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Uncovering the USA Box Lacrosse Tryout Roster

After some poking around, we got our inquisitive hands on a copy of the USA box lacrosse tryout roster!

US Lacrosse hasn’t released the list yet, officially, so this might not be the FINAL tryout list. However, we’ve confirmed through our sources that the list we’ve received represents a good chunk of the guys who got invited.

When we found out the USA Box Lacrosse team would be chosen through an “open tryout,” we were excited to offer up our opinion on how to select the team. Although we have managed to get a hold of a copy of the invitation list, it must be noted that at least a handful of guys that we know paid their $50 to apply and only found out two weeks before the date that they were not going to be given the opportunity to tryout for the United States.

We thought the US Lacrosse takeover and choice of coaching staff was extremely promising at first, but could the box program be facing some major road blocks before it even gets off the ground?

What we’ve come up with after looking at the list and talking to those around the scene is, if you’re going to make the tryout you’re either: A) a former big time D1 stud, B) a current NLL player, or C) a dedicated box road warrior… and even then you might not make the cut!

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The Unofficial USA Box Lacrosse Tryout Invitation List

With the USA Box Lacrosse tryout just a few days away, here are many of the players you can expect will be there:

To me it’s a no-brainer to see a handful of Vermont Voyageurs get selected, as these guys have been playing Canadian ball all summer and putting on for the US while north of the border for a while now. It is an absolute bummer to see no players from the CILL get their names called, but I’ll get to that later.

Having a handful of faceoff guys is also likely unnecessary. Snider/Snider/MacIntosh will likely run the show for Canada and having a FOGO means much less in box. Give me a guy that can win the draw and play O or D… I’ll take that any day!

I heard the rumor in Seattle that the G.O.A.T Casey Powell was going to tryout, and by try out I mean take the team over. If the legend is really going out for Team USA, make no mistake, this will be Casey’s team next summer. It looks like the lacrosse gods are smiling upon up with this one, too bad Ryan didn’t throw his name in the hat, then we would have really be in for a show!

Take my opinion for what it’s worth (read: bag of peanuts) but I think there are some obvious names on this list and some guys that may, or may not, have gotten snubbed. I only wish I could be in New Jersey for this weekend’s camp!

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Easy locks: Casey Powell, Joe Walters, Kyle Sweeney, Garrett Thul, Drew Westervelt, Tucker Durkin, Kyle Hartzell, Joe Resatarits, Brendan Mundorf, Joel White, Mitch Belisle

Prime candidates: Chris O’Daugherty, Kevin Buchanan, Max Seibald, Greg Rogowski, Ryan Hotaling, Ethan Farrell

Don’t be shocked to see: Brandon Dube, Drew Petkoff, Greg Downing, Chris Collins, CJ Costabile, Joe Smith, Steve Holmes, Eric Hoffman

Interesting invitations:

Mark White – Drafted by the Knighthawks and could be a solid underdog
Dan Hardy – A big body forward that has perimeter range
Sam Bradman – Struggled to cut it in the MLL this year and didn’t make the Swarm cut last year. True athlete, could be a surprise depending on his recent work ethic
Brian Megill, Mike Manley, Jesse Bernhardt – strong poles in the field came, could be nice additions to the defense. Jesse has the USA field experience from this summer;
John Ranagan, has adjusted well to the box game and had a great run with Team USA in Seattle
Marcus Holman – No time in the box but a staple of the young field Team USA
Tim Desko – Great athlete and field player with the ability to learn quickly
Joe Vitale – Plays a ton of box in Long Island, shoots 112 MPH.
Kevin Drew – Incredible athlete, could be a solid defensive pick
Jeff Reynolds – Freak athlete, a quality transition look
Anthony Kelly – Held it down in Kentucky through the Stickhorses years. AK plays more than most US players and knows box better than many guys, plus he is a big body bruiser that can give Snider a run for his money on faceoffs. The foot injury was holding him down a bit, but this is a man that can’t be stopped.
Paul Rabil – Being in a boot, I can’t see Paul trying out. In years past, teams have had to adapt box to Paul, not Paul to box. I assume he will be an addition to the team regardless, I just hope he works in the system!
Kieran McArdle, fantastic rookie season in the MLL and a quality showing with Team USA in Seattle. He’s quick and can take the ball to the cage, his size could be a small factor

Goalies:

David Mather – Kid from Issaquah, WA, that grew up with the Jr. Stealth before playing his summer ball in Burnaby with the Lakers
Chris Collins – Chris has been clogging the net for the US Developmental team for years. I would be surprised if he wasn’t a pick for one of the spots.
Joe Evans – Experience from playing in the NALL with the Rockhoppers and currently holds it down for the Vermont Voyageurs, expect Joe on the final roster.
Jack Runkel – I only know Jack as Loyola field goalie. I’ve heard he holds his own out in the Baltimore Indoor Lacrosse League and was a top player for Loyola’s winter box sessions.

Can someone please tell us where __________ is?

Zack Dorn
Nick Jonas
Ryan Knautz
Anyone from the CILL
Brett Manney
Ginny Capicchioni
Kyle Smith
Marty Bowes
Matt Hickman
Eric Law
Brett Queener
Adam Nauerth
Mael Walkowiak
Alex Marshall
Julian Maliszewski
Will Manny
Brian Krol

We know that it’s not reasonable for everyone to get to get their shot at representing Team USA, but it seems safe to say that some sort of politicking was also at play. I’m not quite sold on Will Harrington, Kevin Drew, Joe Vitale, Jeff Reynolds and Mike Poppleton personally, but these guys have clearly made a name for themselves at their craft. So surprise me, fellas!

Not a single guy competing from the Chicago Outlaws of the CILL was invited, which includes Nick Jonas who was drafted by Minnesota last season. These guys have been competing as a real box lacrosse organization for years and just won the league’s cup. How could a single CILL guy not be worthy of a shot at Team USA?

Could it be that Chicago isn’t too close to Baltimore or maybe that they just aren’t up to that level? I’m going with the first one.

Teams like Ireland, Israel, and a few others are already weeks ahead of the United States when it comes to tryouts and we all know that the Canadians and the Iroquois Nationals are going to have an electric roster on display. It’s time for the U.S. to buckle down and get to work.

We will keep you posted with inside information as we learn the details. I think that regardless of who makes the final cut, if the entire team and coaching staff can stay focused, I truly believe that the Americans can have a strong showing this summer at the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, but the clock is most definitely ticking.

Mark Donahue

Growing up in the Midwest, Mark always wanted to spread his wings and explore. After taking a leap of faith and moving to the Pacific Northwest, he realized his home is in Ohio. That's not stopping him from hopping on airplanes or hitting the road in search of the next adventure. Mark has been officiating for nearly half of his life and has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with crosschecking.