DANBURY, Conn. — Western Connecticut State University men's lacrosse graduate student Benjamin Hawthorne (Manorville, N.Y..) and juniors Matthew Maloney (Bohemia, N.Y.) and Owen Stark (Long Beach, N.Y.) were each named to the 2025 CSC Division III Academic All-District At-Large Team, while Hawthorne and fellow grads Jonathan Russack-Baker (Groton, Conn.) and Tyler Starrett (Redding, Conn.) graced the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III Scholar All-Americans list, and Hawthorne, Russack-Baker, Starrett and Maloney joined graduate students Michael Castelli (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) and Liam Ford (New Fairfield, Conn.) and seniors Kai Bruneau (West Haven, Conn.), Nathan Caldwell (Cranford, N.J.) and Aidan Mulligan (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) on the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Division III All-Academic Team.  Seventeen Wolves men's lacrosse players graced the Little East Conference (LEC) 2025 Spring All-Academic Team and 31 were on the Little East Conference (LEC) 2024-25 Fall and Spring Academic Honor Rolls.  WestConn, coached by Ryan Cavanagh (10th Season), finished the 2025 campaign with a 13-7 overall record and completed a perfect 8-0 run through the LEC conference to capture the regular season title.  The Wolves downed Keene State, 17-7, and UMass Boston, 22-7, to win the LEC Championship Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship Tourney for the second time in three seasons but lost at Babson in the NCAA First Round.

The 2025 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's At-Large teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes at-large honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.  Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second and third-team Academic All-America® men's honorees will be announced on July 9.  The 2025 NEILA All-Academic Teams consisted of 354 student-athletes.  Members of the teams are nominated by head coaches in Divisions I, II and II, and are student-athletes who have excelled both in the classroom and on the field over the course of their men's lacrosse career.  Nominees must have a senior or graduate student standing with no eligibility remaining or plans to use their eligibility in New England, a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale, and be an impact player for their team.

The Little East Conference (LEC) announced a total of 559 student-athletes competing in the LEC's seven spring championship sports – baseball, softball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's outdoor track & field, women's outdoor track & field, men's tennis - have been named to the 2025 LEC Spring All-Academic Team.  To be named the LEC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be at least in sophomore standing in the classroom, have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher through the previous semester, and have been at their current institution for at least one full academic year prior to the start of the competitive season.  The LEC had a total of 2,276 student-athletes competing in the conference's current 21 championship sports were named to the LEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and 2,224 to the LEC Spring Academic Honor Roll in 2024-25. To be named the LEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must earn a semester GPA of 3.00 or better and have been an active member of the team at the conclusion of the term.

Hawthorne, a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection, had 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points to go with 12 ground balls in 20 games and nine starts as an attackman with the Wolves. Hawthorne has been an LEC All-Academic and Academic Honor Roll and NEILA All-Academic selection multiple times with the Wolves.  An alum of Eastport South Manor High School, Hawthorne earned his bachelor's degree in communication from WestConn and is pursuing a master's in business administration.  Maloney, who repeats on CSC Academic All-District Team, recorded one goals and six assists for seven points, scooped 12 ground balls, and caused six turnovers while appearing in 18 games with one start in the WestConn midfield this spring.  A graduate of the Connetquot High School, Maloney has been an LEC Academic Honor Roll member multiple times as a finance major at WestConn.  Stark had a goal and two assists for three points and picked up 19 ground balls while appearing in all 20 games with two starts in the WestConn midfield this spring.  A graduate of the Long Beach High School, Stark has been an LEC All-Academic Team and Academic Honor Roll member as a mathematics major at WestConn.

Russack-Baker, a three-time All-LEC honoree, won 297 of his 442 attempts and led the LEC with a .672 faceoff percentage (20th in nation) as WestConn's specialist this spring. He also scooped a conference-best 202 ground balls (10th in nation) to go with four goals and two assists for six points while playing in 19 games (all starts) in 2025.  He was honored as the LEC Offensive Player of the Week once this season.  An alum of Robert E. Fitch High School, Russack-Baker is pursuing his master's degree at WestConn in business administration after completing his undergraduate degree in 2023 in communication.  Starrett, a two-time All-LEC honoree, notched 49 goals, team-highs of eight man-up goals and four game-winning tallies, and eight assists for 57 points to go with 31 ground balls in 20 games and 11 starts as a midfielder with the Wolves. He scored two game-winning goals and tied for the team lead in man-up goals with six. An alum of Joel Barlow High School and SUNY Cortland, Starrett is pursuing a master's degree at WestConn in business administration.  Castelli totaled 12 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in 19 games with one start for the WestConn defese this spring.  He is an alum of Lakeland High School and is pursuing a master's degree at WestConn.  Ford, an All-LEC honoree in 2025, had 39 goals and 15 assists for 54 points with two game-winners and 14 ground balls in 19 games in the Wolves midfield this spring.  An alum of New Fairfield High School, Ford is pursuing a graduate degree at WestConn.

Bruneau had three goals and two assists for five points in 10 games with one start in the WestConn attack this spring.  A graduate of Hamden Hall Country Day School, Bruneau has been an LEC Academic Honor Roll member multiple times as a marketing major at WestConn.  Caldwell, a two-time All-LEC honoree, scored four times with three assists for seven points and totaled 41 ground balls and 134 caused turnovers while appearing in 18 games with 17 starts at short-stick midfielder for the Wolves.  A graduate of Cranford High School, Caldwell has been an LEC All-Academic and Academic Honor Roll member multiple times as a health education at WestConn.  Mulligan, a two-time All-LEC honoree, scored twice and added an assist for three points in seven games at midfielder for the Wolves.  A graduate of Mount Sinai High School, Caldwell has been an LEC All-Academic and Academic Honor Roll member multiple times as a justice and law administration at WestConn.