Long Island has a long off season ahead of them after they blew a nine goal lead to lose in the playoffs. They were a team who was dubbed as “rebuilding” for parts of last season, but they still found a way to get into the playoffs.
They lost long time Lizards Matt Danowski and Nicky Polanco and added in young guys like CJ Costabile and Matt Gibson. Gibson won rookie of the year, as the Lizards took home two other awards; goalie of the year and coach of the year.
Long Island had some really bad luck in the draft. The first overall pick, which they got from Charlotte for Danowski, was Rob Pannell who broke his foot playing with the Cornell Big Red. Pannell was granted a fifth year of eligibility.
The Lizards still own the rights to Pannell, and he should join the team in June when the NCAA season comes to an end. They protected his rights. The next interesting protected player is their third round pick, Sam Bradman.
Bradman, who was a Division Three star at Salisbury, opted to play in the LXM Pro Tour in 2012. With Long Island protecting him, do they expect Bradman to make his MLL debut in 2013?
Lastly, and likely the most interesting choice of all, the Lizards decided to protect… Zack Greer. Greer has not played Major League Lacrosse since 2010. He skipped both 2011 and 2012. There were rumors in the off season that he could end up in Boston. So why are the Lizards protecting him? Greer, like Bradman, has been playing LXM. It remains to be seen where they play in 2013.
