The Ohio Machine had the biggest turnaround last season, in large part due to the addition of severa l LXM Pro Players and the addition of 2013 first round pick Peter Baum and 2014 first round pick Tom Schreiber. After finishing in last place last season, the Machine made the playoffs before losing to the Rochester Rattlers in the first semifinal game.
As they head into 2015, here is the 23-man protected roster before adding more players through the draft.
Midfield
Dominique Alexander, Peter Baum, Tom Schreiber, Jake Bernhardt, Marshall Burkhardt, Dan Groot, Kevin Cooper, Kyle Harrison
A much improved unit from 2013 to 2014. The first line offense of Harrison, Schreiber and Baum was every bit as exciting as it sounds. With the last two No. 1 overall picks, the Machine’s offense was on fire as Baum scored 50 points in his first season in the MLL on his way to being an MLL All-Pro selection. Meanwhile, Harrison and Schreiber chipped in with 33 and 20 points respectively. Schreiber probably could’ve added more but missed the last two games of the season because of w wrist injury.
Next season, you should expect this offense to be even better as Schreiber gets a full season under his belt and Baum hits the prime of his career while Harrison converts easy looks and continues to battle father time.
Defensively, Groot and Alexander are athletic enough on defense to stay with a good amount of offensive players and good enough in transition to create scoring opportunities for the league’s best offense. Lastly, Cooper and Bernhardt provide solid second line depth as they each notched 13 points.
Defense
Brian Farrell, Max Schmidt, Jackson Place, Stevan Waldeck, Chad Wiedemaier, Dana Wilber, Stephen O’Hara
This is the weakest area on the team. Farrell is one of the best offensive defenders in the league. He ranks behind Kyle Hartzell and Mike Manley in that category. He chipped in with 10 points on defense and continues to make an impact in transition. While Wiedemaier, Wilber and O’Hara are flashy names from their college days, they didn’t do much to deter the Machine in allowing the second most goals in the MLL this season. They will have to address this position heavily in free agency and the draft.
Goalie
Scott Rodgers, Brian Phipps
Rodgers looked pretty solid in goal for the Machine while they waited for Phipps to finish his coaching duties. However, this position is also a weakpoint on the roster as they combined to post a 13.5 GAA. The goalie position was strange as Phipps was only marginally better than Rodgers was and Phipps played in six more games than Rodgers. Could a goalie controversy brew in Ohio? It didn’t look like it this season but in the six games that Rodgers appeared in, he did save 55 percent of his shots while Phipps saved 48 percent. The Machine should address this position as well or heavily think about giving Rodgers some more time in net.
Attack
Derek Maltz, Steele Stanwick, Logan Schuss, Marcus Holman
Easily the strongest unit on this roster. They have three national players, two for Team USA and one for Team Canada. Together, the three of them combined for 124 points with Holman tied for the team lead with 50 points. Maltz also showed some nice potential and earned himself some time in the rotation if need be with a strong 4-point performance in one game. Either way, this attack is one of the best position groups in the MLL and heavily contributed to leading the Machine to the MLL’s best offense this season.
Faceoff
Bobby Dattilo, Eric O’Brien
In 2014, they never came to a consensus at faceoffs as O’Brien was 104-of-220 while Dattilo was 83-of-155. Individually, O’Brien ranked last in the MLL in faceoff percentage among the eight players who were the primary faceoff guys for their respective teams.
Overall, this is a nice young roster that will only get better as they address the faceoff game and defense. The run they made to make the playoffs this year is no fluke and they will once again have the best offense in 2015. This reminds me of the leap the CHarlotte Hounds made last year and were expected to make this season but didn’t. Hopefully, the Machine don’t fall into the same trap the Hounds did.
