This article was originally posted on prolacrossetalk.com and is being republished with permission.
If you took a quick glance at the standings of the Premier Lacrosse League’s inaugural season, you would find Chrome LC at the bottom with a 2-8 regular season record. But a deeper dive would show a Chrome squad that found itself on the wrong side of four one-goal games.
The club was already entering an offseason littered with big personnel decisions to be made. With Dom Starsia stepping down to take on a larger role with the PLL advisory board, the veteran-laden squad was also in the market for another strong presence to man the sideline. Cue the hiring of Tim Soudan.
Soudan is no stranger to leading a professional franchise, serving as head coach of Major League Lacrosse’s Rochester Rattlers from 2011-17. During his time with Rochester, Soudan helped lead the Rattlers to back-to-back championships, ultimately falling in both contests. His success turning around that franchise in its return to Rochester landed him MLL Coach of the Year honors in 2014.
Soudan is now ready to take on his next challenge after a two-year hiatus from the pro ranks. While this will be Year 1 for Soudan in the PLL, he will have some familiar faces suiting up for him this summer, many who helped build the winning culture he left in Rochester. Soudan is reunited with six of his former players from his time with the Rattlers, including starting goalie John Galloway and PLL All-Star Jordan Wolf.
“There’s some unfinished business for sure,” Soudan said. “When you lose back-to-back championships, it’s certainly tough … But having a foundation on this team that is built around the culture we had [in Rochester] is only going to speed up the ability to build a great culture with everybody here.”
After submitting his protected players list earlier in the offseason, Soudan’s next major decision came in the form of the new player entry draft. With a laundry list of potential talent, Soudan weighed multiple factors when preparing for the draft.
“If you looked at where our success was last year, it was at the offensive end of the field, so we heavily protected our offensive guys,” he said. “After [Waterdogs LC] took [Chris] Sabia in the expansion draft, we had a lot of older defensemen. We needed to get younger there. We needed to put together a really solid defensive group in order to be successful in this league.”
Soudan and Chrome LC did just that, drafting defender Jesse Bernhardt with the second pick of the first round, and then selected defensive midfielder Donny Moss with their second selection, ninth overall.
A current member of the U.S. men’s senior national team, Bernhardt is familiar with the pro game. He played the previous seven seasons with the Chesapeake Bayhawks of the MLL. Bernhardt was a stalwart on the defensive end, helping lead the Bayhawks to two Steinfeld Trophies during his tenure, including the franchise’s sixth championship this past summer. Bernhardt will now join his brother, Jake, as one of several sets of brothers currently suiting up in the PLL.