SPARKS, Md. – USALacrosse.com recently announced their NCAA Division III men's All-Americans, honoring the top individual performers of the 2026 season and Keene State College earned recognition on the USALacrosse.com All-American list for the first time in program history as Ty Cougler was named an All-American Honorable Mention from his dominant junior season for the Owls.
 
Ty Cougler, a junior defender from Dover, New Hampshire, proved to be the best defender in the Little East Conference and among the top in the country from his 2026 season where he took home the LEC Defensive Player of the Year selection, along with being named to the First Team All-LEC, the LEC Defensive Player of the Week four times, and to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III Team of the Week as he excelled in multiple facets of the game for the Owls. His 59 caused turnovers not only set a new single season program record for the Owls, shattering his previous program record from last season of 47 caused turnovers, he tied for the third most caused turnovers among all athletes across all three divisions of NCAA men's lacrosse in the 2026 season. Cougler's 59 caused turnovers per game averaged out to 4.21 per game, also ranking the second highest across all three divisions of NCAA men's lacrosse on the year as he consistently wreaked havoc on opposing offenses. Not only did Cougler set the single season program record for caused turnovers, but he also surpassed the previous record of caused turnovers in a career for the Owls, surpassing Steve Hamel's (2016-2019) mark of 86 as Cougler rounded out his junior season with 133 caused turnovers. In the Owls' 9-8 win over Plymouth State University on Senior Day, Cougler also reached another milestone as he recorded his 200th career ground ball, becoming the fourth member in program history to reach the mark. Cougler's 93 ground balls were the fourth-most in the conference on the season (with his 6.64 ground balls per game ranking third in the LEC), also finishing with the seventh-most ground balls in a single season in program history.
 
Cougler's best game of the season came on the road in their Spring Break trip as the Owls beat down on previously undefeated Centenary (La.) University, 22-10. Cougler dominated in all facets of the contest, picking up 17 ground balls, the most in a game in the conference on the season, while also causing another LEC-high of 11 caused turnovers, tied for the second most caused turnovers in a single game across all three levels of NCAA men's lacrosse on the season. In the victory, Cougler also recorded two goals and two assists as he started to rack up the points in his junior season. Coming into the season with three points from three goals across his first 30 games as an Owl in his first two seasons, Cougler excelled in transition in 2026 as he recorded 12 points from eight goals (including two game-winning goals) and four assists. Across the year, Cougler recorded three multipoint games, while also tallying a point in seven of his 14 games (50%) on the season.
 
Cougler represents the LEC as the lone member of the conference of the 43 different Division III programs with at least one of the total 119 student-athletes on the list. The USALacrosse.com All-Americans were chosen by USA Lacrosse Magazine staff with input from coaches and conferences across the country.