After a couple of weekends of training camp, a preseason scrimmage victory over the Denver Outlaws and some interesting trade moves during the draft, the Chesapeake Bayhawks are ready to enter the 2013 MLL season.
Before the draft even got started, attackman Jay Card was sent to Chesapeake from Rochester for the Bayhawks’ eighth round pick. With their first pick in the first round (No. 4 overall) the Hawks picked up LSM Jesse Bernhardt out of Maryland. Next up on the list in the second round (No. 16 overall) was another Terrapin product in midfielder Kevin Cooper. Sixteen picks later, in the fourth round (No. 32 overall) Delaware saw midfielder Dom Sebastiani get drafted by Chesapeake. The fifth round was a little different for the Bayhawks as they used their pick of Adrian Sorichetti (No. 35 overall), a midfielder out of Hofstra. They traded away their next pick (40th overall) for a seventh round Supplemental Draft pick as well as a 2014 fifth round Collegiate Draft choice. Having the 56th overall pick in the draft, Chesapeake’s office took another trade choice instead of a player and gave New York the pick in return for a seventh round 2014 College Draft pick. That was it for Chesapeake’s 2013 Collegiate Draft, with many players returning from their 2012 MLL Championship team.
In the supplemental draft, Chesapeake took attackman Grant Kaleikau with their first pick in the second round. Then clear out of right field went and picked up Casey Powell, even after he announced his retirement from the league in August. Recruiting Casey may be the hardest project for Coach Cottle and the Bayhawk office, especially after playing in the NLL this season. Mark Staines, Jamie Lincoln and Bruce Bickford were all scooped up in the third round. In the fourth, Tony Mendez and Dan Hardy got the call to join the Bayhawks. Followed by Chris Schiller (5th round), Joe Marra and Neil Hicks in the sixth, Zach Angel (7th), Josh Sims (8th), JP Dalton (9th) and final Chris Hunt in the tenth. Marra was traded to the Lizards after being picked up during the supplemental draft.
Making the active roster from this group are Kaleikau, Staines, Bickford, Hicks and Dalton. Powell and Lincoln are in the NLL finishing up their seasons. Mendez obtained a spot on the practice squad for now.
Out for the Bayhawks at the opening of 2013 are starting goaltender Kip Turner with his commitment to Brown. Backup goalie Bruce Bickford will also be out (reason unknown) which leaves the opening day spot in net wide open for TC DiBartolo or Tyler Fiorito. Josh Sims will also miss opening night as he has a pulled hamstring and Chris Hunt is out with injury as well.
Probably the biggest loss of the offseason for Coach Cottle’s team was the retirement of starting attackman Danny Glading. As reported by Capital Gazette, Glading has decided to focus on life outside of lacrosse and get married while working towards a Masters degree. Danny played four season with the Bayhawks and recorded 57 goals and 44 assists. Following Dan’s footsteps with retirement was defensive midfielder Johnny Orsen. Not as big of a problem with Orsen retiring as Cottle made the offseason move of acquiring Dan Burns from Hamilton, giving the Nationals John Austin and the number 15 overall pick in the 2013 Collegiate draft. Not to mention that Brent Adams was also traded away to Boston for a fifth round pick in next years (2014) Collegiate Draft.
Besides Glading’s retirement, every starter from 2012 is returning. This gives Chesapeake a big advantage as the players already know Cottle’s system and work very well together. What could hurt them is other MLL teams having the ability to scout the Hawks from last year and see where weaknesses lye within the Bayhawks. A huge advantage for Chesapeake is that most of the team are residents of Maryland, making it possible to have midweek practices and not just the regular Friday night before games practices.
Of course, like other teams in the MLL, players on the Hawks squad will be inactive due to the NLL and NCAA season’s overlapping with that of the MLL’s. These players include, Casey Powell (COL), John Grant Jr. (COL), Jamie Lincoln (COL), Jay Card, (MINN) and Drew Westervelt (PHI) for the NLL and their NCAA draft picks of Bernhardt, Cooper, Sebastiani and Sorichetti.
All the NLL players on the roster have made the playoffs this year, which means two of their starting attack men will be absent from their season opener versus Rochester this weekend on April 27 at 730pm. This game is special too, considering it will be played at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, FL, one of the few MLL games to played down south this season. I will not be surprised if the Bayhawks punch their ticket to Championship Weekend this season with the talent they have returning and acquired through the drafts and trades.
With the two drafts, training camps and a preseason scrimmage under their belts, the Bayhawks have gotten their squad down to 25 guys.
