NEILA Honors for Hawley, Gerbush, Morrissey, Vrla & McCormack

Four members of the Williams men's lacrosse team (10-6) that captured the Ephs' first NESCAC title and advanced to their first NCAA Tournament have been named to the Division III all-region team selected by the 48 schools that belong to the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA).

Head coach George McCormack was named the NEILA Coach of the Year doubling his coach of the year awards this spring as he was previously honored by NESCAC.

First Team NEILA honorees include first year attack David Hawley, senior midfielder Michael Vrla, and junior goalie Michael Gerbush, while junior long stick midfielder Brian Morrissey collected Second Team recognition.

David Hawley also garnered the NEILA Rookie of the Year award and he previously claimed the NESCAC's Rookie of the Year award as well.

Despite being limited to just 10 games because of injury, Vrla fired home 20 goals and assisted 10 more for 30 points. Vrla previously earned NESCAC First Team honors.

Hawley led the Ephs in goals scored this season with 40 and he assisted on six goals for a total of 46 points. Hawley was also a NESCAC First Team selection.

Michael Gerbush was named to the NEILA First Team and previously earned Second Team All-NESCAC honors. Gerbush was twice named NESCAC Player of the Week this season and he was outstanding in the NESCAC Tournament stopping 16 Middlebury shots in the semifinals and 13 Bowdoin shots in the final.

On the year Gerbush posted a 7.74 goals against average in 977 minutes. He registered 199 saves on the year resulting in a .612 save percentage.

Morrissey tallied four goals on the year and two of them were game-winners. He assisted on the game-winning goal in OT in the regular season finale to lift the Ephs over Bowdoin and into the NESCAC Tournament as the sixth seed.  Morrissey had six points on the year on four goals and two assists.


Fifth year head coach George McCormack notched his first NEILA Coach of the Year award after being named the NESCAC Coach of the Year. McCormack his Ephs back from a 1-4 start in NESCAC play to six consecutive wins over NESCAC teams and the NESCAC title.

McCormack's Ephs have recorded several firsts this season – advancing to the NESCAC finals, winning the NESCAC title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and achieving a national ranking of 14. The Ephs led NESCAC in penalty killing allowing just four goals in 25 opportunities (.840) and they are last in turnovers per game (6.70).

The Eph six-game win streak leading up to the NCAA Tournament found them defeating six nationally ranked teams, including two in overtime.

McCormack's Ephs received a first round bye in the NCAA Tournament and traveled to Ithaca College for a second round game and their season of firsts ended there with a 17-10 loss.