MLL Draft Recap: Alex Woodall goes first to Ohio Machine

Alex Woodall of the Towson Tigers. (Photo credit: Laura Kupsey)

The 2019 Major League Draft happened Saturday night with some big moves shaking things up.

The Towson University Tigers led the way with three of the top 20 picks including faceoff specialist Alex Woodall who was selected by the Ohio Machine. Zach Goodrich went third overall to the Boston Cannons and Brendan Sunday went 13th to the Atlanta Blaze.

The University of Maryland and Penn State followed close behind with two picks each. Most teams were interested in runners, with attack, midfield and defense pulling in 18 of the top 20 spots. One goalie and one faceoff specialist rounded out the top lot.

This draft class will be highly scrutinized, perhaps more so than ever with the addition of the PLL and the push to take players away from Major League Lacrosse. Luckily, this class will be able to showcase their skills quickly and draw fans who love the college field game. MLL immediately gets the boost of the youth movement.

The rookies, combined with star players like Shawn Evans, Colin Heacock and Lyle Thompson should keep the fans coming back for more. One huge plus of this league is that players can get more involved in the community. This league can also create more of a family experience where parents know the players and kids can fall in love with their favourite players as they fall in love with the game.

 

Top 20 – Team by Team Recap

Atlanta added Brendan Sunday on attack and Dylan Gaines on defense. Sunday did not play in 2017 due to an upper body injury, but appears to have healed, scoring 17 goals and 11 assists in five games so far this season.

Boston had picks at three, four, and 12. They added Zach Goodrich for defense at three and Austin Henningsen who set the record for faceoffs won as a freshman in 2016 for Maryland. Rounding out Boston’s selections was Cornell’s Clarke Petterson, who just scored eight goals vs Towson on the weekend. Petterson, whose uncle is the late Dave Huntley, was an Honourable Mention All Ivy in 2017.

The Charlotte Hounds had only one of the top 20 picks, choosing Ryan Conrad from UVA at number five.

Chesapeake kept it local. They selected Curtis Corley from Maryland and Greyson Torain who grew up in Maryland. They also added Pat Spencer, who some had projected to be the first overall pick, Spencer, of Loyola, may prove to be the flashiest guy to enter the league this year. It will be interesting to see if he shows up to Chesapeake because there are rumours he will stay in school another year to play basketball.

Dallas went with Chris Sabia to strengthen their defense. They also added Craig Chick who was a First Team All Patriot as a junior.

Denver added a little hometown action with the selection of Max Tuttle, from Castle Rock. Tuttle, who now suits up for Sacred Heart, was the 2015 Colorado 5A Player of the Year. Denver also selected two attackers in Daniel Bucarao and Chris Aslanian.

Florida selected goaltender Tim Troutner from High Point second overall. He was the only goalie selected in the top 20 picks. Sean Eccles, a midfielder from Albany, was selected as the 11th pick.

Ohio had the highest number of picks including the top one which they turned into Woodall. Joining him was Penn State’s Nick Spillane, Villanova’s TJ Comizio and Army’s Johnny Surdick.

Ryland Rees avoids a check from an opponent during Canada’s 22-3 win over Scotland at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya, Israel. (Photo credit: Oded Karni)

Of Note

  • The New York Lizards did not make a pick until the third round when they selected Jack Tigh from Yale.
  • Team Canada defenseman Ryland Rees was drafted by the Cannons at the end of the third round. Rees plays LSM at Stonybrook. He also won a Minto Cup with the Coquitlam Adanacs of the BCJALL this past summer.
  • The Cannons also took Syracuse’s Tyson Bomberry 34th overall. Bomberry won three Minto Cups with the Six Nations Arrows (box) and three bronze medals in international field play with the Iroquois Nationals.
  • Tyson Gibson, son of New England Black Wolves assistant coach Daryl Gibson, was taken by Atlanta at 41.
  • Kyle Pless from Rutgers had the distinction of being chosen last in the draft at 63 by Denver.

 

1

Ohio

Alex Woodall

Towson

2

Florida

Tim Troutner

High Point

3

Boston

Zach Goodrich

Towson

4

Boston

Austin Henningsen

UMD

5

Charlotte

Ryan Conrad

UVA

6

Denver

Max Tuttle

Sacred Heart

7

Chesapeake

Pat Spencer

Loyola

8

Dallas

Chris Sabia

Penn State

9

Denver

Daniel Bucaro

Georgetown

10

Ohio

Nick Spillaine

Penn State

11

Florida

Sean Eccles

Albany

12

Boston

Clarke Petterson

Cornell

13

Atlanta

Brendon Sunday

Towson

14

Atlanta

Dylan Gaines

Denver

15

Ohio

TJ Comizio

Villanova

16

Chesapeake

Greyson Torain

Navy

17

Dallas

Craig Chick

Lehigh

18

Denver

Chris Aslanian

Hobart

19

Ohio

Johnny Surdick

Army

20

Chesapeake

Curtis Corley

Maryland

21

Boston

Nick DeCaprio

Michigan

22

Dallas

Isaac Paparo

Umass

23

Charlotte

Matt Neufeldt

Denver

24

New York

Jack Tigh

Yale

25

Chesapeake

Noah Richard

Marquette

26

Atlanta

Colton Jackson

Denver

27

Boston

Ryland Rees

Stonybrook

28

Ohio

Chris Young

High Point

29

Florida

Tyler Dunn

Upenn

30

Boston

Brent Noseworthy

Michigan

31

Dallas

Teddy Hatfield

Richmond

32

Charlotte

Austin Fusco

Syracuse

33

New York

John Daniggelis

Yale

34

Boston

Tyson Bomberry

Syracuse

35

Dallas

Jack Jasinski

Ohio

36

Denver

Brandon Jones

Air Foce

37

Ohio

Matt Borges

Ohio

38

Florida

Joseph Sessa

Yale

39

Atlanta

Brett Craig

Seton Hill

40

Florida

Andrew Kew

Tampa

41

Atlanta

Tyson Gibson

Robert Morris

42

New York

Connor Farrell

LIU Post

43

Chesapeake

Austin French

Denver

44

Dallas

Joe Saggese

Sacred Heart

45

Denver

Kyle Marr

Hopkins

46

Ohio

Sam Cleveland

Colgate

47

Florida

Eric Applegate

Jacksonville

48

Dallas

Lucas Wittenberg

Georgetown

49

Atlanta

Eddie Bouhall

Lehigh

50

Charlotte

Brendan Gleason

Notre Dame

51

New York

Dan Dolan

UMD

52

Chesapeake

Warren Jeffrey

Vermont

53

Dallas

Fleet Wallace

Cornell

54

Denver

Jack Rowlett

UNC

55

Boston

James Burr

Boston University

56

Florida

Reed Malas

Bucknell

57

New York

Decker Curran

Michigan

58

Atlanta

Jake McCulloch

Cornell

59

Ohio

Alex Heger

Robert Morris

60

New York

Brendan Kearns

Providence

61

Chesapeake

John Prendergast

Duke

62

Dallas

Landon Kramer

Sacred Heart

63

Denver

Kyle Pless

Rutgers

 

— with files from Anna Taylor