Hempstead, NY – Hofstra University junior attackman Sam Llinares was named the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Lacrosse Player of the Year and headed up seven Pride student-athletes who were honored as the 2015 All-CAA Men's Lacrosse Teams were announced Wednesday evening.

Llinares, who received his second All-CAA first team honor in 2015, is joined by senior long-stick midfielder Ryan Rielly and sophomore face-off specialist Kris Clarke on the CAA first team.  Senior midfielder Mike Malave and junior defenseman Finn Sullivan were voted to the All-CAA second team and freshman midfielder Dylan Alderman and defenseman Tanner Griffin were named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Malave was also named to the CAA Men's Lacrosse All-Academic Team.

Llinares, who hails from Hauppauge, NY, lived up to his preseason CAA Player of the Year accolade by leading the conference in goals and points in 2015. In 14 games, he recorded career-highs of 33 goals and 57 points for the Pride. In the process, he became the first Hofstra student-athlete to post 50 points or more in consecutive seasons since Tom Kessler did it in 2000 and 2001. The 2014 USILA All-American honorable mention tallied five hat-tricks this season including a career-best six goals against Manhattan. Llinares also posted a career-high eight points against the Jaspers, a number he duplicated in a win over Providence. The third-year standout also surpassed the 100-point plateau in his career in 2015 and now has 73 goals and 69 assists for 142 points, which is tied for 10th on the all-time Hofstra scoring list.

Llinares is the fourth Hofstra student-athlete to earn CAA Player of the Year honors during the 2014-15 academic year. Previously, junior Leah Galton from the women's soccer team, senior Jonel Boileau from the field hockey team and Kelsie Wills from the volleyball team earned the same honor in their respective sports.

Rielly, a native of East Northport, NY, earned his second All-CAA first team in 2015 after earning first team honors last season as well. He anchored a rope unit that included classmates Steve Romano and John Reicherter and was one of the top two-way defensive middies in the game. Rielly recorded four goals and two assists and picked up 27 ground balls in 14 games this season. He scored goals against Marquette, Princeton, Georgetown and Ohio State. Rielly also finished second in the CAA and 38th in Division I in caused turnovers with 18 including four in a win over St. John's.

After winning 56 percent of his face-offs and earning a spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team as a freshman in 2014, Clarke took another giant step this season by being named to the All-CAA first team. The Bellmore, NY native led the conference and ranked 10th in Division in face-off winning percentage this season, capturing 173 of 284 face-offs for a .609 mark. He also tallied two goals and three assists and picked up 82 ground balls, which ranked second in the CAA and 15th in the country, in 14 games. He scored goals against Princeton and Manhattan and won 17 of 18 face-offs against Manhattan and 19 of 22 against Providence.

Malave, who hails from Wading River, NY, earned his first All-CAA honor, on the second team, in 2015 after recording career-highs of 28 goals and 34 points. The 2014 All-CAA Tournament team selection was fourth in the league in goals and sixth in points. He also led the conference and was second in Division I with 10 man-up goals. Malave tallied three hat-tricks this season including a career-best tying five goals at Georgetown in March. He also added two assists against the Hoyas for a career-best seven point performance.

Malave, a finance major with a 3.45 grade point average, was also named to the CAA Men's Lacrosse All-Academic Team.

Sullivan, a native of West Roxbury, MA, earned All-CAA second team honor in 2015 after being a first team pick in 2014. The 6'3 defender started all 14 games this season and was second on the Hofstra team with 37 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. He picked up seven ground balls and forced three turnovers in the Pride contest against Marist. Sullivan has now started all 30 games over the past two seasons.

Newcomers Dylan Alderman and Tanner Griffin earned their stripes in 2015 and were named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Alderman started 12 of the 14 games that he played in this season. The Downingtown, PA native scored seven goals and added 11 assists for 18 points, good for fourth on the Pride team. He tallied two goals and one assist against Marist and one goal and three assists in the win over St. John's. Griffin, a native of Loveland, OH, started all 14 games on defense as a true freshman for Hofstra in 2015. He recorded 24 ground balls including a season-best five in his return to his home state against Ohio State. Griffin also scooped up four at Princeton. He also forced eight turnovers including two against both UMass and Fairfield.
 
The other special CAA Men's Lacrosse award winners included junior Tyler White from Towson as CAA Defensive Player of the Year, Will Fox from Fairfield as CAA Rookie of the Year and Andy Copelan from Fairfield as CAA Coach of the Year.