Jim Laskarzewski '86 Photos

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College men's lacrosse graduate student Alex Chirgwin (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), senior Nathan Woods (Ottawa, Ontario/Kent School) and junior Sebastian Simonson (Spruce Grove, Alberta/Spruce Grove Composite) were all named to the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Preseason All-New England second team on Thursday.
 
Thirty men's lacrosse players from New England schools earned NEILA Preseason All-New England honors, with 13 placed on the first team and 17 on the second team. Simonson is among five attackmen on the second team, Chirgwin is one of four midfielders, and Woods is among a pair of short-stick defensive midfielders. Simonson and Woods both landed NEILA All-New England Second Team laurels last spring, while Woods also claimed a Northeast-10 Conference All-Conference second team nod.
 
Chirgwin returns for a fifth season with the squad after reaching career highs in goals (10), assists (13), points (23) and man-up markers (3) last spring. He owns 23 goals and 24 assists in 39 career contests.
 
With 36 goals and 20 assists last spring, Simonson led the NE10 in points per game (4.31) while standing third in goals average (2.77), fourth in assists per outing (1.54), seventh in points (56), tied for ninth in goals, and 11th in assists. His point total was seven short of a school record, and the most by a Purple Knight in a decade. Simonson added 17 ground balls while contributing seven hat tricks and six six-point performances.
 
Woods caused a career-high 14 turnovers in 2023 while adding five goals, six assists, 18 ground balls and a career-low nine turnovers. Since totaling 25 points in an offensive role as a first-year, Woods has been key to the faceoff unit and transition game the past two years, collecting 42 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers and 19 points.
 
The Purple Knights, who are fourth in the NEILA preseason poll, begin the season by visiting the University of Bridgeport on Saturday at 12 p.m.