US Lacrosse announced Wednesday the 49 players who advanced after the first round of tryouts for the 2018 U.S. men’s national team. Naturally, fans want to know, who didn’t?
More than anything, the three-day camp at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md., revealed the depth of talent that exists even at the sport’s elite level.
Just look at this 49-man training roster, categorized by position.
Attack
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Brown | Charlotte | Johns Hopkins '16 |
| Ned Crotty | Rochester | Duke '10 |
| Matt Danowski | Chesapeake | Duke '07 |
| Marcus Holman | Ohio | North Carolina '13 |
| Matt Kavanagh | Denver | Notre Dame '16 |
| Will Manny | New York | UMass '13 |
| Dylan Molloy | Florida | Brown '16 |
| Rob Pannell | New York | Cornell '13 |
| Ben Reeves | N/A | Yale '18 |
| Jordan Wolf | Rochester | Duke '14 |
Midfield
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Abbott | Chesapeake | Syracuse '09 |
| Connor Buczek | Florida | Cornell '15 |
| Mike Chanenchuk | Charlotte | Maryland '14 |
| Jake Froccaro | Chesapeake | Villanova '17 |
| John Haus | Charlotte | Maryland '13 |
| Myles Jones | Chesapeake | Duke '16 |
| Connor Kelly | N/A | Maryland '18 |
| JoJo Marasco | New York | Syracuse '13 |
| Paul Rabil | New York | Johns Hopkins '08 |
| Tom Schreiber | Ohio | Princeton '14 |
| Drew Snider | Denver | Maryland '12 |
| Joe Walters | New York | Maryland '06 |
Faceoff
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor Baptiste | N/A | Denver '18 |
| Brendan Fowler | Charlotte | Duke '14 |
| Greg Gurenlian | New York | Penn State '06 |
| Tom Kelly | Denver | Virginia |
| Joe Nardella | Boston | Rutgers '15 |
Short-Stick Defensive Midfield
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Bernhardt | Ohio | Maryland '13 |
| Steve DeNapoli | New York | Hofstra '11 |
| Will Haus | Charlotte | Duke '15 |
| Jacob Richard | New York | Marquette '16 |
| Kevin Unterstein | New York | Hofstra '08 |
Long-Stick Midfield
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Liam Byrnes | Florida | Marquette '16 |
| CJ Costabile | Chesapeake | Duke '12 |
| Michael Ehrhardt | Charlotte | Maryland '14 |
| Kyle Hartzell | New York | Salisbury '08 |
| Scott Ratliff | Atlanta | Loyola '13 |
| Joel White | Rochester | Syracuse '11 |
Defense
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse Bernhardt | Chesapeake | Maryland '13 |
| Tucker Durkin | Florida | Johns Hopkins '13 |
| Michael Evans | Chesapeake | Johns Hopkins '09 |
| Joe Fletcher | New York | Loyola '14 |
| BJ Grill | Denver | Marquette '16 |
| Mike Manley | Rochester | Duke '12 |
| Tim Muller | Florida | Maryland '17 |
Goalie
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Drew Adams | New York | Penn State '09 |
| John Galloway | Rochester | Syracuse '11 |
| Jack Kelly | Denver | Brown '16 |
| Brian Phipps | Chesapeake | Maryland '10 |
Now look at the so-called cut list, the 22 players who could comprise one heck of a world championship roster on their own.
Attack
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Bocklet | Denver | Fairfield '07 |
| Matt Gibson | New York | Yale '12 |
| Connor Cannizzaro | Ohio | Denver '17 |
| Kieran McArdle | Florida | St. John's '14 |
| Joey Sankey | Charlotte | North Carolina '17 |
Midfield
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Adams | Denver | Fairfield '12 |
| Nick Mariano | Florida | Syracuse '17 |
| Sergio Perkovic | Boston | Notre Dame '17 |
| Sergio Salcido | Florida | Syracuse '17 |
| Jeremy Sieverts | Denver | Maryland '09 |
Faceoff
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Puskuldjian | Ohio | Adelphi '14 |
Short-Stick Defensive Midfield
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Greg Downing | Denver | Fairfield '07 |
Defense
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Garrett Epple | Atlanta | Notre Dame '17 |
| Mitch Belisle | Boston | Cornell '07 |
| Matt Bocklet | Denver | Johns Hopkins '08 |
| Larken Kemp | Florida | Brown '17 |
| Matt Landis | Boston | Notre Dame '16 |
Goalie
Name |
MLL |
College |
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Fiorito | Chesapeake | Princeton '12 |
| Adam Ghitelman | Atlanta | Virginia '11 |
Do you see much of a dropoff? Neither did coach John Danowski.
