The start of December is usually the time for lacrosse players to start their preparation for the upcoming season. As players tart to train and get ready, so to are the teams who are looking to finalize their rosters as they head into the season. With the MLL season still far away and the MLL Collegiate Draft taking place at the beginning of January, the next step in the offseason will be for teams to take part in the MLL Supplemental Draft.
The MLL Supplemental Draft will take place this Wednesday at 2:30 pm and it will be done via a conference call. There will be 12 rounds and rosters cannot exceed 40 players. The first two rounds will be live tweeted via Major League Lacrosse’s twitter page (@MLL_Lacrosse). The rest of the rounds will be updated at the end of each round on the league’s website.
With that said, there are over 500 players eligible to be drafted tomorrow, but only 96 spots up for grabs. In today’s article we will look on the defensive side of the ball and see what players may be able to make the roster come preseason.
Below is a list of the most notable players among the defense and LSM groups heading into tomorrow’s draft.
LSM notables
Nick O’Hara, Duke-Was picked in the 2012 Supplemental Draft in the 14th round by the Nationals and is on the list again. The guy can play though, having been a first team All-American selection in 2008 and the National Defenseman of the year as well.
Anthony Santomo, Penn– Recent graduate that helped Penn to rank as the nation’s top defense. Santomo was a honorable mention All-American last year and would make for a nice rotation player on a young squad.
Brandon Palladino, Dickinson– Many in the lacrosse world might not have heard of this young man, however, I had the chance to see him play live against my own team two years ago and he was easily the best player on the field. He is a takeaway defenseman and was a first team All-American honoree as well as the Division 3 Player of the Year. He was on the Chespeake Bayhawks as well last season but saw little playing time.
Ray Megill- The seven year veteran actually announced his retirement in November, hence why he is on the list. Otherwise, he would probably have been protected by the Machine. Maybe a team takes a flier on him in the later rounds in case he changes his mind.
Roger Ferguson- Ferguson was a nice rangy athlete at the LSM position for the Outlaws when they wanted to give Brian Megill a rest. Last season he saw a good amount of action when he played and was good on getting to ground balls.
Defense Notables
MJ Kiekebelt– Played in 11 games for the Hamilton Nationals last season but was not protected on the 23-man roster. Had two goals and 20 ground balls last season. Maybe teams are wary of his commitment to the MLL as opposed to the NLL and the time he will miss when he plays for the Iroquois National Team.
Ken Clausen – Hasn’t played since 2010 with the Denver Outlaws, but if I were a team, I would definitely take a flier on him because when he is healthy, he will make an immediate impact on the defensive end.
Tom Celentani– Played in four games in two years for both Denver and Boston. Last season, he only appeared in one game for the Cannons.
Brendan Buckley– Buckley is an interesting name. He played a solid amount last season as a rookie for the Boston Cannons out of Army. He was in the rotation a lot towards the beginning of the year and should be a nice name for teams to pick up if they need to improve on their depth at defense.
