Throughout the offseason, Bryce Wasserman and Ben Randall were seen throughout the Columbus, Ohio, community and on social media in Ohio Machine gear, promoting the upcoming Major League Lacrosse season for the 2016 league champion.

Both players had talked to head coach Bear Davis about wanting to step into leadership positions for the organization, especially after many of its veterans moved on to play in the Premier Lacrosse League.

Randall — a Mason, Ohio, native who played collegiately at Ohio State — was acquired by the Machine in a trade with the Charlotte Hounds during the 2018 season and had signed a three-year extension.

Wasserman — drafted by the Denver Outlaws with the penultimate pick in the 2018 collegiate draft, the first player ever to be drafted out of Monmouth — eventually got his break with the Machine and delivered. He scored eight goals and added two assists in three games at the end of last season. He too signed a three-year extension.

Both Randall and Wasserman were looking forward to playing together this summer and, along with No. 1 overall draft pick Alex Woodall, helping get the Machine back to the playoffs.

But when Wasserman and Randall stepped on the same field last Saturday, they did so not as teammates for the Machine, but rather as opponents.

Along with Charlotte Hounds and Florida Launch, the Ohio Machine ceased operations for the 2019 season, as the league restructured to have owners in control of only one team. Fifty players rostered to those three teams were reassigned to new teams, and rookies were added via a dispersal draft.

This left players like Wasserman and Randall to adjust to new teams, new teammates and potentially new roles.

“I was going to be playing with a bunch of Ohio guys like Freddie Freibott and Matt Borges, but now we had to go our separate ways,” Randall said. “I was looking forward to playing in Ohio, being that I live in Columbus. It would’ve made traveling a lot easier for sure.

“I was shocked. It came out of nowhere, which I think it did for everybody in the organization,” he added. “I got the email Monday morning and it was April 1. Everyone thought it was an April Fools’ joke, but I didn’t. It was too serious to be a joke. I didn’t know where I was going to end up. It was disappointing to hear I wasn’t going to be in Ohio.”

The defender was picked up by the New York Lizards, who also brought in All-Stars Austin Kaut and Kevin Crowley through player relocation to line up alongside talents like Rob Pannell, Mark Matthews and Dylan Molloy.

Even though the Lizards stumbled out of the gate, Randall has enjoyed his time with his new team.

“You just have faith in yourself to go out there and play your game, and things will work out,” he said. “Even one of the D coaches, Coach [JC] Glick, he coached at Charlotte when I started at Charlotte. It’s nice having experienced players around me. Everyone knows what they’re doing. We get a good game plan and have been executing somewhat well on defense.”

Randall had his concerns about where he would wind up, but he was a former second-round draft pick with a big-school pedigree. He’s also familiar with Long Island, having started his college career at Stony Brook.

Wasserman, on the other hand, was less sure about where he would end up, if he would end up anywhere at all. The previous year, he was unable make the Denver Outlaws roster before being picked up by the rebuilding Machine.

“The struggles I went through to crack into the league in the first place, I went through it,” he said. “The struggles of wanting to play and showing your stuff, finally establishing myself in Ohio, and then you find out you’re going to be on a new team. The first thing in your head is, ‘How is this going to work?’ You’re back to square one.”

Things worked out well when Wasserman was selected by the Dallas Rattlers, his hometown team. He also knew one of the team’s star players and used him as a connection to the rest of his new teammates and coaches.

“I had a previous relationship with Ryan McNamara as the MLL did media days in Boston and had the photo shoot there. We had a previous relationship hanging out there,” he said. “I got the phone call from Coach [Bill] Warder, and Mac was the first one I texted. I was pumped up for the summer. Through Mac, I connected with Cody Radziewicz and had a previous relationship with Christian Carson-Banister, because he’s from the Dallas area.”

David Manning played alongside Randall on the Charlotte Hounds defense in 2018 before Randall was traded. Manning was drafted by the New York Lizards with the 43rd overall pick in the 2016 MLL collegiate draft, but never suited up for the team. He joined the Charlotte Hounds — his home-state team — in 2017 and spent two seasons there, becoming a mainstay in the lineup.

Manning was looking forward to building on the team’s 7-7 record the year before, and he was looking forward to being a leader on the defense. He was selected by the Atlanta Blaze, the only Hound brought to Atlanta through player relocation. Although he was alone, he said the adjustment from Charlotte to Atlanta wasn’t too difficult.

“Being in Atlanta was one of my top choices. It didn’t’ take much adjusting,” he said. “The guys on the team were great. So far, it’s just been a tremendous experience with this team.

“You just have to roll with it,” he added. “I’ve had teammates who have been on three teams in a summer. It’s a possibility to be passed around, but everything has worked out great. Our Atlanta team, we’re all tight together.”

Manning said if he couldn’t be in Charlotte, Atlanta was his top choice because it was the closest franchise to Charlotte and still was part of the southern lacrosse community.

While he has been a starter for the Blaze and one of the leaders on a young defense, the move has also benefitted him off the field. On June 28, Manning was announced as the director of lacrosse at Cambridge High School in Milton, Georgia. He said he was made aware of the opening at the school by his teammate Liam Byrnes, and he probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity had he not been a member of the Blaze.

Despite how good Atlanta has been to Manning, he does miss many things about his time in Charlotte. One of those things is the fans, particularly the dedicated group known as the Hound Legion.

“I have to give a shoutout to Michael Harrison. He was the founder of Hound Legion,” he said. “I know once he found out there was a familiar face in Atlanta, he’s been supporting us. I would love to see him beating that drum with a Blaze logo on it.”

Manning also has been excited to play against his former teammates, like when the Blaze took on the Chesapeake Bayhawks, and Manning got to play across from former Hounds midfielder Adam Osika.

“It’s cool to make those bonds,” he said. “It’s like you are teammates for life. You get that extra competitiveness, because they’re not just an opponent; you’re friends.

“There’s some friendly chirps on the field,” he added. “It was fun seeing a familiar face, getting to talk to [Osika] after a game, and getting to hang out with him. We had last year, and you think you’re going to see him again. [The game against Chesapeake] was the first time I’d seen him since [2018]. It’s like going up against a college teammate again. It’s a unique rivalry going against each other.”

Randall and Wasserman had a similar reunion-like feel when they stepped onto the field as opponents. Lacrosse is known for its small and tight-knit community, and these players share a unique experience. But as competitors, they are moving forward and enjoying their new challenges.

“We come out for the opening faceoff,” Wasserman said. “I see Ben’s covering me. We gave each other a big hug and said we’d talk after the game. It was funny giving him a hug. It was like, I wish it could’ve worked out. But we’re happy on our new teams, having a blast.”