Last year, the midfield had the best player in college lacrosse in Princeton’s Tom Schreiber. The senior was the unquestioned No. 1 overall pick when the draft came around. In total, seven midfielders were picked in the first three rounds of the 2014 MLL Draft.
As the draft rolls around this year, there isn’t the game-changing type midfielder like there was in Schreiber. In fact, I would say that this is probably the weakest crop of midfielders to come out in a couple of years.
When looking at college lacrosse, most of the best midfielders are juniors or younger. Despite, the lack of strength in terms of pure offensive players, the strength of this class comes in the fact that there are a trio of very good faceoffmen in Bryant’s Kevin Massa, Maryland’s Charlie Raffa and Rutgers’ ace Joseph Nardella. Here are the top midfield prospects in the 2015 Draft class.
Erik Adamson, Denver—Adamson should battle with Cornell’s Connor Buczek as the first midfielder selected in the MLL Draft. Adamson was fifteenth in the country in points with 53 and was fifth in the nation in goals with 44. He is another pure goal scorer for a Denver offense that will cause opposing defense headaches in 2015. He was also named as a 2015 preseason first team all american selection.
Connor Buczek, Cornell—Buczek joins Adamson on the 2015 preseason first team all american team and had 48 points last season for the Big Red. Those 48 points ranked him 20th in the nation and he also ranked 20th in the nation in goals with 31. Buczek had an incredible first half stretch as he helped Cornell to an undefeated record. He had three goals against Virginia, five assists versus Yale, four goals against Colgate, five points against UPENN and eight points against Dartmouth. His play fell off in the second half of the year and coincidentally so did Cornell’s season. He will have to be more consistent this season to be considered the best midfielder in the game.
Chad Tutton, UNC—Like another member of this 2015 draft class, Tutton is a one-handed specialist. Tutton has a deadly face dodge and he is one of the key members of the UNC offense. Despite recording only 28 points last season, he was named as a 2015 preseason second team all american selection. He is a pure goal scorer from the midfield position as he scored 23 goals. With the graduation of Pat Foster at mdifield, Tutton will be the No. 1 guy for the Tar Heels.
Jesse King, Ohio State—King was literally the only thing keeping Ohio State’s offense afloat last season. The offense really struggled and King was the only option. In the first four games of the season against Johns Hopkins, UMass, Marquette and Penn State, King had three games of six points! King continued his hot play throughout the season and the lefty from Canada straight up knows how to finish. He had 32 goals last year to go along with 26 assists and was named a 2015 preseason second team all american selection. King was on the Candaian national lacrosse team that won the gold medal in the 2014 FIL World Championship this summer.
Kevin Massa, Bryant—Some would argue that Massa has been the best faceoff man in the nation for the last couple of years. Entering 2015 he has been named to the 2015 preseason first team all american selection. Last season, he won 305 faceoffs and led the nation in faceoff percentage at 68.8 percent. The only knock on Massa is that he did struggle against top comeptition, specifically in Bryant’s NCAA Quarterfinal loss to Maryland. Massa was taken to school by Charlie Raffa of Maryland. Regardless, you can’t knock his body of work.
Charlie Raffa, Maryland—Honestly, Raffa could be argued as the best faceoff man in the game considering his performance against Bryant’s Kevin Massa in the Terps NCAA Quarterfinal victory last season. This season, he was named to the 2015 preseason third team all american team. Last year he was second in the nation in faceoff percentage as he won 68.6 of the faceoffs he took. He is also incredibly gritty having battled through a knee injury suffered in the Bryant game and barely being able to get off the field when they played Notre Dame in the Final Four game the next weekend. Raffa is a vital component to the Maryland offense.
Joseph Nardella, Rutgers—Nardella gets overlooked because he plays at Rutgers and puts some big statistics up against some bad competition. Don’t overlook Nardella, however, as he won 206 faceoffs last season and recorded a 63 percent win percentage at the ‘X.’ He was also named to the 2015 preseason second team all american team. Nardella also sparks his won offense as he had 13 points last season.
Colin Mclindon, Fairfield—Mclindon was 18th in the nation in points with 49 last season. Despite playing against ECAC competition, he had some impressive games against some good competition including a one goal, seven assist performance against Yale. This year he was named to a 2015 preseason honorable mention all american selection and will be a key cog in Fairfield’s offense.
Other named to keep an eye on: Joe LaCascio, Maryland—2015 preseason third team all american selection, Ryan Tucker, Virginia—2015 preseason third team all american selection, Will Haus, Duke—2015 preseason third team all american selection, Ryan Belka, Drexel—2015 preseason honorable mention all american selection, David Dickson, Bucknell—2015 preseason honorable mention all american selection, Henry Schoonmaker, Syracuse—2015 preseason honorable mention all american selection.
