The Major League Lacrosse draft takes place this Friday night at 8:30pm in Philadelphia. In Lacrosse We Trust will have plenty of coverage, including our full, 59-pick mock draft.
1 Ohio- Tom Schrieber- The Machine need a splash, and Schrieber can be just that. The midfielder had 76 career goals with the Princeton Tigers with 73 assists. He would fit in nicely with a young offense that includes Steele Stanwick and Logan Schuss, plus he can pick up the ground balls as well.
2 Rochester- Jordan Wolf- Wolf is a strong attackman, and the Rattlers need offense. They traded up for this pick for a reason, and it’s reasonable to think it was for Wolf, who the Lizards may have selected in this spot. Wolf has 120 goals in his three years at Duke, where he has won an NCAA title.
3 New York- Kieren McArdle- He scored 36 goals in his junior year where he was a Tewaaraton candidate. He had 49 assists, something the Lizards need in such a shoot-first styled offense. He is also out of St. John’s, so this is a perfect selection.
4 New York- Joe Fletcher- Fletcher is the best defenseman in the draft. He is currently the only college player left in consideration for team USA. He picked up 111 ground balls in his three years with Loyola, where he also helped lead them to a title in 2012.
5 Florida- Michael Earnhardt- Earnhardt is the next best defenseman in the draft and Florida really needs D-men. If Fletcher somehow drops to this spot they will snag him, but otherwise the defenseman from Maryland makes sense.
6 Denver- Jeremy Noble- Possibly the most predictable pick in the draft. Noble is out of the university of Denver and is a beast attackman. Cheap travel costs, top scorer, seems like a perfect storm for the Outlaws.
7 Charlotte- Luke Duprey- Basically every team wants this Duke defender, and yes, he is a beast (even though we used that term earlier). The Cannons want him as an New Hampshire born player, but out of Duke, the Hounds will snag him for sure if he is here.
8 Boston- Rob Emery- The Cannons will pick the best available player according to their GM Kevin Barney, and Emery is probably the best player on the board at this pick. Emery scored 59 goals last year along with 76 ground balls with Virginia. The Cannons have struggled to find impact draft picks, but this might be one that works.
Second Round
9 Charlotte- Matt Harris- Possibly a bit early, but Harris seems like a solid potential pick for the Hounds. Charlotte needs a long pole on D and even though they just added Duprey, Harris could be some good depth.
10 Florida- Mark Cockerton- We originally had Cockerton going to Charlotte but it seems very unlikely they will be picking any Canadians. Florida already has several Canadians, and they could use some depth on attack. Cockerton is also versatile enough to play midfield if needed.
11 Charlotte- Joe Meurer- Meurer is a midfielder out of Ohio State. Another defenseman for potential depth, the Machine are looking at him for sure but he will be gone by their next pick. He seems like a solid pick for a team targeting defense.
12 Florida- John LoCascio- LoCascio is another top defender and like we said, the Launch need defense. It is a rather weak draft with defense so most of the top D-guys are going to be gone soon. LoCascio might even go a bit earlier but he’s a solid bet to end up in Florida.
13 New York- Justin Ward- The Lizards have a very young defense (Pannell, Mock) and they traded away Mark Matthews and Matt Gibson, and now their main weapon is Ned Crotty. Not bad, but some extra depth on the attack is not a bad idea.
14 Charlotte- Brendan Fowler- Local faceoff man for Duke. Geoff Snider was solid in faceoffs but it’s never a sure bet he can play every game. Fallon won 45 percent of faceoffs, but they might want more depth, and as a local kid, Fowler makes sense.
15 Charlotte- Thomas DeNapoli- DeNapoli is an attackman who scored 49 goals with Loyola last season. He is a terrific shooter and a very physical player as well. They are deep on attack, but with so many draft picks, Charlotte will go with the best available player here, which is DeNapoli.
16 Denver- Pat Laconi- Laconi is probably the best defensive midfielder in the draft and the Outlaws need depth at that position. He might even get snagged earlier, but if he’s there, good fit for Denver.
Third Round
17 Boston- Josh Dionne- Solid pick for the Cannons here. Dionne is a New Hampshire native and he scored 45 goals with Duke last season. He’s a smaller attackman but he can score and will drive to the net.
18 Charlotte-Nick Amato- The top goalie in the draft. The Hounds have a solid goalie with Adam Ghitelman, but Amato could be a starter in two years, and he would be a good backup to get into a few games this year.
19 Boston- Scott McWilliams- McWilliams might be just what the Cannons need. The Virginia defenseman caused 36 turnovers last season, and the Cannons had a historically bad defense in 2013. He plays a physical game, and they need some of that.
20 Rochester- Jim Marlatt- Good scoring midfielder, right what Rochester needs. The Rattlers lost their best scoring middie with Matt Striebel in New York, so their top scoring midfielder is Dave Lawson. Marlatt might make this group of scoring midfielders viable.
21 Chesapeake- Austin Kaut- Kaut is the next best goalie here, and the Bayhawks have a million goalies, but why not? They have barely any holes they need to fill so their approach is to go for the best available. They could use some extra depth behind Kip Turner to develop for the future.
22 Denver- Chris Hipps- Hipps picked up 32 ground balls with Duke last season. Hipps is huge at 6’4, and the Outlaws could use more defense. Lee Zink is a beast, but what comes after him?
23 Charlotte- Derek Maltz- Another solid attackman, this one out of Syracuse. He was named to the Big East second team in 2013, and was second on the team in goals with 32.
24 Chesapeake- Nick O’Reilly- An attackman out of Virginia. O’Reilly was an all ACC honoree and he led the team with 61 points.
