After falling to Denver in the 2012 semis, New York stumbled to find itself throughout 2013, going 4-10. They were able to keep pace with teams and put up fights, but the chemistry for the black and green was limited. One thing the Lizards have going for them is youth. The likes of Rob Pannell, Steve Mock, Jojo Morasco and those guys, allows Coach Spallina to build around them.
With the possibilities of trades and the draft, New York has the capability of producing a dominating force. Not only that, they have weapons on offense that no one should be able to stop. How they didn’t score 20 plus goals every game is mind boggling. Shooting only .561 percent and only putting 315 shots on net (last in MLL for both) may of had something to do with it. Along with a conversion of 17.54 on EMO’s.
Spallina will have to figure out his defense as well, that gave up 12.85 goals on average. They were second to last in penalty killing, allowing 23 power play goals, most in the league. Drew Adams won’t have many off days, he’s one of the best in the MLL but needs his guys in front of him to step up.
Here is what a projected protected roster may look like for New York:
Attack
Rob Pannell
Tommy Palasek
Steve Mock
Matt Gibson
Mark Matthews
Grant Catalino
Midfield
Greg Gurenlian
Stephen Peyser
Jojo Morasco
Mike Unterstein
Kevin Unterstein
Max Seibald
David Earl
Max Van Bourgondien
Jeff Tundo
Defence
CJ Costabile
Tim Henderson
Michael Skudin
Steven Waldeck
Brian Karalunas
Jack Reid
Mark Mullen
Goalie
Drew Adams
