December 23, 2009
Blazers' picks have more than an outside chance
by Justin A. Rice/
(Editor's note: This story ran in the November-December issue of the New England Lacrosse Journal. Top pick Max Seibald remains a holdout, and Scott Kahoe and Matt Messina have been cut.)
Before his team’s inaugural season, Boston Blazers coach Tom Ryan assembled a crew of young players with indoor lacrosse experience. Now that those players, most of whom are Canadian, have a year under their belts and his lineup is mostly in place, the Blazers could afford to gamble a bit during the 2009 National Lacrosse League entry draft in September and select players who have mostly outdoor experience.
The team’s picks may be new to indoor cauldrons but most know quite a bit about performing in a pressure cooker.
The Blazers’ top three picks — Max Seibald (Cornell), Matt Abbott (Syracuse) and Scott Kahoe (Syracuse) — participated in the 2009 NCAA national championship game at Gillette Stadium, a 10-9 overtime victory for the Orange.
“Last year we drafted mostly Canadian players,” Ryan said. “This year we did the exact opposite, I think our rationale being that in the first year we needed to have a young team that knew the box game and could come play right away. That worked well for us last year. Most of our starting roster is in place, which gave us the freedom to take chances on American players.
“We don’t need them to play right away. We look at those guys as potential projects.”
After the Rochester Knighthawks selected Sid Smith (Syracuse) and Ilija Gajic (Denver) with the first two picks and the Minnesota Swarm chose Zack Greer (Bryant) third overall, the Blazers scooped up Seibald with the eighth pick.
The midfielder, who scored two goals in the championship game to finish his career with 91 goals and 50 assists, won the 2009 Tewaaraton Trophy Award, which is given to the top collegiate player in the United States. Seibald went on to enjoy an all-star rookie season with Major League Lacrosse’s Denver Outlaws.
“Max is known as a tough player who is very physical,” Ryan said. “When looking for guys to make the jump from field to box, certainly his style and toughness was part of that.”
At press time, the Blazers had not come to terms with Seibald.
In the second round Boston selected Abbott, a finalist for the Tewaaraton, with the 20th pick. Abbott, the third player in his family to play for Syracuse, caught Ryan’s eye in Foxboro. With two defenders draped on him Abbott fired a behind-the-back pass that set up Kenny Nims for the tying goal with 4.5 seconds left in regulation.
“He’s someone who has the ability to play all roles,” Ryan said. “The national championship game is a test to know how good a player is. He had a couple key loose balls in the championship game.
"He’s a guy that makes big plays and is very versatile.”
Kahoe was taken No. 33 overall. Ryan likes Kahoe’s maturity. After graduating from Georgetown, Kahoe had a year of eligibility remaining and completed his college career at Syracuse.
“He’s a really big athletic player,” Ryan said of the 6-foot-5-inch, 215 pound midfielder who scored 16 points, went 19 for 43 on faceoffs and added 18 ground balls. “And he’s played some box lacrosse.”
In the fourth round, the Blazers selected Matt Messina from the New York Institute of Technology. After finishing his college career with 59 goals and 65 assists, Messina was chosen by the Boston Cannons in the fourth round of the Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft in May. He was on the Cannons’ inactive list last season but was placed on their 23-player protected roster in September.
“He’s another kid with great size and athleticism,” Ryan said.
In the sixth round the Cannons chose Wellesley native Mike Stone.
At Middlebury College, Stone was a three-time All-American midfielder.
“We’re definitely looking to have a couple of local players this year,” said Ryan, referring to a trend in the league to stock up on local players in an effort to cut down on travel expenses because of the economic downturn.
“I’m just real excited to get back to Boston,” Stone said. “My parents still live in Boston so it will be great to get back there and see them. I hope it’s beneficial for [the Blazers] to have regional guys. I would love it as well.”
Stone knows he’s a long shot to make the team when camp begins in the weeks running up to the team’s season opener Jan. 9 against Toronto at TD Garden. But Stone, who had 57 goals and 16 assists during his senior year, is confident.
“I’ve been around the game so long, I’ve watched the game so long I think I can play with pretty much anyone,” he said. “It’s tough to make a team if you are nervous or scared. I’ll just try as hard as I can and play as well as I can.
“I’ve actually never been in the box yet. I want to start playing. I’m excited to see what it’s like.”
Ryan knows all of his draft picks this year will need some time to adjust.
“Last year we had a lot of young players,” Ryan said. “We are looking to balance that off with guys that graduated from school and have been through that, been trough the Division 1 process and have matured not only by graduating college but playing in NCAA Final Four and in the NCAA finals.”
