ARNOLD, MD -- The Anne Arundel Community College men's lacrosse team has been selected for an at-large berth the NJCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship, it was announced today. AACC has been selected as the fifth seed and will travel to face fourth seed CCBC Essex on Saturday, May 8th at 7 pm in the NJCAA quarterfinal round.
The selection marks the 25th overall for the Riverhawks, who last made an appearance in the national tournament in 2017. AACC's most recent national tournament win came in a 14-7 opening round win against SUNY Delhi. The Riverhawks claimed the national title in 1998.
AACC enters the tournament with a 6-6 record after falling to Region XX champion Harford in the regional semifinals. The Riverhawks dropped both regular season matchups against Essex, falling 20-7 in the season opener on March 13 in Arnold, and falling 17-11 in the countable region game at Essex on March 27.
Sam Weisshaar directs AACC's offense and is the nation's leader in goals (39), assists (35) and points (74). Joining him atop the national rankings in goals are fellow attackmen John Thibodeau (37) and Trevor Collier (35). Thibodeau and Collier also join Weisshaar to make up the top trio of points producers in the country with 56 and 51 respectively.
AACC's 112 assists (9.3/game) leads the nation and the Riverhawks rank second in goal production only to this weekend's foe, Essex, trailing the Knights by 10 with 196 goals this season (16.3/gm).
The Riverhawks' defense also leads the nation with 494 groundballs (41.2/gm) and 153 caused turnovers (12.75/gm).
Anchoring the AACC defense are veterans Niles Tinsley, Mike Rogers and Connor Bittner. The trio has helped the Riverhawks limit opponents to just 13.4 shots per game. Adding in newcomer Brandon Grusholt, Riverhawks make up three of the top 10 in caused turnovers in the nation.
In goal, Conner Westervelt has started 10 of AACC's 12 games, making his debut against Essex in Rossville on March 27, making a career-high 17 stops in the game.
At the faceoff x, Mark Kelm has taken the most draws in the country, going 142-246 (57.7%).
Fifth year head coach Joe Stanilaus is 0-1 all-time in the national tournament after bringing Riverhawks to the tournament in his first season in Arnold.
Live Stats for Saturday's game will be available at https://ccbcessexknights.com/sports/mlax/2020-21/boxscores/20210508_cgv7.xml, and live video can be accessed at www.youtube.com/ccbcessexknights.