Fourth Round
25 Ohio- Brandon Mangan- This move makes a whole lot of sense for the Machine. He is another attack option later in the draft after they already select Schrieber. Based out of Yale, he led the Bull Dogs with 2.29 goals per game.
26 Rochester- Ty Thompson- It would only make sense for the Rattlers to brand themselves with the Thompsons, who are based out of upstate New York.
27 Ohio- RG Keenan- The Machine could use an upgrade at faceoff. Jake Bernhardt took a few last year, but Eric O’Brien was not getting the job done. The UNC faceoff man in Keenan would make sense for them.
28 Rochester- Miles Thompson- The second Thompson to fall. Taking Ty two picks before, this is the perfect slot for Miles to go next.
29 Florida- Joe Calvello- Calvello was 11th in the NCAA in faceoffs last season for Massachuesetts. Currently their only faceoff man is Mike Poppelton so they need at least a backup.
30 Denver- Stephen Bogert- Based out of Penn State, he is another defenseman for the Outlaws. He was a part of the all CAA first team, and he caused 18 turnovers last year; he was also second on the team with 80 ground balls.
31 Charlotte- Henry Lobb- Lobb is a solid defensive midfielder who will be selected by this time, maybe even sooner. Just another depth move for a Hounds team with a ton of picks.
32 Rochester- Pat Kiernan- Some longpole depth for a Rattlers team that lose Steve DeNapoli. Defensive longpole midfielder out of Navy.
Fifth Round
33 Boston- Mike Chanenchuk- Offensive midfielder. How much longer can Ryan Boyle do it? Good depth move.
34 New York- Pat Foster- Based out of North Carolina, Foster is a midfielder who can play attack if needed. He is a huge 6’5, 205 monster of an athlete.
35 Chesapeake- Tom LaCrosse- Penn State player and is name is lacrosse. That’s all (kidding). Midfielder on the smallish side, he was fourth on the Nittiny Lions with 28 points. He earned a spot on the all CAA first team.
36 Chesapeake- Brent Hiken- Hiken is a faceoff man who was a star with Stevenson, where he won 70 percent of his faceoffs and led the Mustangs to a Division III championship.
37 Boston- Jackson Place- Long stick midfielder, another one to go along with McWilliams for depth. Based out of Bucknell.
38 Denver- Zack Losco- Another Penn State player in a strong class for the ‘Lions in 2014. A 5’9 midfielder, he made the all-Ivy League team in 2014. he led the team with 29 points and 23 goals.
39 Ohio- Ryan Creighton- The Machine need some help at the D-middle position and Creighton seems like the perfect fit. They struggled mightily at defensive midfield all 2013.
40 Chesapeake- Pat Harbeson- Virginia midfielder out of Annapolis, where the Bayhawks play. Harbeson had only six points for the Cavaliers, but is a serious defender.
Sixth Round
41 Ohio- Deron Dempster- The second player out of Yale to be considered in the draft. He is based out of Ontario so he adds to the connection with Kiel Matisz and Logan Schuss.
42 Boston- Shayne Adams- Attackman out of Detroit and from St. Catharines, Ontario. 5’9 attackman who has led the Titans for years. Just another attackman for depth.
43 Denver- Matt Delmonico- A Division II player out of Seton Hill, Delmonico is based out of British Columbia so kind of a long shot. If he’s going to work on any team, it’d be Denver.
44 Rochester- Brian Feeney- Rochester could use a backup goalie to John Galloway, and Feeney out of Pennsylvania could be the fit. Last season he played every second of every game except for 2:29. He had an 8.30 goals against average.
45 Florida- DJ Lubs- Lubs is the only player in the draft based out of Florida, at Florida Southern, so this is a pretty obvious move.The defenseman made the all-DSC first team in 2013 and picked up 42 ground balls.
46 Denver- Greg Dutton- Goaltender out of Ohio State. It’s always a good idea to work on depth for the backup goaltender position, and Lerman has been the starter for the Buckeyes for three years.
47 Charlotte- Tucker Hull- Another player from of Navy. He is based out of Charlotte as well, so it would be a perfect move to add this attackman.
48 Chesapeake- Bobby Lawrence- Lawrence is a defenseman based out of Colgate. Based out of New Jersey.
Seventh Round
49 Ohio- Jack Runkel- After fixing all of their main holes, the Machine can go after a goaltender in the seventh round. The Loyola goaltender won a title with the Greyhounds and has a career goals against average of 8.75.
50 Chesapeake- Stephen O’Hara- The first Notre Dame player we see featured in this draft. He is a close defender and had 39 ground balls last season.
51 Boston- Doug Tesoriero – Tesoriero is out of Cornell and a faceoff man. Boston is solid with Chris Eck, and Craig Bunker as a potential backup, but Tesoriero is a good late round pick. He won 58 percent of his faceoffs in 2013.
52 Rochester- Jimmy Ryan- Out of Colgate, Ryan is a defensive midfielder who stands at 5’10. From Stony Brook, New York.
53 Florida- Chris Conroy- 6’1, 200+ pound defender out of Villanova. He along with last year’s draft pick Garrett Thul could add some toughness to the lineup.
54 Denver- Thomas Croonquist- Croonquist is also based out of Villanova. He is a midfielder and faceoff man to add some more depth to the dot.
55 Charlotte- Hayden Kirk- Charlotte already selected a goalie, but Kirk is out of Pfieffer in North Carolina. Could set up a good goalie battle.
56 Rochester- Ben McIntosh- Out of Drexel. 6’2 midfielder out of Coquitlam. Solid two way player, but better on defense.
