HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University men's lacrosse head coach Jon Torpey has announced that Dan Lomas, Pat Farrell, Matt Thistle, Tyler Cook, Austin Geisler and Nick Bittner have been selected as team captains for the 2015 season.
 
"The six guys selected all bring exceptional individual leadership qualities to our program, and they also completely embody the overall values of our program" Torpey said. "These young men have worked hard both on and off the field and their character, energy, effort and attitude is a great example to the student athletes on our team. In a locker room full of leaders these six captains stood out and we are very proud of the choice our team made in selecting them."
 
Lomas, Farrell and Thistle were named captains last season and were voted upon again to lead the Panthers this season. Lomas enters his junior campaign as the reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year after leading the league with 42 goals and finishing second with 48 points in 2014. He was also honored as a Division I All-American in 2014.
 
Farrell, a senior, was named first team All-Atlantic Sun after tying for the team lead last season with 16 caused turnovers. He was a stalwart on the HPU defense, tallying 16 ground balls during the year.
 
Thistle is junior attackman who led the conference in points last year with 53, garnering first team All-Atlantic Sun honors in the process. He contributed 17 goals and dished out a conference-high 36 assists in his sophomore season.
 
Cook, Bittner and Geisler join Lomas, Farrell and Thistle as captains after a contested selection process.
 
Cook was named the Atlantic Sun's Scholar-Athlete of the Year last season. On the field, he tallied 12 points and 10 goals and two assists while contributing seven ground balls and causing one turnover. In the classroom, he carries a 4.0 GPA in psychology after two years at High Point.
 
Geisler, a redshirt-senior goalie, is the reigning Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year. He finished second in the NCAA in saves per game (13.63) and fifth in save percentage (.592). In addition, he led the conference in goals against average (9.47).
 
Bittner, a redshirt-junior defender, appeared in all 16 games, starting 15 for the Panthers a year ago. He posted 29 ground balls a year ago while finishing third on the team with 13 caused turnovers.
 
High Point won a share of the Atlantic Sun regular season championship in 2014 and advanced to the conference title game. The Panthers open their third season, and their first in the Southern Conference, in February.

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