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02:30 PM
Sep 27
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Meet the 23: Introducing the 2024 U.S. Men's Box National Team
Gowah Abrams
Hometown: Basom, N.Y.
NLL Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Position: Goalie
A four-year NLL veteran who previously spent time with Philadelphia and New York, Abrams, 30, has a 13.31 goals against average and .746 save percentage in 42 career games. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound goalie spent this summer playing in the Can-Am Lacrosse League for the Allegheny Arrows, helping them win the league title and make it to the 2024 Presidents Cup — Canada’s Senior B national championship. Abrams started for the U.S. in the 2019 World Lacrosse Box Championship, finishing with a 10.45 goals against average and .757 save percentage.
Zack Belter
Hometown: Wheatfield, N.Y.
College: St. Bonaventure ’22
NLL Team: Buffalo Bandits
Position: Defense
A 6-foot-5, 225-pound menace, Belter realized a lifelong dream when his hometown Buffalo Bandits selected him in the first round (19th overall) of the 2022 NLL draft. Hat tip to Canadian coach Randy Mearns, who brought the high school hockey/lacrosse standout to St. Bonaventure to play for the Bonnies’ inaugural Division I team. He graduated a first-team All-MAAC defenseman and as the school’s record-holder for caused turnovers (62).
Charlie Bertrand
Hometown: Baldwinsville, N.Y.
College: Merrimack ’20/Virginia (Gr.)
NLL Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Position: Forward
One of four players on the team who won a world field championship with the U.S. last summer in San Diego, Bertrand’s rise from Division II national player of the year to Division I national champion and dual pro indoor/outdoor standout has been one of the best stories in lacrosse the last five years. The 6-3, 215-pound lefty simply has a knack for scoring no matter where he plays. Bertrand, 26, averaged 40 points his first two NLL seasons.
TJ Comizio
Hometown: Basking Ridge, N.J.
College: Villanova ’19
NLL Team: Georgia Swarm
Position: Defense
A dynamite defensive midfielder at Villanova, Comizio is the rare American pro whose skillset seems better suited for box than field. While he’s appeared in at least 17 games the last three NLL seasons, he has played only sparingly in the PLL after starring for the MLL’s Atlanta Blaze pre-merger. In 52 career NLL games, Comizio has snagged 327 loose balls and caused 76 turnovers to go with eight goals and 30 assists. The 27-year-old is one of the top transition players in the game.
Tim Edwards
Hometown: Jamesville, N.Y.
College: Canisius ’15
NLL Team: Colorado Mammoth
Position: Defense
A fixture for the Colorado Mammoth and U.S. Men’s Box National Team since 2018, Edwards is as dependable as they come defensively and adds the ability to face off as a change of pace to Joe Nardella. He’s Colorado’s all-time leader with 1,314 faceoff wins, surpassing Jamie Hanford this year. Edwards, 31, contributes everywhere on the floor. He finished the 2024 season 237-for-453 (52.3 percent) on faceoffs to go with 98 loose balls, 14 caused turnovers, eight blocked shots, four goals and six assists. Edwards was a four-time All-MAAC midfielder at Canisius who led the Griffins in points, ground balls, assists and faceoff percentage his last two seasons.
Eli Gobrecht
Hometown: Ithaca, N.Y.
College: Ithaca ’16
NLL Team: San Diego Seals
Position: Defense
When Tom Schreiber went down late in the PLL season with a fractured clavicle, U.S. head coach Regy Thorpe decided to shore up the defense with Schreiber’s replacement. Gobrecht has compiled 323 loose balls in 58 career NLL games — all with the Seals. He’s one of the most relentless 1v1 defenders in both leagues. Gobrecht, 31, enjoyed his best NLL season in 2023, when he posted career highs in loose balls (113) and caused turnovers (24) while contributing two goals and nine assists.
Jack Hannah
Hometown: Milford, Ohio
College: Denver ’22
NLL Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Position: Forward
A 2023 NLL Rookie of the Year finalist, Hannah picked up box lacrosse in college with USBOXLA and the National Collegiate Box Series. He followed up a stellar first year in the pro box ranks with an even better sophomore campaign. Hannah, 25, was Vegas’ No. 2 scorer with 29 goals and 47 assists. Praised for embracing the discipline’s punishing physical style, Hannah also grabbed 71 loose balls.
Drew Hutchinson
Hometown: Otonabee, Ontario
College: RIT ’22
NLL Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Position: Goalie
Few field lacrosse goalies find their footing in box. It’s an entirely different position requiring an entirely different skillset. For every Dillon Ward, there’s a Matt Vinc or Blaze Riorden — goalies who make their living on the field or floor in their secondary discipline. Hutchinson is the rare keeper that can excel in both disciplines at the position. Selected in the second round of the 2021 NLL draft, Hutchinson has backed up Warren Hill the last two seasons, compiling a .714 save percentage in 227 minutes played.
