Marquette men’s lacrosse senior Noah Richard is the 2019 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.
Richard was also a unanimous selection on the All-BIG EAST First Team at long-stick midfielder for the second straight year.
The senior had 71 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers this season and is the first Marquette player to win the award since Liam Byrnes won it in 2016.
The West Chester, Pennsylvania, native is fourth in Marquette history in ground balls and third in caused turnovers. He finished his career two ground balls short of tying Zachary Melillo’s program record.
Both redshirt senior midfielder Tanner Thomson and junior defender Nick Grill were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, each making their first appearance on the list.
Thomson was second on the team in points with 38 and led the Golden Eagles in goals with 26 this season. Thomson is fifth in the school’s history with 93 points and 65 goals.
Grill has been an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection for two straight years and picked up 31 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers as a close defender this season. He joins Melillo, Byrnes and his brother B.J. Grill as the only Marquette players to be honored with three straight BIG EAST postseason honors.
Senior John Wagner earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team after leading the team with 39 points and 18 assists. The attackman from Ontario wraps up his career third in team history for points and goals and fourth in assists.
This is the first time since 2015 that MU has three players on the conference first team.
