The New York Lizards have announced their protected 23-man roster earlier this week. This past season, the Lizards rebounded from not being in the playoffs to pushing the eventual MLL Champion Denver Outlaws to an overtime thriler in the semifinal round. As they look ahead to 2015, here is a look at who they will definitely have on their roster heading into next season.
Who didn’t make the cut:
Steve Dircks D
Alex Zomerfeld A
Shamel Bratton M
Martin Cahill M
Chris Laurita M
Chris Madalon G
Ryan Nizolek D
Devon Wills G
Brendan Buckley D
Tim Henderson D
Vito DeMola A
Analysis:
Not too many surprises here, honestly. Dircks and Zomerfeld were the only two players on this list that appeared on the active roster for the Lizards and appeared in several games. Shamel Bratton was a great player in college but after being picked up from the LXM player pool, he was not able to make an impact on this team. Brendan Buckley could be a nice rotation defenseman for another team in the MLL after playing fairly well for the Boston Cannons two seasons ago. While, Devon Wills was a great story after being the first female professional lacrosse player on an MLL roster, she wasn’t seeing much time with Drew Adams in goal and Sean Brady backing him up.
23-man roster:
Goalie:
Drew Adams
Sean Brady
Analysis:
Nothing shocking here, Adams is one of the best goalies in the MLL and without him in goal, the Lizards would have been two or three games worse than their record indicated. He literally stood on his head in two games this season. He was also a huge reason why this defense ranked as the second best unit in the MLL in 2014. Brady has been a longtime backup and makes sense. Holding any more than two goalies would’ve been a wasted use of roster space.
Defense:
Mike Skudin
Luke Duprey
Joe Fletcher
Kyle Hartzell
Steve Holmes
Brian Karalunas
Analysis:
Nothing shocking here, this defense was the second best unit in the MLL and boasts a good mix of experience and youth. Joe Fletcher and Luke Duprey are good young players, especially Fletcher who made the 30-man roster cut for Team USA this past summer. Hartzell is one of the best offensive/defensive poles in the game and Karalunas is a very nice piece on this defense.
Midfield:
Max Seibald
Michael Kimmel
Albert Maione
JoJo Marasco
Steve DeNapoli
John Austin
Kevin Unterstein
Mike Unterstein
Analysis:
When Seibald is healthy, he can really be a big piece from initiating the offense from up top. It was never more evident than when he put up 21 points in 11 games this past year after being banged up in 2013. Kimmel was a very nice midseason addition having put up 16 points in only six games played. Marasco continues to develop and had a huge leap from Year 1 to Year 2 in terms of production as he ended the season ranked third on the team in points. Meanwhile, Austin, DeNapoli and the Unterstein brothers are crucial to the team’s ability to defend the opponent’s midfield.
Faceoff:
Jerry Ragonese
Greg Gurenlian
Analysis:
Gurenlian is the best faceoff man in the game today after winning 60 percent of his faceoffs in 2014. Ragonese provides some nice insurance as well should Gurenlian get hurt. He was 29-of-60 in spot duty for Gurenlian.
Attack:
Ned Crotty
Matt Gibson
Brandon Mangan
Tommy Palasek
Rob Pannell
Analysis:
This is the strength of the offense. Pannell leads the unit, and the team, having put up 56 points in 2014. Crotty and Palasek had 25 and 29 points respectively in 2014 which ranked them in the Top 4 in terms of scoring output on the team. Meanwhile, Gibson and Mangan were nice alternatives in spots at attack as well. Should one of the Top 3 guys go down due to injury, the Lizards can feel confident in one of those guys stepping in.
Overall there were no suprises from who the Lizards cut and who they protected. Heading into 2015, expect the Lizards to address the offensive side of the ball in the offseason as they try to improve a unit that was ranked in the bottom half of the league.
