Joe Nardella Named Third Team All-American
May 21 | Men's Lacrosse
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers senior midfielder Joe Nardella has been named a Third Team All-American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
"Joe has had a great career here `On the Banks'", head coach Brian Brecht said. "It is only fitting that he ends his senior year being named All-American. He has been one of the best face-off guys in the nation over the past four years and truly earned First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Specialist of the Year honors this season. I am excited for him to be named an All-American on the field to go along with his Scholar All-American honors earlier this week. Joe has been a true student-athlete throughout his career and he has a bright future ahead of him this summer in Major League Lacrosse."
This season Nardella won 222 out of 333 faceoffs for a 67.0 winning percentage that ranked third in the nation. He collected 125 ground balls, an average of 8.33 per game that was fourth in the nation. Both of those marks paced the Big Ten, earning him first team All-Conference and Specialist of the Year recognition.
The Cazeonvia, N.Y. native also tied his career-high with six goals, and set new career-bests with nine assists and 15 points. For his career, the two-time team captain was 761-of-1223 on faceoffs (62.2 percent) and scored 14 goals to go with 26 assists and 440 ground balls.
Nardella is the 205th All-American in the history of Rutgers men's lacrosse. He is the 29th player to earn Third Team honors. Will Mangan was the most recent Rutgers All-American, earning honorable mention honors in 2012.
Nardella was also recognized Monday by the USILA as a Scholar All-American. He was selected by the Boston Cannons in the 2015 Major League Lacrosse Draft.
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