Ryan Hotaling, Chad Amidon of Nazareth Earn First-Team All-America Honors
May 21, 2007
From Nazareth Sports Information Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 21, 2007) -- Syracuse natives Chad Amidon and Ryan Hotaling, seniors on the Nazareth College men's lacrosse team, have been selected as first-team All-Americans by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Senior defenseman Ryan Conley (Fairfield HS/Fairfield, CT) was named honorable mention.
Amidon and Hotaling, both graduates of Onondaga Central near Syracuse, were instrumental in Nazareth winning the Empire 8 Conference championship for the fourth time in the last five years and gaining an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. The Golden Flyers finished with a record of 16-3 after losing to Wesleyan, 9-6, in the national quarterfinals.
Amidon, a midfielder, was Nazareth's second leading scorer and top scoring midfielder in '07 with 56 points on 34 goals and 22 assists. He also led the Golden Flyers' with 106 ground balls and captured 59.7 percent of his faceoffs taken (176 for 295). One of his best games came in the Empire 8 Conference championship at Ithaca April 29 as he had three goals and three assists and won 16 of 26 faceoffs (with 11 ground balls) in a 16-14 win.
Hotaling, an attackman, was named to the first team for the second time in three years after leading the Golden Flyers in scoring for the third year in a row with 59 points on 37 goals and 22 assists. He closed his career as Nazareth's second leading all-time goal scorer with 139. He had four goals and three assists in Nazareth's 15-5 NCAA Tournament win over Geneseo and five goals and one assist in Nazareth's 16-14 win over Ithaca in the Empire 8 Conference championship game.
Conley started regularly as a close defenseman for the Golden Flyers the past two seasons and led all Nazareth defensemen with 44 ground balls in 2007. He was a second-team Empire 8 Conference all-star selection in '06 and '07.