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MLL PREVIEW


2013 Record: 9-5


Coach:


Stan Ross 1st season


5  MVP


CANDIDATE Kevin Crowley Crowley could be the


Semifinalist, as Hamilton Nationals


2013 Record: 4-10


Coach:


Joe Spallina 3rd season


Kevin Crowley


FLORIDA LAUNCH


After hosting several out-of-market regular season games and an MLL All-Star game, the state of Florida has its fi rst professional outdoor lacrosse franchise. “It’s great for Florida lacrosse,” said Florida resident Casey Powell, who will play for the team this season after sparking the Bayhawks to an MLL title last year. “All the efforts of the coaches and players in Florida, it’s a great reward to have the MLL in its backyard.” MLL expanded in 2012 to Ohio and Charlotte and both teams are doing well in attendance and with fan support. The same is expected from the Launch this season.


fi rst repeat MLL MVP since John Grant Jr. in 2007-08. “Kevin is smooth from up top,” Casey Powell said. “I hope I get to be on the same line with him. He’ll make things a lot easier.”


 NEW


ARRIVALS Chris LaPierre, Kieran


McArdle, Joe Meurer, Casey Powell, PT Ricci, Chazz Woodson Not only is Powell one of


the best lacrosse players to ever play the game, he’s also been living and working in Florida in recent years and is committed to growing the game in the state. He said he plans to play the entire season once his NLL commitment ends, unlike previous seasons when he joined the Nationals and Bayhawks for the tail end of the year.


 ENEMY LINES “The transition is going


to be tough on them. That Hamilton group had such an identity. It was such a great team to play against. They knew the way they wanted to play... They move from [Dave] Huntley to Stan Ross. That’s a big difference in coaching styles.”


>>


“Right now we’re doing pretty well with ticket sales,” coach Stan Ross said. “We’re at every tournament down here. We’re at youth games and high school games. We’re pounding the pavement trying to get people excited.” Florida has an advantage over previous expansion teams. Instead of creating a roster from scratch, Florida inherited the Hamilton


Nationals, a 2013 semifi nalist with MLL MVP Kevin Crowley in tow. Playing in Canada since 2009, the team does have several Canadian players, such as Crowley, Stephen Keogh and Jordan Hall. Florida is a long way away from Hamilton, and there is concern over which players will stay with the team. Longtime Nationals defender and Canadian Brodie Merrill was traded to Boston. “It’s probably easier for a lot of these guys to get to Florida than Hamilton,” Ross said. “If you don’t live there you have to fl y to Buffalo and get on a bus and cross the border. You have Crowley who lives in Philadelphia, Hall who lives in Baltimore, and Keogh was in Florida last year doing some stuff with Casey Powell. Some of these players, it’s going to be easier getting to Florida than it was for Hamilton.” — P.S.


68 LACROSSE MAGAZINE May 2014


NEW YORK LIZARDS


6  MVP


CANDIDATE Ned Crotty Crotty is one of the


most unselfi sh players in the league, can get his own shot and is versatile enough to play either behind the goal or out of the box as a middie. He will take pressure off Rob Pannell. “He’ll help [Pannell] handle a lot responsibility and not feel like he has to win the game himself,” coach Joe Spallina said.


 NEW


ARRIVALS Shamel Bratton, Ned


Crotty, Luke Duprey, Joe Fletcher, Kyle Hartzell, Matt Striebel


Duprey is a monster


of a man and plays the game in the physical manner Spallina likes, while Fletcher and Hartzell vastly improve the defense. Bratton has never played in the league before, coming over from LXM, but he could draw short sticks.


 ENEMY LINES “Last year they made


fantasy football moves. This year they made their team better… Defensively they got the Fletcher kid, but until he comes they’ll be in the same boat. That’s why they didn’t close out close games last year.”


After a surprising playoff appearance in 2012, the Lizards made headlines heading into 2013 thanks to their acquisitions of big-name players like Mark Matthews, David Earl and Jack Reid and bringing back All-Star Stephen Berger.


But winning the offseason doesn’t always translate to winning the season. New York won just four games and had chemistry issues, as several players tried to fi gure out how to play without the ball. The Lizards were just as


aggressive this offseason, acquiring all-stars Ned Crotty, Matt Striebel, Kyle Hartzell and Steve DeNapoli. So what makes this season any different than last year? “We were able to really improve our talent level not only on the fi eld but off the fi eld,” New York coach and general manager Joe Spallina said. “We wanted players to make our locker room better.” While Crotty and Striebel can dodge and score, both also move well off ball and should help the movement and spacing of the offense.


The newcomers also have familiarity and experience playing with each other. Crotty, Striebel, Hartzell, Rob Pannell, fi rst-round draft pick Joe Fletcher, Max Seibald, Brian Karalunas, JoJo Marasco and goalie Drew Adams all trained and played together during the recent Team USA trials.


For teams that only practice once a week, any extra time the players spend playing together outside of the team is an added bonus. “Anytime you get an opportunity to play with guys its helpful,” Adams said. Spallina is confi dent adding new blood will give the team a better attitude which will help in competing for a spot in the playoffs. “You’re going to see a lot more


fi re. A lot more urgency,” he said. “It was a little embarrassing from top to bottom.”


— P.S. A Publication of US Lacrosse


JoJo Marasco


©KEVIN P. TUCKER (KC); ©PEYTON WILLIAMS (JM)


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