Air Force Academy

Dec. 7, 2010

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CAPE COD, Mass. -

For the second straight season, two Air Force lacrosse players were named to the Preseason All-ECAC team, announced by the league on Tuesday morning. Brothers Bryan and Dayton Gilbreath were named to the team as defensive selections. In addition, Dayton Gilbreath was named the 2011 preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

The Gilbreath brothers, natives of Bainbridge Island, Wash., are the backbone of the Falcons' defensive unit. Dayton, currently a junior, has been a first-team all-conference selection on defense in each of his first two years, earning the honor as a member of the GWLL in 2009 and the ECAC in 2010. He was also named the GWLL Newcomer of the Year in his rookie season.

Meanwhile, Bryan is a senior who has seen time at both the long-stick midfield and close defense positions. He was named a second-team all-conference selection as an LSM in each of the past two seasons (GWLL in 2009, ECAC in 2010). In 2010, Bryan ranked ninth in the nation in caused turnovers per game with 2.0, while ranking 16th in ground balls per contest (5.07).

Five of the twelve players named to the preseason All-ECAC team hail from Loyola, while Denver and Fairfield earned two selections each. Also represented on the team was Ohio State with one selection. Meanwhile, the two other major awards go to Denver players, with junior Mark Matthews chosen as the preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while goalkeeper Jamie Faus was tabbed the preseason Rookie of the Year.

Also released Tuesday by the league were the preseason conference rankings, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Denver, which captured the conference title in 2010, was chosen to repeat as champion, followed by Loyola in second place. Fairfield ranked third in the team projections, followed by Ohio State, Hobart, Air Force and Bellarmine.

Air Force opens the 2010 season on Feb. 20, when it travels to Syracuse, N.Y., to face Siena in the Carrier Dome.

2010 Preseason All-ECAC Team

A      Mark Matthews, Denver*                  Jr.

A      Alex Demopoulos, Denver *             Jr.

A      Logan Schuss, Ohio State *             So.

M     Brent Adams, Fairfield *#                 Jr.

M     Eric Lusby, Loyola *                        Sr.

M     Josh Hawkins, Loyola                      So.

D     Dayton Gilbreath, Air Force*            Jr.

D     Bryan Gilbreath, Air Force*               Sr.

D     Brendan McTague, Fairfield *           Sr.

D     Steve Dircks, Loyola ^                     Sr.

Sp.   John Schiavone, Loyola (FO/M) *#   Sr.

G     Jake Hagelin, Loyola *^                    Sr.

* 2010 All-ECAC

# 2009 All-ECAC

^ 2008 All-ECAC

Offensive Player of the Year

Mark Matthews, Denver Jr.

Defensive Player of the Year

Dayton Gilbreath, Air Force Jr.

Rookie of the Year

Jamie Faus, Denver Fr.