Central Mass Coaches Name 2014 Lacrosse All Americans

St. John's goalie Steven Kerr

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Central Mass' 2014 high school lacrosse All Americans have been named, and the Town of Shrewsbury is well represented with two selections from St. John's and another from Shrewsbury High School.

Here are the five players that stood above the rest in the eyes of the Central Mass Lacrosse Coaches Association and earned All American honors. Also listed below are the 2014 Academic All Americans from the region. Players are listed alphabetically by high school, with their college choice following.

All Americans

Quintin Forbes, M,  Groton-Dunstable, Bentley

Chris Gorman, G, Shrewsbury, Eastern Connecticut

Drew Smiley, A, St. John's, US Naval Academy

Steven Kerr, G, St. John's, Western New England

Tom Bishop, LSM, Wachusett, Clarkson

Academic All-Americans

Miles Massida, M, North Middlesex, Boston University

Ben Foley, M/A, Tyngsboro, James Madison

Nabeel Tokatli, M, Worcester, WPI

Forbes has done it all for Groton-Dunstable the last few years, and is a big reason why the Crusaders are still playing for a district championship in D3 Central/East. His ability to score and possess the ball are only surpassed by his knack for finding open cutters and creating scoring chances for his teammates.

Gorman came into the year as the most hyped goalie in Central Mass, and he certainly didn't disappoint, anchoring Shrewsbury's vaunted defense, and helping the Colonials earn the No. 3 seed in D2 Central/West. There are many reasons why Shrewsbury allows only five goals a game, but Gorman's ability to make goal-stealing saves might be the biggest.

Smiley was the region's only returning All American, and he once again earned the distinction this season. The Navy commit helped power St. John's to one of the best regular seasons in Central Mass history, and provided leadership to a talented, but inexperienced, attack.

While everyone knew about Smiley, nobody had heard of goalie Steven Kerr coming into the season. Kerr had the unenviable task of replacing 2013 SuiteSports All Star A.J. Arnold between the pipes, but he filled in more than admirably. Leading Central Mass with a 3.61 goals against average, Kerr is generating All State hype in lacrosse circles.

Bishop is revered as one of the best possession middies in the state, and coaches around Central Mass know him as a ground ball demon and relentless defender. The Mountaineers saw their season end Tuesday, but Wachusett notched several impressive wins in 2014, including an absolute shocker against Shrewsbury three weeks ago.

I cannot comment intelligently on the Academic All Americans, but a big congratulations to those kids for taking care of business on the field and in the classroom. I will say that you could make a case for high-scoring middie Ben Foley from Tyngsboro to be an All American as well.

Either way, congratulations to everybody honored. It sure isn't easy to earn All American distinction.