Mike Poppleton
Professional Team: HamiltonNationals
Position Midfield
Height 6′ 1″
Weight 200 lbs.
College: Johns Hopkins University
Talking about having a good year. Mike Poppleton has emerged as one of the strongest candidates to replace some old favorites at the face off X. Not to mention that this is a position that has brought a lot of attention to it since the decision to leave Paul Cantabene off the roster and Geoff Snider controlled the Gold Medal Game. This left the United States with a sour spot and a refocused energy at the position. Especially since a week later Cantabene took over the MLL Title Game against Snider in route to the championship.
So here is Mike Poppleton with an opportunity to put his stamp on United States Lacrosse. Entering his junior season, Poppleton had been used sparingly by the Blue Jays. Someone needed to emerge as the replacement for the recently graduated Matt Dolente, who had a tremendous senior season. Dolente emerged as one of the best after the Jays struggle the year prior. Not much was expected from the position, but lacrosse was about to get a star in the making.
His junior season, Poppleton separated himself from the pack and became a major driving force behind the Blue Jays success. In his first two years at Homewood, he had played in ten games and had taken 39 faceoffs. Now he was the man in charge of giving the Jays offense the possessions they needed to defeat annually one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
As the season closed, Poppleton had won nearly 62% of his faceoffs and had taken 271 on the year. He was sixth in the nation and in the top 20 for ground balls per game. Those are some impressive statistics for a team that annually is amongst the faces of college lacrosse. Not much attention was paid to Poppleton in terms of recognition. The pieces were there, but could he do it again in his final season as a Jay. The years prior had been up and down for the Blue Jays in terms of facing off, so this could have been seen as beginners luck or just a surprise that could fade away just as quickly as it had emerged.
I had the opportunity to meet Mike during the summer between his junior and senior seasons. He was one of the guys, enjoying his summer working camps and being with his buddies around Baltimore. The guys were in the midst of summer traditions of going to the beach, lacrosse tournaments, and whatnot. Nothing stood out aside from the fact that Mike was a happy go lucky guy and someone who you could joke around with during the long days in the camp circuit. That is until he was asked to teach the campers about facing off.
I think I still get a laugh at the look my face had only a few minutes into his talk. A riveted crowd moved forward on the turf to see how he was positioning his hands and the campers followed along intently. The kind of response that most of us camp counselors know is rare among the summers. His attention to detail was exceptional. Campers grilled him with questions on moves, counter moves, his thoughts on taking the draw, etc. They couldn’t get enough.
It didn’t end there. His team must have had the most fun with the talent that they had. They were engaged and learned each step of the way. What I took away from the week was that Mike Poppleton was working his way to the top and about to hit his stride. The pieces were in place to be great, now will the stars align giving him that possibility.
From day one at Homewood this past season, it was Mike Poppleton hard at work on his craft. He was in charge of giving the ball back to the Blue Jay offense, keeping the pressure off the defense, and forcing teams into fighting an uphill battle all game. To add to his presence at the X, Poppleton put in two of his three goals on the season against the Jays’ most bitter rivals, Virginia and Loyola.
Poppleton finished his career with nearly forty games played, nearly 200 ground balls, and some of the most memorable runs during the Blue Jays 2013 season. His goal against Virginia felt like a tidal wave crashing on the heads of the Cavaliers. He did a great job in a season that was hard on the Blue Jay Alumni. Poppleton ended his career as a Second Team All-American.
His work in lacrosse didn’t end there. The Hamilton Nationals drafted Poppleton with the 34th pick in this year’s draft. The Nationals already had their man at the face off X in former Blue Jay Matt Dolente. The battle was on and early in the season, it was a fight to see who would be the man for the Nationals. Soon enough, Dolente was sent packing and it was Poppleton’s job alone. With rosters being maximized with the limited amount of players allowed, there was no chance that the Nationals could keep two face off men active while waiting to see who had the hot hand.
Now where does this led now? The lacrosse world can again remember back to the 2006, when the face off battle was probably the deciding factor in the Gold Medal Game between Canada and the United States. I know after working with Paul Cantabene, that it was a tough year following that game and that game had many people waiting for the next round eagerly.
Mike Poppleton has put the work in to be the best that he can be, but after meeting him, he isn’t going to stop there. Facing off is a craft and to stay in the game, that technique needs to be worked at and developed over and over again. He has done so and in two years has been able to have a chance to be the next great face off man for Team USA. The list includes some of the most recognized names in the game and Mike Poppleton has the chance to etch his name on that mantle.
Not saying that Poppleton was a kid that came out of nowhere, to take the college lacrosse game by storm, and continue into the professional ranks. He played at one of the elite programs in the nation, his high school regularly ranks up there with the tops in the nation, and he now plays professionally. What sets Poppleton apart is that his determination has gotten him to the doorstep to one of the most elite positions in the game. Invited to camp are thirty midfielders, fifteen attackmen, and so on. He was invited to fill a position that very few ever get the offer and now he is one step from maybe handling the most controversial position in the international game.
