2013 Record: 2-12
Coach:
Bear Davis 2nd season
7 OHIO MVP MACHINE
Drafting No. 1 overall in consecutive years means your team is losing a lot of games. But it also means that your team is stockpiling young talented assets. Thanks to MLL’s partnership with Adrenaline and the LXM Pro Tour, the Machine finally will suit up the top choice in 2013, Peter Baum. “I’m excited to get in the MLL.
CANDIDATE Steele Stanwick Stanwick is one of the smoothest passers in the MLL and has one of the highest lacrosse IQs entering his third season in the league. “With him becoming a little bit more veteran and us building around him more, I would not be surprised to see his game escalate two- fold this year,” Davis said.
NEW
ARRIVALS Peter Baum, Matt Dolente, Brian Farrell, Kyle Harrison, Erik Krum, Tom Schrieber
Adding three No. 1 draft picks, including the past two No. 1’s in Baum and Schrieber (Princeton), vastly improves what was a very thin midfield group. It also allows Holman and Schuss to play more attack, their natural positions.
ENEMY LINES “Ohio is one of the more improved teams in the league… Holman and Stanwick are tremendous. With Schuss, that’s as good as anyone. … They still struggle at the faceoff ‘X’ and the goal, and you can’t struggle at those positions… Ready to have a breakout year.”
A Publication of US Lacrosse
It’s something I wanted to do immediately after graduating college,” Baum said. “You’ve got a core group with myself, Steele [Stanwick], Tommy [Schreiber], Marcus [Holman] and Logan Schuss. It will be exciting on the offensive end for sure.”
Thanks to their undesirable place in the standings last season, Ohio also was atop the waiver wire list when LXM players were added to the player pool. The Machine jumped on the ability to land Kyle Harrison. “In our style getting up and down the field, Kyle is one of the best that does that,” Ohio coach Bear Davis said. “We hit the jackpot.” While the
Machine has struggled, its 2012 expansion counterpart — the Charlotte Hounds — found themselves in the championship game last season.
Ohio recognizes the early success the Hounds have had and are looking to grow to get a taste of the same success on the field.
“Sometimes you have a recipe you put it in the pot and it just doesn’t taste good. You don’t know why,” said Davis, the former Robert Morris coach. “We have our own recipe now and we have to fix it.”
Davis and Baum agree that, like Charlotte, Ohio has an identity and a strong core to build around. “It’s been two tough seasons, so
it’s going to be a challenge but the talent they have coming in is exciting and it lays a good foundation for us,” Baum said. — P.S.
2013 Record: 6-8
Coach:
Tim Soudan 3rd season
Steele Stanwick
ROCHESTER RATTLERS
8
CANDIDATE John Galloway Scorers get all the love, but a goalie — Greg Cattrano — did win the MLL MVP award in 2002, so there is a precedent. Galloway’s stock has never been higher. He’ll have to stand out again this year while the Rattlers wait for draft picks to spice up the offense.
MVP
ARRIVALS Sam Bradman, John LoCascio, Mark Matthews, Miles Thompson, Ty Thompson, Jordan Wolf Just two teams scored fewer goals than the Rattlers last season, but they certainly drafted some scoring punch with Wolf and the Thompsons.
NEW
The rumors out of Rochester all of last season were that the Rattlers wouldn’t be around for much longer as a franchise. The team played three out-of-market games, had the lowest average attendance in the league and missed the playoffs for a third straight season. While the team didn’t move this offseason, some of its most identifiable players did. Veterans Ned Crotty, Matt Striebel and Steve DeNapoli were traded. “We traded away some big name players, which was a little scary at first,” Rattlers long-stick midfielder Joel White said. “It’s never easy to replace those big names, but it was a great job by the coaching staff to have a great draft and get some players on the Rattlers so we can start working toward our goal.” Despite the murmurs last season, Rochester still finished just one game out of the playoffs for the second straight year. White credited a tight-knit locker room.
Part of that
chemistry comes from a large contingent of players with ties
ENEMY LINES “What a collection of talent. If those draft picks and midfielders pan out, they will be good. But at what point this season can they put it together? Their best days might be in the second half next year. … If you really wanted to win would you trade Crotty? Tim Soudan does a nice job, but I’m not sure the players are the most important component.”
to Duke. Dave Lawson, Rob Rotanz, and Mike Manley all played together in Durham, and John Galloway was a volunteer coach for a season with the Blue Devils. Rochester then added former Duke midfielder Justin Turri this offseason and drafted current Blue Devils attackman Jordan Wolf. The team also drafted cousins Miles and Ty Thompson, who have shown great chemistry playing together for Albany.
“The Duke guys have had a lot of success and they expect a lot out of each other. It’s a great atmosphere,” Rattlers coach Tim Soudan said. For the team to finally break into the playoffs, the chemistry and an underrated defense need to hold the team together until the rookies on offense become available.
Rochester is a team with a lot to prove in 2014.
— P.S. May 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 69
David Lawson
©OHIO MACHINE (SS); ©GREG WALL (DL)
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