2012 Deep South Conference Team Announced

WINGATE, N.C. - Mars Hill senior attack T.J. Cowx has been named the 2012 Deep South Conference Player of the Year, league officials announced Tuesday morning. Mars Hill's Taylor Thilo has been named the DSC Freshman of the Year. Tampa's Rory Whipple has been named the league's coach of the year.

Whipple guided the Spartans to an impressive 11-4 record in the program's first season. Tampa went 7-1 in the DSC, sharing the regular season conference title. Whipple guided the Spartans to victories in the first three games in the program's history, which included two conference wins and two road victories. As the active all-time winningest coach in Division II, he extends his record to 239-179 (.572).

Tampa had four players earn All-DSC honors, with two first team selections and two second team honorees. Junior midfield Greg Griffo, along with junior defender Wayne Magee earned first team honors. Griffo led the Spartans with 13 goals and 16 assists on the year. Magee led the league's top-ranked defense, helping the Spartans hold opponents to just 6.93 goals per game. He had 18 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers on the year.

Tampa junior goalie Joseph Fiorucci earned second team honors, while graduate student Greg Khanzadian earned second team specialist honors. Fiorucci led the conference, allowing just 6.92 goals per contest. He finished third with a .583 save percentage. The junior was also the first goaltender in the program's history to score a goal. Khanzadian won 104 of 174 face-offs on the year, while also piling up 63 ground balls for the Spartans.

Three players from UT received All-DSC Honorable Mentions, freshman attackman M.J. Lorenzo, junior LSM Jasper Gantick and junior defenseman Adam Dickson. Lorenzo was fourth on the Spartans with 26 points (15 goals and 11 assists) and also had a .604 shots on goal percentage. Gantick led the team in caused turnovers with 23 while having the fourth most groundballs. Dickson recorded 26 groundballs and had 20 caused turnovers. The Ontario native was also the only long pole to register a goal for Tampa on the season.

Voting was conducted by head coaches of the Deep South Conference.

2012 All-Deep South Conference Team

First Team
Attack
T.J. Cowx Sr. Mars Hill College
Braden Artem Sr. Catawba College
Matt Obermeyer So. Saint Leo University
Midfield
Tom Cullop Jr. Catawba College
Cade Zulak Sr. Mars Hill College
Jon Freda Sr. Florida Southern College
Greg Griffo Jr. University of Tampa
Bryan Bayliss Sr. Wingate University
Long Stick Midfield
Chris Cudmore Sr. Mars Hill College
Specialist
Adam Ismaeil Sr. Florida Southern College
Defense
Drew Stoltz Jr. Catawba College
Wayne Magee Jr. University of Tampa
D.J. Lubs So. Florida Southern College
Goalie
Dylan Price Sr. Mars Hill College

Second Team
Attack
George Proechel Jr. Saint Leo University
Derek Watts Jr. Wingate University
Mat Thompson Sr. Florida Southern College
Midfield
Ray Ferrera Jr. Saint Leo University
Kevin Naslonski So. Florida Southern College
Dan Applebaum Jr. Mars Hill College
Cory Losselyong Jr. Catawba College
Long Stick Midfield
Andrew Vossler Sr. Rollins College
Specialist
Ryan Herrmann Jr. Mars Hill College
Peter Harvey Gr. Rollins College
Greg Khanzadian Gr. University of Tampa
Defense
David Beaumont So. Mars Hill College
Larry Gress So. Florida Southern College
Dalton Jernigan Sr. Mars Hill College
Goalie
Joseph Fiorucci Jr. University of Tampa

Honorable Mention
Attack
Taylor Thilo Fr. Mars Hill College
Dave Lee Sr. Wingate University
Midfield
Andrew Conley Fr. Florida Institute of Technology
M.J. Lorenzo Fr. University of Tampa
Fred Turcio Sr. Catawba College
Long Stick Midfield
Jasper Gantick Jr. University of Tampa
Specialist
Dan Krispinsky So. Florida Southern College
Defense
Adam Dickson Jr. University of Tampa
Nick Scannapieco Jr. Rollins College
Goalie
Mike Pecchia Sr. Catawba College

Player of the Year
T.J. Cowx Sr. Mars Hill College
Freshman of the Year
Taylor Thilo Fr. Mars Hill College
Coach of the Year
Rory Whipple University of Tampa