CJ Kirst
Hometown: Bernardsville, N.J.
College: Cornell ’25
OJLL Team: Mimico Mountaineers
Position: Forward
The 2022 World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship MVP and a two-time Tewaaraton Award finalist at Cornell, Kirst is part of a growing trend (see Spallina, Joey) of U.S. college field lacrosse stars spending summers up north to play box in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League. Kirst had 29 goals and 33 assists and helped lead the Mimico Mountaineers into the OJLL playoffs in 2023. The lefty forward added 10 goals in five games at the North American Invitational (LAXNAI) last October, leading USA White to the championship as LAXNAI MVP.
Connor Kirst
Hometown: Bernardsville, N.J.
College: Villanova ’20/Rutgers (Gr.)
NLL Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Position: Defense/Transition
The oldest of four lacrosse-loving brothers who have excelled in all disciplines and at all levels of the sport, Kirst, a former All-American midfielder at Villanova and Rutgers, has reinvented himself as a defensive stalwart and transition threat in the NLL. This year he ranked fifth in the league with 32 caused turnovers and 13th with 146 loose balls. He also scored a dozen goals. The 27-year-old’s international experience includes an impressive performance at The World Games 2022, where he showed how well box translates to sixes with 15 goals in five games for the U.S. team.
Danny Logan
Hometown: Upper Arlington, Ohio
College: Denver ’21
NLL Team: San Diego Seals
Position: Defense
Widely regarded as one of the best short-stick defensive midfielders in the world playing field lacrosse, Logan is just as unbeatable on the floor. His 24 caused turnovers in 2023 tied Gobrecht for tops on the Seals, while he also scooped 98 loose balls in 17 games as an NLL All-Rookie Team selection. Logan, 26, got tougher assignments as the season wore on and even took faceoffs, a role he continued this year with appearances in 10 games.
Joe Nardella
Hometown: Cazeonvia, N.Y.
College: Rutgers ’15
NLL Team: Albany FireWolves
Position: Defense/Transition
In December 2022, on the last day of the last evaluation camp leading to selections for the 2023 U.S. Men’s National Team, Nardella tore the ACL in his right knee for the second time in five years. The devastating injury knocked him out of the sport for a year. But the 31-year-old faceoff ace has come back stronger than ever and will get his long-awaited chance to represent the United States in a world championship tournament. Nardella led the PLL (67.5 percent) and ranked fourth in the NLL (68 percent) in faceoff win percentage this year. He can also hold his own defensively in box. His 16 caused turnovers ranked second among NLL faceoff men.
Ethan O'Connor
Hometown: Milton, Ontario
College: Hobart ’13
NLL Team: Rochester Knighthawks
Position: Defense
A former first-round draft pick, O’Connor brings nine years (153 games) of NLL experience to the U.S. roster. He played on championship teams in Georgia (2017) and Buffalo (2022) before signing a two-year deal with Rochester. A late injury knocked O'Connor off of the U.S. roster ahead of the 2019 world box championship, but he'll get a second chance this year.
Mac O'Keefe
Hometown: Plainview, N.Y.
College: Penn State ’21
NLL Team: San Diego Seals
Position: Forward
The deadliest pure shooter in American field lacrosse, O’Keefe played box lacrosse as a kid growing up on Long Island and credited that experience with helping him set the NCAA career goals record at Penn State (a mark since eclipsed by Chris Gray). His potential was such that San Diego made him the 15th overall pick in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft. O’Keefe has rewarded the Seals with 32 goals and 33 assists in 37 career NLL games.
Joe Resetarits
Hometown: Hamburg, N.Y.
College: Albany ’12
NLL Team: Philadelphia Wings
Position: Forward
Any conversation about the best American-born players in NLL history must include Resetarits. The sixth overall pick in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft, Resetarits fell five points shy of his fourth 100-point campaign this year. His career production — 311 goals, 439 assists and 750 points in 181 games — is staggering for someone from this side of the border. Resetarits, 35, is playing in his third world championship with the U.S. as the team’s veteran anchor and its most accomplished offensive threat. Some guys were just born to play box.
Blaze Riorden
Hometown: Fairport, N.Y.
