July 18, 2010
Quinzani, Cannons are a perfect fit
by Scott Souza/
Max Quinzani (Duxbury, Mass.) is a pefect fit with the Boston Cannons.
It made too much sense.
As the Major League Lacrosse draft approached, the perfect scenario appeared to unfold for the Boston Cannons.
With the third overall pick, the player sitting there for them would be Duxbury (Mass.) High School graduate Max Quinzani.
Not only would the Duke University star add another big gun to the Cannons’ revamped attack. But the local standout would also help fill the void left when Marshfield’s Sean Morris left the Cannons to join the LXM Pro Tour this summer.
The script was true to form June 6 at Yale University when Chicago used the top pick for Duke’s Ned Crotty, and Chesapeake chose Johns Hopkins midfielder Michael Kimmel in the number two slot. That left the obvious.
“With the No. 3, the Cannons choose Max Quinzani, attack, Duke University."
“We definitely had Max on the radar screen,” Cannons coach Bill Daye said. “Obviously, growing up in Massachusetts, on the South Shore, we have to keep in mind the business aspect of it and it helped there.
“But it was more than that. We think Max is going to be an excellent player in this league once he gets his feet wet. We were looking for someone who can put the ball in the net and someone who will ride hard on the attack. Max can give us all that.”
He certainly gave the Cannons everything they could have hoped for in his June 12 debut. With a Duxbury-minded rooting contingent roaring each time he stepped on the field, Quinzani scored three goals in his first MLL game as the Cannons pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 17-12 victory over the Outlaws in a rematch of the 2009 playoff semifinal.
Swarmed after the match by young fans looking for the autograph of the team’s newest star, Quinzani took the debut and his role on the team in stride.
“I don’t think this is pressure,” he said of being both a go-to scorer and local face of the franchise. “Playing in overtime of the national championship game is pressure. This is just playing lacrosse.”
Just two weeks earlier, Quinzani scored a last-second goal to beat the University of Virginia in the NCAA Division 1 semifinals. The two-time All-American then celebrated with the Blue Devils as they scored off the opening faceoff in overtime for a 6-5 victory over Notre Dame in the national title game.
Quinzani was named MLL Rookie of the Week with the effort that included a look-what-I-found goal as a loose ball found his stick at point-blank range that he put in to complete the hat trick.
“It was a gift, and it was also hustle to be in the right position like that,” Daye said. “That’s what Max Quinzani did at Duke and that’s what we expect him to do now that he is a professional player.”
Although Quinzani secured a job in New York City out of school, he said he is happy to be playing close to his hometown.
“This is the best possible situation,” he said. “My family still lives up here. It will give me a reason to come home on the weekends all summer.”
Keeping it close to home was a theme for the Cannons as their first seven picks in the draft either went to high school or college in New England.
“It’s something that makes sense in this league,” Daye said. “You see the Chesapeake team doing it too down in the Maryland area. It makes it easier for the players and cuts down on the travel for everyone.”
In the second round, with the 12th pick in the draft, the Cannons stayed on the attack with Derry, N.H. product Steven Boyle out of Johns Hopkins. Two players later, the Cannons chose North Andover resident and University of Massachusetts attack Jim Connolly with their third-round pick.
“We had a couple of middies in mind for the No. 12 pick and originally planned to pick Steven at 14,” Daye said. “When the middies were gone, we decided to go with Boyle at No. 12 because we didn’t want to miss out on him.
“That gave us a chance to go with Connolly at 14. He was a great player at UMass and showed a lot in the College All-Star game against Team USA.”
The Cannons went back to Duxbury in the fourth round for defensive midfielder Chris Nixon, who had 43 ground balls and three goals as a senior at Georgetown University. With their second fourth-round pick, the Cannons went midfield again with Yale University alumnus Nick Tsouris, who was the other rookie activated for the Outlaws game and played on some faceoffs.
Boston went defense for the first time in the fifth round with Madison, Conn.’s Ryan Nizolek, out of the University of Virginia.
In the sixth round, the Cannons went back to the midfield with Harvard University’s Jason Duboe. In the seventh round, they were the only team in the league to dip into Division 2, going back to Duxbury yet again in picking Bentley University attackman Kevin Gould.
Finally, with their final pick, the Cannons went outside of New England as they picked Notre Dame midfielder Grant Krebs.
Daye said some were surprised that the team went so heavily on offense in the draft, but said that versatility and scoring ability were his focus.
“The more players who can come in and do as many things as possible the better,” Daye said.
“This is a league where athleticism and offense are so important and that’s what we were looking for in this year’s draft.”
