Nll Rookie Report: Week 10

Keep track of the National Lacrosse League’s up-and-coming players with the NLL Rookie Report for Week 10 by Bob Chavez on IL Indoor. Only two games this past weekend, but first-year pros will have plenty of opportunities to shine as the schedule picks up down the stretch starting with six games in Week 11.

“It’s been said quite a bit this season already, but having just 2 games on the weekend qualifies as a light schedule,” Chavez writes. “So while we got to see just 4 rookies in action in those 2 games, we still got to see why Ben McIntosh remains in our No. 1 spot among this year’s rookies. He’s as steady as it comes for forwards and even though the Rush lost in OT, they know they have a solid producer when it comes to McIntosh. Let’s take a look at the rest of the rookies and what they did in Week 10.

1) Ben McIntosh (Edmonton Rush): The right-handed forward out of Coquitlam continues to be right in the mix, even though the Rush lost at home in overtime on Sunday to Calgary. McIntosh had 1 goal and 2 assists while scooping 4 loose balls. He’s scored at least 1 goal in every game this season and has had no fewer than 3 points in every game. He’s the unquestioned leader in rookie scoring with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists).

2) Miles Thompson (Minnesota Swarm): The right-handed forward out of Onondaga Nation had the weekend off and remains second in rookie scoring with 30 points (13-17). The Swarm play 2 this weekend, at home to New England on Saturday and at Colorado on Sunday.

3) Eli McLaughlin (Colorado Mammoth): This left-handed forward out of Surrey, B.C., scored 2 goals in Friday’s home loss to Toronto, both of them coming with an extra man on the floor. His first was on the power play and his second came with the goalie pulled as the Mammoth did what they could to get back into the game. Colorado has lost 5 of its last 6.

5) Robert Hope (Colorado Mammoth): The left-handed defenseman out of Peterborough was part of a defensive unit played well, but it was for just 2 quarters in Friday’s home loss to Toronto. The Rock scored 5 goals combined in quarters 1 and 3, but blistered the Mammoth for 12 goals combined in quarters 2 and 4. It’s not the fault of Hope, of course, but he’s part of a unit that needs to identify what’s going wrong and get it fixed, pronto, if the Mammoth want to be a playoff team.

9) Mike Burke (Colorado Mammoth): The right-handed forward out of Wasaga Beach, Ontario, scored 1 goal, scooped 4 loosies and forced 1 turnover in Friday’s home loss to Toronto. With the departure of Athan Iannucci, the Mammoth are counting on Burke to provide depth behind Drew Westervelt.

Click here for the full list of players on Bob Chavez’s NLL Rookie Report for Week 10 on IL Indoor.