Jack Kelly '16 possesses so many qualities we desire in a leader that it came as no surprise he was been voted as one of our three captains for the upcoming 2015 season despite only being a junior. The goaltender, Jack Kelly, is nalways communicating to the defenders in front of him. His words are strong and forceful yet always positive and supporting. As the mouthpiece of the defense, he has made our unit more cohesive and stronger through his superior attributes as a motivator. The competitor Jack Kelly is rivaled by few, as only a small minority can match the razor-sharp focus and grit he brings every day! Between the pipes for Brown Lacrosse in 2014, Kelly saw almost 500 shots, one of the highest totals in Division One. He maintained his poise throughout, finishing the season with an impressive 55% save percentage. The Ivy League named him the Player of the Week after his 16 save performance in the Brown victory over Princeton. For his unwavering leadership, his relentless pursuit of peak performance and his positive, motivational words, Jack has earned team MVP honors in the name of the long-time men's lacrosse and soccer coach Cliff Stevenson. The student Jack Kelly is a Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (organizational track) concentrator.
