Unlike in other sports (except maybe baseball where it means home field advantage), the Major League Lacrosse all star game has meaning to it. Especially this year when Team MLL will be taking on Team USA, and it is USA’s last scrimmage before they get ready for the FIL in Denver.
Match Ups
Team MLL Attack
Eric Law
Logan Schuss
Matt Danowski
Drew Westervelt
Team USA Attack
Rob Pannell
Brendan Mundorf
Marcus Holman
Steele Stanwick
Kevin Leveille
Ned Crotty
Garret Thul
Team USA has more players (they are yet to cut their roster down to 23) but Team MLL has some offensive studs on their attack unit as well. Eric Law of Team MLL has more goals than any player with 22 and Logan Schuss is second with 18. The most assists do come from Steele Stanwick on Team USA, but overall while Team USA’s unit is probably better, Team MLL isn’t bad by any means.
Team MLL Midfield
Peter Baum
Jeremy Sieverts
Justin Turri
Kevin Crowley
Tom Schreiber
Joe Walters
Steve DeNapoli
Kevin Unterstein
Kevin Drew
Team USA Midfield
Paul Rabil
Kevin Buchanan
Kyle Harrison
Drew Snider
Max Seibald
Dave Lawson
Matt Mackrides
JoJo Marasco
Matt Abbott
Jeff Reynolds
Dan Burns
On offense Team USA has a slight edge again and a lot of that is the factor of Paul Rabil, Max Seibald and Kevin Buchanan. Team MLL will provide matchup problems at times and Peter Baum along with Kevin Crowley are two of the best in the game. The offensive matchup here might be the most interesting. Defensively, Team MLL might get a slight edge if not for Matt Abbott with USA. Overall, this matchup is very even.
Team MLL Defense
Joel White
Ryan Flanagan
Brodie Merrill
Michael Manley
Brett Schmidt
Kyle Sweeney
Michael Simon
Team USA Defense
Kyle Hartzell
Jesse Bernhardt
Brian Karalunas
Mitch Belisle
Tucker Durkin
Joe Fletcher
Lee Zink
Michael Evans
This matchup is very good for Team MLL with some of the best ever such as Brodie Merrill while Kyle Sweeney and Mike Simon have had terrific defense. Team USA is had to beat, however, with Evans, Hartzell and Belisle, and the young guns in Tucker Durkin and Joe Fletcher.
Team MLL Goaltenders
Jordan Burke
Brett Queener
Team USA Goaltenders
Jesse Schwartzman
John Galloway
Drew Adams
Jesse Schwartzman alone gives Team USA an edge but Jordan Burke is playing lights out right now and he could stifle USA with the way he has been playing. The Cannons have allowed a lot of goals in the past three weeks but Burke has made the saves he needs to and then some. Schwartzman is coming off of the best game of his career as well, so this will be fun to watch.
Team MLL Faceoff
Anthony Kelly
John Ortolani
Team USA Faceoff
Chris Eck
Greg Gurenlian
Gurenlian has been playing hurt which means Chris Eck might see more faceoffs, but USA has an obvious advantage. Ortolani is having a great season and Kelly is terrific as well, but USA grabbed the best two in the business.