College: Albany ’16
NLL Team: Philadelphia Wings
Position: Forward
When Riorden gets inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame one day, we’ll reflect fondly on one of the most unique careers in pro lacrosse history. A five-time PLL Goalie of the Year and 2023 All-World selection in field lacrosse, Riorden continues to amaze with his ability to flip the script as a big-time scorer in box lacrosse. Perhaps we should have seen it coming when he rumbled the length of the field to score in a 2015 NCAA tournament game. A lefty, Riorden has great chemistry with the righty Resetarits. In addition to the Albany and Philadelphia connections, they’ve played on the last two U.S. box teams together. Riorden’s best NLL season came in 2023, when he established career highs for goals (34), assists (39) and points (73).
Brandon Robinson
Hometown: Pickering, Ontario
College: Laurier ’22
NLL Team: Rochester Knighthawks
Position: Forward
A two-time NLL champion with Buffalo, Robinson recorded 38 points and 70 loose balls in 23 games the last two years. Rochester traded for the 28-year-old lefty last week, returning him to the team with which he made his NLL debut in 2019. At 6-foot-3, 200-plus pounds, Robinson adds the element of size to the stable of U.S. forwards and can create opportunities for others setting picks that are difficult to circumvent.
Dylan Robinson
Hometown: Pickering, Ontario
NLL Team: Buffalo Bandits
Position: Defense/Transition
The youngest of the Robinson brothers and a 2022 NLL Entry Draft first-round pick, Robinson appeared in 30 games the last two seasons in Buffalo. He has 113 loose balls during that stretch to go with 18 caused turnovers and occasional faceoff work. Robinson, 22, previously played Junior A ball with the Toronto Beaches.
Joey Spallina
Hometown: Mount Sinai, N.Y.
College: Syracuse ’26
OJLL Team: Orangeville Northmen
Position: Forward
The youngest player on the team is one of the most talked about prospects in box lacrosse thanks to a pair of prolific summers competing in Canada’s Junior A circuit with the Orangeville Northmen. Spallina was the top scorer in the OJLL this summer with 202 points (80 goals, 122 assists) in 29 games. A two-time All-American and rising junior at Syracuse, the 21-year-old phenom was the only player in the league with at least 100 assists. Spallina poured in another 28 points during the Minto Cup, a bruising event that will have him well prepared for Utica.
Dalton Sulver
Hometown: Kingwood, Texas
College: High Point ’21
NLL Team: Colorado Mammoth
Position: Defense
College d-middies are coveted pro prospects because they face the lion’s share of 1v1s in an NCAA setting and boast the footwork, toughness and endurance to go toe-to-toe with anyone. That’s how Sulver, a Texas native who played at High Point, found a calling in the NLL. He played in a career-high 12 games this year for the NLL champion Buffalo Bandits, scooping 22 loose balls to go with a goal and four assists. He signed with Colorado this offseason.
Ryan Terefenko
Hometown: Sinking Spring, Pa.
College: Ohio State ’21
NLL Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
Position: Defense/Transition
Fast as lighting and tough as nails, Ohio State’s Swiss Army knife has proven to be one of the best pros the program has ever produced. He was a big part of the U.S. National Team’s suffocating defense in the 2023 world championship, turning heads (fans and opponents) with his ability to dislodge the ball and escort it to the offensive end in nanoseconds. His speed plays just as well in box, especially on the offensive press, and he’s grown more comfortable defending, reading the floor and igniting transition with each season. Terefenko, 26, has eclipsed 100 loose balls in each of his three seasons in the NLL, including a career-high 186 loosies in 2023. Moreover, he has 17 goals and 31 assists in 50 career games.
John Wagner
Hometown: St. Davids, Ontario
College: Marquette ’19
NLL Team: Albany FireWolves
Position: Defense
A four-year pro, Wagner has accumulated 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists), 334 loose balls, and 80 caused turnovers in his career with the New York Riptide, Rochester Knighthawks and Las Vegas Desert Dogs. Wagner has international experience, albeit for Canada. He attended Cranbrook-Kingswood in suburban Detroit during his high school years but represented Canada in the 2016 U19 world championship for field lacrosse. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Wagner adds size, speed and transition scoring to the mix.
Joel White
Hometown: Cortland, N.Y.
College: Syracuse ’11
NLL Team: Retired
Position: Defense
A blast from the past, White, 35, returns to the U.S. National Teams program two years after retiring from professional lacrosse. There’s no substitute for experience. White has been a part of gold medal-winning U.S. teams in 2008 (U19) and 2018 (senior) to go with a pair of bronze-medal finishes in 2015 and 2019 (box). A surefire Hall of Famer who finished his college career as Syracuse’s all-time leader in ground balls (283), points by a defensive player (28) and goals (18) by a defensive player, White’s box bona fides are unquestioned. He spent nine seasons in the NLL, setting a Georgia Swarm record with 32 caused turnovers in 2016. For his career, he had 46 caused turnovers, 912 loose balls, 80 points (23 goals, 57 assists) and only 109 penalty minutes.
