a father fi gure. With this, it’s nice to come out and treat them like men and then assume the best. It looks like we’ll have a good locker room and good team chemistry. You win with good people and we drafted some good people.” Cerino saw that chemistry start to
surface during Charlotte’s fi rst training weekend. With no team-issued gear yet (except for practice jerseys), the varied backgrounds of the Hounds were apparent by the different helmets on the players’ heads: Virginia, Syracuse, Long Island Lizards and several other pro and post-collegiate club teams. Berger, who gave his Lizards helmet to a young fan when last season ended, had to borrow one of Cerino’s bright yellow helmets from Limestone.
As the team went through its drills, players became more comfortable with one another. There were the usual minor injuries, like when goalie Joe Marra suffered a bruised left hand after a hard shot managed to avoid the padding in his glove.
“Don’t rub it!” teammates shouted. As that morning’s practice neared its end, Cerino gathered his players and urged them to go hard one last time before lunch. “Let’s empty the tank on this,” he said. The players broke for about two hours, lounging under the roof of a rest area near the fi eld. The Maryland- Virginia game was on TV. Several players watched on their smart phones. “Everybody says expansion teams can’t be competitive,” Boltus said. “But I think we can change that here in Charlotte.” Boltus, who came to MLL last season after a standout career at Army, just graduated from West Point and has been working as a graduate assistant for the Black Knights. He will be stationed
second-longest tenured head coach behind Hamilton’s Regy Thorpe. Charlotte and Ohio begin with Mike Cerino and Ted Garber as their head coaches, respectively.
4
Who are players
primed to hit
the next level? John Galloway (pictured at right) solidifi ed the starting goaltender role in Rochester as a rookie and will have another year in the pro cage. Does a change of scenery do Jordan McBride well? McBride (19 points in seven games as a rookie) was traded from Rochester to Denver, closer to his native British Columbia and the Outlaws added
A Publication of US Lacrosse
in Oklahoma this summer — with weekends off. That means he should be able to get away to play lacrosse. “I haven’t heard directly from [the Army], but they know what I did last year,” Boltus said. “It’s not like I’ll be going off on weekends and screwing off. I’ll be promoting West Point and Army lacrosse, and that’s a great thing. I hope we can see eye to eye and things will work out.”
The Hounds returned for a Saturday afternoon practice. That night, the team went bowling (Carroll scored the highest) and had wings for dinner. Sunday morning, they wrapped up the weekend with a scrimmage against High Point University at Country Day. With Berger scoring two fi rst-quarter goals and defenseman Ricky Pages getting another on a fi eld-long rush, the Hounds won easily.
“I was thrilled with the way they
supported each other,” said Cerino. “They all wanted to do the right thing, rather than just your thing.”
Under the direction of former Charlotte Bobcats marketing executive Jim McPhilliamy, the Hounds want to win right away. They already have won over fans with engaging social media campaigns to pitch and vote for team names (the other fi nalists were Legion and Monarchs) and see logo prototypes. At press time, Charlotte had sold the third-most season tickets among MLL teams (behind perennial attendance leaders Denver and Boston) after also signing a local TV deal with WMYT to broadcast seven games. Wade Leaphart, the director of sales and marketing, was not shy about expectations of the on-fi eld product either. “We’re eying championship weekend,” he said. LM
0:00/1:13
fellow Canadian attackman Curtis Dickson to the roster. Speaking of Canadians, does former No. 1 overall pick Kevin Crowley’s role expand in assistant coach Gary Gait’s Hamilton Nationals offense?
immediate impact? 5
Pannell’s left foot injury leaves his status in question. Steele Stanwick brings his skills to an Ohio Machine team that otherwise lacks a bona fi de preseason MVP candidate. Denver’s two fi rst-round picks, Mark Matthews (Denver) and Colin Briggs (Virginia), will have a shot right away, as will Rochester defenseman Mike Manley (Duke).
— Corey McLaughlin May 2012 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 63
Which rookies have an
©RICH BARNES (JG)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84