“You can make the argument that there were 20 guys that we didn’t even invite that were capable of making the team,” Danowski said. “We certainly recognize that. They all have talent. You can coach any 23 of them and be really happy at the end of the day. The guys were extraordinary, not just in terms of athleticism and competitiveness and skills, but their character was eye-opening to all of us. These were really good men. That’s the hard part.”
Those that did not advance to the next round of tryouts did not need to look far for consolation. Stevenson coach Paul Cantabene, who missed the cut for the 2006 U.S. team but joined that staff as a volunteer faceoff coach, now is a member of the selection committee. He worked predominantly with the six faceoff men throughout the three-day tryout, but also offered solace to those among the 71 players that would not advance to the next round.
Despite getting cut from the 2006 team, Cantabene told them after Wednesday’s final session, standing on the sideline with his hand over his heart during the national anthem in London, Ontario, was one of the proudest moments of his career.
Two-time U.S. assistant and 2015 U.S. indoor team head coach Tony Resch also mentioned getting cut as a player. Resch played on the 1990 U.S. team, but fell short of the final roster in 1986 and 1994.
Even Danowski could sympathize.
“I applied for this job three times and I got turned down twice,” he said. “I know what it’s like.”
More notes on the U.S. training team:
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Six players who were members of the training team in 2014 that did not make the final roster — Danowski, Fletcher, Galloway, Marasco, Snider and Unterstein — are back in the running.
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Among the 49 players are 11 who suited up for the U.S. in the 2014 world championship (Abbott, Adams, Jesse Bernhardt, Crotty, Durkin, Evans, Gurenlian, Hartzell, Holman, Pannell and Rabil), two from 2010 (Crotty and Rabil) and one from 2006 (Walters).
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Current collegians that made the roster include Reeves and Baptiste, who were Tewaaraton Award finalists this season, as well as Connor Kelly, who scored the most goals by a midfielder (47) in Maryland history.
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In addition to being the top faceoff specialist in college lacrosse, Baptiste has a history with his potential adversaries in Canada. He went 15-for-25 against Jake Withers when Denver played at Ohio State on March 15. Withers, who is 76-for-152 (50 percent) as an MLL rookie this season with the Atlanta Blaze, should be in the Canadian player pool. “I’ve gone against that guy more times than I have fingers on my hands,” Baptiste said. “Definitely a factor.” There is talk that Geoff Snider, a Denver alumnus and three-time Canadian team member who retired from pro lacrosse in 2016, could return to the mix.
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Baptiste has had to get acclimated to international faceoff rules, which are slightly different from MLL and vastly different from college. “The rules — like the hand on the plastic, you can kind of roll into it and crowd the line — are a lot different than what I’m used to,” he said. “I’m trying to catch up to everyone.” Gurenlian, the 2015 MLL MVP who trained Baptiste through with The Faceoff Academy, is the only faceoff specialist with international experience.
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Walters, who was the only collegian on the 2006 team, is seeking to become just the second player in U.S. history to go 12 years between making the team. Hall of Fame goalie Brian Dougherty did it in 1998 and 2010.
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Twenty-four of the 71 tryout candidates participated in the MLL All-Star Game last weekend in Sacramento, a 41-goal shootout that ended in the early-morning hours Eastern time Sunday. The tryouts were the second leg of a particularly grueling six-day stretch for New York Lizards (Manny, Pannell, Gurenlian and Fletcher) and Atlanta Blaze (Ratliff and Ghitelman) players who participated in all-star weekend and were back in action Thursday when MLL season resumed.
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Danowski (2003), Costabile (2008), White (2008), Buczek (2012) and Kavanagh (2012) also have played for U.S. under-19 teams. Kavanagh was the MVP of the 2012 FIL U19 World Championship in Finland.