EMPIRE 8 NAMES 2019 MEN'S LACROSSE ALL-STAR TEAMS; SAGE'S BARANIUK AND ADAMCZAK HONORED

Albany, NY —The Sage Colleges' men's lacrosse team wrapped their inaugural season and with the announcement of the 2019 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse All-Star Teams, two Gators are among the honorees. Sage wrapped their first varsity season of men's lacrosse under the direction of Head Coach Ryan Lanigan, produced a mark of 8-9 overall and 2-6 in the league.

Named to the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse All-Star Honorable Mention Team is Sage's rookie midfielder and team quad-captain David Baraniuk (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive), while senior midfielder Ryan Adamczak (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) earned acclaim as a member of the 2019 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Sportsmanship Team.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2019 Men's Lacrosse Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

Baraniuk, who earned the 2018-2019 Sage Male Rookie of the Year honor at the annual athletic award banquet, was also tapped as the team's Gator of the Year. Despite missing the team's last four games of the year with an injury, he added 51 points on 33 goals with 18 assists. He had eight multiple-goal games along the way and was also selected as the Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week once. Among his single-game highlights was a 12 point effort as Sage defeated Wells and Baraniuk tallied seven goals with five assists. Along the way, he had two game-winning goals and added 37 ground ball pickups with nine man-up goals in 13 starts.

Adamczak, also a team quad-captain was the squad's lone senior in 2019. He started all 17 games and was the Gators' primary face-off man. On the season, he added a .498 face-off win percentage, while collecting 57 ground balls in 17 starts.