Discipline Summary: Week 1

The National Lacrosse League has issued a summary of discipline for incidents occurring during Week 1 of the 2015 NLL regular season. No additional discipline has been assessed from season openers occurring on January 2-3. There is however an update on the appeals for both two-game suspensions handed down to New England Black Wolves rookie Bill O’Brien during the preseason.

The appeals for the two match penalty incidents assessed to O’Brien have been granted by an arbitrator before the NLL Week 2 games on Saturday, Jan. 10. O’Brien, who is now eligible to play in Week 2 on Saturday night, had played in Week 1 while the appeals were being filed.

O’Brien was assessed a match penalty for illegal cross-checking (Rule 63.3) on Buffalo Bandits forward Jamie Rooney at approximately the 10:15 mark of the second quarter during their December 6 exhibition game. The officials assessed a major high-sticking penalty on the field. Upon league review of the incident, O’Brien was assessed a two-game suspension per Rule 41.2.

O’Brien was assessed a match penalty for illegal body-checking (Rule 70.9) on Buffalo Bandits transition player Jay Thorimbert at approximately the 5:46 mark of the third quarter during their December 13 exhibition game. The officials assessed a major penalty for illegal cross-checking on the field. Upon league review of the incident, O’Brien was assessed a two-game suspension per Rule 41.2.

As a result of being assessed a previous match penalty in the December 6 game, O’Brien was assessed an additional five-game suspension as a Repeat Offender per Rule 41.4, which has since been rescinded following the granting of appeals.

Photo by Bill Wippert.