Villanova Wildcats senior Brian Karalunas was voted the Big East Conference's Defensive Player of the Year as the team prepares for its NCAA 1st round matchup against Denver this weekend. Karalunas was joined by Kevin Cunningham and Jack Rice on the Big East 1st-Team. Karalunas is a repeat winner of the award having won it in 2010 as well.
Fellow Wildcats Matt Bell and Chris Creighton were voted to the Big East 2nd-Team.
Karalunas led the country in caused turnovers per game at 4.53, while Kevin Cunningham led Villanova with 41 points. Jack Rice led the team with 32 goals and as a sophomore is the youngest player on the 1st team.
The full list of conference award winners and all-conference teams are after The Jump.
BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year
Stephen Keogh, Syracuse, Sr., A
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Brian Karalunas, Villanova, Sr., LSM
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
*David Earl, Notre Dame, Sr., M
BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
*John Galloway, Syracuse, Sr., GK
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
John Desko, Syracuse, 13th season
First Team^
Barney Ehrmann, Georgetown, GS, D
Sam Barnes, Notre Dame, Sr., D
Zach Brenneman, Notre Dame, Sr., M
*David Earl, Notre Dame, Sr., M
*Kevin Ridgway, Notre Dame, Sr., D
Chris Mattes, Rutgers, Sr., SP
*John Galloway, Syracuse, Sr., G
*Stephen Keogh, Syracuse, Sr., A
*John Lade, Syracuse, Sr., D
Jovan Miller, Syracuse, Sr., M
Jeremy Thompson, Syracuse, Sr., M
*Joel White, Syracuse, Sr., LSM
*Kevin Cunningham, Villanova, Jr., A
Brian Karalunas, Villanova, Sr., LSM
Jack Rice, Villanova, So., A
Second Team^
Travis Comeau, Georgetown, So., A
David Emala, Georgetown, So., A
Dan Hostetler, Georgetown, Jr., D
Rickey Mirabito, Georgetown, GS, A
Max Seligmann, Georgetown, Sr., M
Andrew Irving, Notre Dame, Sr., LSM
John Kemp, Notre Dame, So., G
Scott Klimchak, Rutgers, R-Fr., A
Josh Amidon, Syracuse, Sr., M
Tim Desko, Syracuse, R-Jr., A
Kevin Drew, Syracuse, Jr., SP
JoJo Marasco, Syracuse, So., A
Brian Megill, Syracuse, So., D
Matt Bell, Villanova, Jr., M
Chris Creighton, Villanova, Jr., D
*Unanimously selected
^Additional members due to voting ties