The Long Island Lizards will be sending 5 players down to Florida for MLL All Star weekend. Four of them will be playing for the Young Guns and one for the Old School team. If there’s a group of players you want to watch, it’s going to be the Long Island Lizards.
First on the list for the Young Guns is goalie Drew Adams. Selected 19th overall by the Lizards in the 2009 MLL Collegiate Draft out of Penn State, Drew saw about seven minutes in net during his rookie campaign as he backed up World Champion goalie Brian Dougherty.
In 2010, Adams took over between the pipes, taking the Lizards all the way to the MLL Championship game. They ended the season with a 7-5 record, with Drew having 147 saves and a .519 save percentage. During the 2011 season, things went opposite for the Lizards as they went 5-7, with Adams ending having better stats than the previous year, ending with 176 saves and a .561 save percentage. He received the MLL award for Goalie of the Year. This season, Drew has helped the Lizards win five in a row after losing the first two games of the season. He currently has 96 saves and a .552 save percentage. If you’re a young goalie, you will want to watch Drew Adams in net as he is one of the best in the MLL. He will be attending his second MLL All Star Game in a row.
Attackman Matt Gibson was named to the Young Guns roster as a rookie. Having a rookie on the roster is very exciting. It shows that young players are becoming quick learners of the MLL game and are contributing to their teams. MLL Commissioner David Gross commented on Gibson’s play and said, “He’s playing at an All-Star level right now. He may even be an MVP candidate.”
If you remember, Matt was acquired through a trade that sent him to Long Island, along with a second round 2013 Collegiate Draft pick, and sent John Grant Jr. to the Chesapeake Bayhawks.
This is Matt’s first MLL All Star game, obviously. This season so far, he has tallied 10 goals and 10 assists. Not bad for a rookie out of Yale. It will be interesting to see what the Old School defense does with this rookie.
Joining Adams and Gibson is 2011 Long Island Draftee LSM Brian Karalunas out of Villanova. This is his first MLL All Star game as well. Last year, Brian played in 11 games, had an assists and scooped up 34 ground balls. This season, he has an assist and 14 ground balls. Brian has a great career ahead of him and will be a player to watch during the All Star game as he tries to shut down some of the best mid fielders in Major League Lacrosse.
Last on the Young Guns list for the Lizards is midfielder and speedster Max Seibald. He was drafted by Denver as the second overall pick in the 2009 MLL Draft. With the Outlaws, he tallied 41 goals, 7 two-point goals, and 7.5 assists, while grabbing 146 ground balls. The midfielder out of Cornell was traded to Long Island this season right before the start of the 2012 Collegiate Draft. Denver received a fourth overall pick for this past year’s draft, along with a 2013 fourth round pick and midfielder Christian Pastirik. This season, with the Lizards, Seibald has 14 goals, 2 two-point goals, 5 assists and 12 ground balls. Look for him to burn a defender in both transition and on offense in the All Star game and the rest of the season.
The only player to be selected to the Old School team from Long Island is midfielder Brian Langtry. He may have the most amazing story this season. The number one draft pick of the MLL (number one overall in 2001), was set to retire prior to the 2012 season. Long Island picked up the eleven year veteran from the player pool. In his MLL tenure, he has played with the Bridgeport Barrage, Chesapeake Bayhawks, and Denver Outlaws. This season, Langtry has been on fire and has been putting on a show for the Long Island fans and MLL. He has recorded 16 goals, 8 assists and 5 ground balls. A lot of his goals have come from loose balls. Brian is somewhat of a “crease ratâ€. He always seems to find that loose ball right on the crease and buries it in the back of the net. Brian will be entering his third MLL All Star game and will surely be a show of his own.
