WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Former high school teammates and classmates Steve Lane (Groton, Conn.) and DJ Simmons (Mystic, Conn.) have capped four-year careers in the Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse program by earning 2009 USILA Division III All-America honors.

Each a senior captain and four-year letterwinner, Lane and Simmons were each named to the 56-person honorable mention team. Lane is a defenseman and Simmons a midfielder. They become the ninth and 10th USILA All-America picks in the program's 14-year history - the first since attackman Marc DiGiovanni (second team) and long stick midfielder Pat Ammendolia (honorable mention) were honored six years ago.

Lane and Simmons both earned all-state honors under Dave Howes at Fitch Senior High School in Groton, leading the Falcons to a conference championship in their senior seasons of 2005. Lane began his high school career at midfield. Simmons' lacrosse career began when he joined the Fitch High program in his junior year.

"Steve and DJ were both great athletes out of high school who had  incredible work ethics and the desire to become the best," praised second-year head coach Justin Axel. "They exemplify exactly what we look for in our student-athletes. These two young men illustrate the fact that it does not necessarily matter where you come from, but rather, where you want to go."

Earlier this week, both were named second-team All-New England by the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA). Earlier this month, Lane was named Defensive Player-of-the-Year and Simmons Offensive Player-of-the-Year by the Little East Conference.

Lane was second on the team this year behind national ground ball leader Eric Vasil (Southington, Conn.) with a career-high 75 ground balls. For the third time in his career, Lane started every match and concluded his career ranked first all-time among field players with 69 starts and second with 69 appearances. He leaves the program ranked third all-time with 266 ground balls - 16 behind the leader.

"Steve was a true shut-down defenseman as he held some of the best players in the country to very limited goals," offered Axel of Lane, who was a three-time (first-team) all-conference selection in his career. "His work ethic off the field truly showed in his senior campaign."

Always assigned to defend the opponent's most dangerous scorer, Lane held national Midfielder-of-the-Year Kylor Berkman without a goal and to just two assists when the Warriors faced No. 1 nationally-ranked Salisbury University March 21 at Salisbury, MD. Against Lane, Keene State College attackman Tony Santa Fe - a selection to this year's national USILA North-South Senior All-Star Game - managed only two goals in two games.

Lane becomes only the second Eastern defenseman to earn All-America accolades, following Shannon Sligo - the program's first All-America -- who was an honorable mention choice in 1999 and 2000.

Simmons recorded career highs this year with 49 goals and 63 points and added 14 assists. He ranked second in the conference in goals and points behind teammate Matthew Savage (Southington, Conn.) and shared the conference lead with 11 extra-man goals. Seven of his goals this year were game-winners, four coming in the team's final four victories. One of those game-winners came in the LEC playoff title win over Keene State  and another came 82 seconds into overtime against Merchant Marine four days later. Simmons leaves the program ranked fourth all-time in goals (127) and ninth in points (168).

"DJ has been a special player for us who continued to get better every day," stated Axel of Simmons. "Despite his late start into lacrosse, DJ blossomed into one of the best midfielders in the country with his hard work and effort."

Simmons was a three-time conference all-star in his career, twice achieving first-team status.

This year's All-America Awards Reception is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston. The Division I semifinals and finals and Division II and III championship games are scheduled this weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

A total of 39  institutions were represented with at least one of the 92 All-America selections. Twelve players were named to each of the first, second and third teams. Ten New England schools received an All-America pick, Eastern the only state institution to be represented. Three institutions - Stevenson University, Roanoke College and Gettysburg College - were accorded six All-Americas each. Stevenson was ranked No. 1 in the final USILA Division III poll, Roankok third and Gettsburg fifth. Gettsburg will compete in the national championship game Sunday against fourth-ranked Cortland State College.

Eastern equaled the program record for wins en route to a final 15-4 record in 2009 and a berth in the program's sixth NCAA Division III tournament in nine years, with its nine-game winning streak exceeded only three times in program history. The Warriors earned an automatic berth in the tournament this past spring  after winning their sixth conference playoff title in nine years, then posted their first-ever NCAA tournament win with a 10-9 overtime decision at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. They were ranked seventh in the final New England poll, and also received votes in the final regular-season USILA Division III national rankings.

Lane and Simmons become Eastern's fourth and fifth student-athletes to achieve All-America status, joining senior Kyle Bedini (Manchester, Conn.) last fall in men's soccer, senior Ashley McFetridge (Canton, Conn.) this past winter in women's basketball, and freshman Molly Rathbun (Hebron, Conn.) this spring in softball.

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