2019 MLL Draft Review

This is a review of the 2019 MLL draft. This review will include all the players drafted by each respective team. I will also include three takeaways from this draft. My final takeaway will explain how it works for a player that is drafted by both the MLL and PLL. Hope you enjoy and thank you for visiting this page. Feel free to check out the video version of this review on my YouTube channel!

First Round

1. Ohio Machine

a. Alex Woodall (Towson) Faceoff

i. 2017 First Team All-CAA

ii. 2017 CAA All-Tournament Team

2. Florida Launch

a. Tim Troutner Jr. (High Point) Goalie

i. 2018 All-SoCon 2nd Team

3. Boston Cannons

a. Zach Goodrich (Towson) D Midfield

i. 2018 USILA 1st Team All-America

ii. 2018 CAA Defensive Player of the Year

4. Boston Cannons

a. Austin Henningsen (Maryland) Faceoff

i. 2017 NCAA Championship Team

ii. Member of 2016 USA U-19 Team, won world championship

5. Charlotte Hounds

a. Ryan Conrad (Virginia) Midfield

i. 2017 All-ACC Team

ii. 2017 USILA 3rd Team All-America

6. Denver Outlaws

a. Max Tuttle (Sacred Heart) Midfield

i. 2018 NEC Player of Year

ii. 1st Player in School History to Earn All-America

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Pat Spencer (Loyola) Attack

i. Patriot League Leader in Points and Assists

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Chris Sabia (Penn State) Defense

i. 2018 2nd Team All-Big 10

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Daniel Bucaro (Georgetown) Attack

i. 39 points in 1st 7 games of 2019 season

Round 2

1. Ohio Machine

a. Nick Spillane (Penn State) Midfield

2. Florida Launch

a. Sean Eccles (Albany) Midfield

3. Boston Cannons

a. Clare Peterson (Cornell) Midfield

4. Atlanta Blaze

a. Brendan Sunday (Towson) Midfield

5. Atlanta Blaze

a. Dylan Gaines (Denver) Defense

6. Ohio Machine

a. TJ Comizio (Villanova) Midfield

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Greyson Torain (Navy) Midfield

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Craig Chick (Lehigh) Defense

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Chris Aslanian (Hobart) Attack

Round 3

1. Ohio Machine

a. Johnny Surdich (Army) Defense

2. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Curtis Corley (Maryland) Defense

3. Boston Cannons

a. Nick DeCaprio (Michigan) LSM

4. Dallas Rattlers

a. Isaac Paparo (UMass) Defense

5. Charlotte Hounds

a. Matt Neufeldt (Denver) Defense

6. New York Lizards

a. Jack Tigh (Yale) Midfield

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Noah Richard (Marquette) LSM

8. Atlanta Blaze

a. Colton Jackson (Denver) Midfield

9. Boston Cannons

a. Ryalnd Rees (Stony Brook) LSM

Round 4

1. Ohio Machine

a. Chris Young (High Point) Attack

2. Florida Launch

a. Tyler Dunn (Pennsylvania) Midfield

3. Boston Cannons

a. Brent Noseworthy (Michigan) Midfield

4. Dallas Rattlers

a. Teddy Hatfield (Richmond) Attack

5. Charlotte Hounds

a. Austin Fusco (Syracuse) Defense

6. New York Lizards

a. John Daniggelis (Yale) Midfield

7. Boston Cannons

a. Tyson Bomberry (Syracuse) Defense

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Jack Jasinski (Ohio State) Midfield

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Brandon Jones (Air Force) Defense

Round 5

1. Ohio Machine

a. Matt Borges (Ohio State) Defense

2. Florida Launch

a. Joey Sessa (Yale) Defense

3. Atlanta Blaze

a. Brett Craig (Seton Hill) D/LSM

4. Florida Launch

a. Andrew Kew (Tampa) Attack

5. Atlanta Blaze

a. Tyson Gibson (Robert Morris) Midfield

6. New York Lizards

a. Connor Farrell (LIU Post) Faceoff

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Austin French (Denver) Attack

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Joe Saggese (Sacred Heart) Attack

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Kyle Marr (Johns Hopkins) Attack

Round 6

1. Ohio Machine

a. Sam Cleveland (Colgate) Attack

2. Florida Launch

a. Eric Applegate (Jacksonville) Attack

3. Dallas Rattlers

a. Lucas Wittenberg (Georgetown) Midfield

4. Atlanta Blaze

a. Eddy Bouhall (Lehigh) Defense

5. Charlotte Hounds

a. Brendan Gleason (Notre Dame) Midfield

6. New York Lizards

a. Danny Dolan (Maryland) Goalie

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. Warren Jeffrey (Vermont) Defense

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Fleet Wallace (Cornell) Defense

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Jack Rowlett (North Carolina) LSM

Round 7

1. Boston Cannons

a. James Burr (Boston) Attack

2. Florida Launch

a. Reid Malas (Bucknell) Midfield

3. New York Lizards

a. Decker Curran (Michigan) Midfield

4. Atlanta Blaze

a. Jake McCulloch (Cornell) Midfield

5. Ohio Machine

a. Alex Heger (Robert Morris) Goalie

6. New York Lizards

a. Brendan Kearns (Providence) Attack

7. Chesapeake Bayhawks

a. John Prendergast (Duke) Midfield

8. Dallas Rattlers

a. Landon Kramer (Sacred Heart) Midfield

9. Denver Outlaws

a. Kyle Pless (Rutgers) D/LSM

Takeaways

1. A major takeaway from this draft is that a lot of specialists were taken early. Specialists include goalies, fogos, and defensive midfielders. A major reason for the rush towards these specialists is due to a shortage of them. With so many specialists leaving for the PLL (including 2018 #1 pick Trevor Baptiste), a lot of teams were left without a starting fogo or goalie. To be competitive in lacrosse, you must be good in faceoffs and goaltending. With the migration of players, lots of teams realized they were lacking in these two areas. That said, teams decided to pull the trigger early on an elite fogo, compared to going for a good attackman (since there’s an abundance of them).

2. Many fans were shocked to see Pat Spencer fall to the 7th overall pick in the draft. Digging deeper, one may not find this so surprising. First, Spencer may not even play pro lacrosse in 2019 as he is currently enrolled in the NCAA basketball transfer portal. He has been vocal about wanting to play collegiate basketball for his final year of NCAA eligibility. Also, with two new leagues, some teams may have been scared to pull the trigger on a guy that would probably choose the league that pays more, has better publicity, and provides better benefits (health insurance). These two factors combined would have made some teams hesitant to essentially waste a first round pick on a guy that probably won’t even play in 2019.

3. The final thing I’ll explain is how the draft works with a competing league. Many fans were asking on Twitter what happens if a player, say Pat Spencer, is drafted by both leagues (the PLL draft takes place in April). From my understanding, this is how it works: a player gets drafted by both the MLL and PLL. They are not obligated to announce which league they will play with until their NCAA eligibility is up; therefore, you don’t announce which league you have chosen until your senior season is finished. So if a player gets drafted by both leagues, they do not have to announce which league they are choosing until their senior season is complete. They are not obligated to play for either league; however, once they announce they will play for one league, they will no longer be a draft pick for the other league. That is how I understood this odd process. Hopefully, this helped!