The #6 men's lacrosse team was heavily represented in the WHAC postseason awards that were released today (May 2). Overall, Aquinas had five players receive All-WHAC First Team honors. In addition, Aquinas had three more players garner second team honors.

Representing Aquinas as All-WHAC First Team athletes were Clayton Boerigter, Mitch Haggart, Matt Wagner, Kevin LaHaie, and Lou Nageotte. Joey Fitzgerald, Gavin Kleynenberg, and Zachary Sweet were honored as All-WHAC Second Team athletes.

In net, Boerigter was one of the best not only in the conference, but on the national scale as well. He went 9-4 in the regular season, collecting 136 saves and a .562 save percentage to go along with his 8.92 goals per game. Among the NAIA, Boerigter finished 12th in goals-against average, 13th in save percentage, and 15th in total saves. He finished with double digit saves in seven of the 14 games this season with the most coming against Webber International at 21. There was only four instances where he allowed 10+ goals with three games coming against nationally ranked NAIA opponents and the other was against NCAA DIII Hope. Boerigter has now been named to an All-WHAC team three times in his career now after being selected to the second team in 2019 and 2021.

Haggart was an offensive powerhouse for the Saints, ending the regular season with 52 goals and 20 assists for a total of 72 points. Of his 52 goals on the season, three of those goals were game-winners and he averaged over five points per game for Aquinas. Haggart leads the rest of the NAIA in total shots (257) by a large margin, while also being third in goals and fourth in points. He scored six goals in a game three separate times this season, while collecting a season-high nine points against Taylor. Haggart also chipped in with 38 ground balls and nine caused turnovers. This is the third time in his career that Haggart has been named to the first team with the other two times coming in 2017 and 2021.

On the back line in front of Boerigter was Wagner who helped limit opposing offenses to 34.8 shots per game compared to AQ's 54.7 shots per game on the offensive end. He played a part in forcing the 332 total turnovers defensively with 17 caused turnovers, while also picking up 36 ground balls. His best game came against Concordia when he scooped up six ground balls and forced CUAA into turing the ball over three times. Being one of the top WHAC defenders is nothing new to Wagner as this is his fourth time being selected to an All-WHAC First Team. The other instances came in 2018, 2019, and 2021 and Wagner is believed to be the first Aquinas player to be selected to four All-WHAC teams in school history.

LaHaie was a two-way player for the Saints as a midfielder, having a hand in the team's success on the offensive and defensive sides of the field. Defensively, he had a team-leading 61 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers on the season, which were both top-25 among all NAIA players. He also contributed 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points on the offensive end. LaHaie picked up a career-high 10 ground balls against UM-Dearborn, while also adding three caused turnovers. There were five different games where he scored two goals, two of which he added an assist for three points. This is the first time in his career that LaHaie has been named to an All-WHAC team.  

In his first year playing lacrosse at the collegiate level, Nageotte was a constant defensive presence on the field for Aquinas as the team's long-stick midfielder. He had 41 ground balls on the season along with 10 caused turnovers, as the ground ball total was second most on the team. Nageotte also managed to score his first collegiate goal against Taylor for his only goal of the season, while also picking up a career-high seven ground balls in the same game.

Fitzgerald was the main offensive threat out of the midfielders this season, finishing the regular season with 21 goals and 10 assists for 31 points. Two of those goals came when when Aquinas was up a man due to an opponent penalty. Defensively, he forced nine turnovers and scooped up 32 ground balls. Against Cleary, Fitzgerald finished with three goals and two assists for five points, which was one of the three games with three goals this season. As a graduate student this year, this is the first time that Fitzgerald has been named to an All-WHAC team.

Kleynenberg paired up with Wagner as the two main defenders in front of the goal this season on a Saints defense that allowed just 8.87 goals per game. He picked up 35 ground balls and forced 15 turnovers, which was second on the team this season. He also contributed a lone assist against UM-Dearborn to his score line this year. This is the first All-WHAC team that Kleynenberg has been selected to.

Lastly, Sweet was the second best offensive player for the Saints behind Haggart this season. On the year he had 42 goals and five assists for 47 points with the goals and points totals being second and third on the team, respectively. His goals total was 11th best in the NAIA and tied for the 12th most goals while up a man at five. Sweet had six instances where he had at least four goals in a game. He also had 23 ground balls and a caused turnover on the year. This is the second season in a row where Sweet has been named to the second team.

Aquinas finished with six men's lacrosse student-athletes on the WHAC All-Academic Team, which are juniors or above in academic standing with a cumulative 3.25 grade point average and have been at AQ for at least one full year. Aquinas' All-Academic honorees are: Clayton Boerigter, Joey Fitzgerald, Kevin LaHaie, Hunter Roberts, Gabe Schmader, and Russell Shengulette.

Fitzgerald was also the AQ representative on the Champions of Character Team, as the Saints player that best represents the five core character values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.