FOREST, Va. — Four members of the Bridgewater College men’s lacrosse team claimed spots on All-ODAC teams, which were announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.

Gabriel Alexander and Connor McLean saw their names on the second team, while Ryan Addison and Chris Martel claimed third team laurels.

Alexander, a junior hailing from Chesterfield, Virginia, improves on his third team selection last season to the second tier of the league’s postseason awards. Alexander bested his own team record with 161 ground balls this season and produced the third-best faceoff win percentage in team history with an ODAC-best .664 percent, which is 17th best in Division III. He won 202 faceoffs in 304 attempts and set a new BC team record with 24 wins and 20 ground balls in a single game earlier this season in a 15-13 win against Misericordia. The junior played in 14 out of the team’s 16 games and won over 75% of his faceoffs in four games. In addition to his faceoff excellence, Alexander also contributed six goals and two assists, including the game-winning score in a 11-8 win at Shenandoah. Alexander was named ODAC Player of the Week once and gained USILA Team of the Week laurels once, as well.

One of the most prolific attackmen in program history, McLean earns second team All-ODAC honors for the first time after garnering a third-team pick last season. McLean ended his collegiate career as the program’s all-time point scoring leader with 222 career points on 98 goals and 124 assists. He is the only student-athlete in team history to record 100 assists in a career and was just the second to reach the 200-point plateau. McLean passed Eric Husselbaugh (218, 2018-21) in the team’s regular season finale at Randolph-Macon. On the year, McLean finished with a team-high 45 assists, which broke his own single-season assist mark, and was fourth-most in the ODAC. He also pitched in 17 goals to finish with a team-best 62 points and finished with at least five points in five games in 2023. The native of Fairfax, Virginia, also contributed 32 ground balls and caused four turnovers throughout the season.

A sophomore from Marriottsville, Maryland, Addison claims his first All-ODAC honors with a spot on the third team. The second-year starter posted 28 caused turnovers to rank sixth in the conference in the category and picked up 42 ground balls, which was second on the team and among conference leaders for defensemen. He tallied at least one caused turnover in nearly every game this season and contributed three CTs in a single game five times. Addison is one of three players to start all 16 games for the Eagles in 2023.

Martel, a graduate student from Linthicum, Maryland, gets his second straight All-ODAC honor with a place on the third team. Martel finished the season with 47 goals, which is the second most in the ODAC through the end of the conference tournament, and was second on the team with 53 points. He finished his career in the Crimson & Gold as the program’s all-time goal scoring leader as he wrapped up his career with 174 goals. He passed Blake Mann (161, 2015-18) following a hat trick in the 11-8 win at Shenandoah earlier this season. Martel also became the third player in program history to record 200 points as he scored six times in the team’s ODAC Tournament First Round game against the Hornets. He scored in all 14 games in which he appeared and registered at least three goals in eight games, including an eight-goal game in a 24-7 win against Averett.

This is the fourth-straight time the Eagles have had at least four or more players named to All-ODAC teams dating back to 2019 (no All-ODAC team in 2020 due to COVID-19-shortened seasons).

The Eagles finished the 2023 campaign with the No. 6 seed in the ODAC Tournament and earned the right to host the No. 7 seed, Shenandoah.

— BC Athletics —