Which National Lacrosse League rookies have made a difference so far in the young 2015 season? Check out the NLL Rookie Report on IL Indoor heading into a busy weekend with five games on the Week 4 schedule.
“There was just one game in Week 3 of National Lacrosse League, but plenty of rookie action,” IL Indoor writes. “Buffalo’s road win over Vancouver on Saturday night saw three rookies score their first NLL goals and one other make his NLL debut. All nine teams are back in action this weekend, so we’ll have much more to keep track of after this light week.”
1) Miles Thompson (Minnesota Swarm): The right-handed forward out of Onondaga Nation and the Swarm had the weekend off. The Swarm are at New England on Saturday.
2) Ben McIntosh (Edmonton Rush): The right-handed forward out of Port Coquitlam and the Rush had the weekend off. They’re back in action this weekend, visiting Calgary on Saturday.
3) Jerome Thompson (Buffalo Bandits): The left-handed forward out of Nedrow, N.Y., scored his first NLL goal in Saturday’s road win over Vancouver. His goal in the third quarter, which finished a fast break, gave Buffalo an 11-8 lead. He also had an assist and scooped a pair of loose balls to help Buffalo improve to 2-1.
4) Quinn Powless (New England Black Wolves): The right-handed forward out of Ohsweken had the weekend off. The Black Wolves host Minnesota on Saturday.
5) Eli McLaughlin (Colorado Mammoth): The left-handed forward out of Surrey, B.C., and the Mammoth had the weekend off. Colorado hosts Vancouver on Saturday.
6) Robert Hope (Colorado Mammoth): The left-handed defenseman out of Peterborough had the weekend off. Colorado hosts Vancouver on Saturday.
7) Brandon Goodwin (Buffalo Bandits): The left-handed transition man out of New Westminster, B.C., also scored his first NLL goal in Buffalo’s road win over Vancouver on Saturday. His unassisted strike came in the third quarter and helped cut off a 2-goal run by Vancouver that had cut the Buffalo lead to 1 goal.
8) Bill O’Brien (New England Black Wolves): The right-handed defenseman out of Syracuse and the Black Wolves had the weekend off. New England hosts Minnesota on Saturday.
9) Conrad Chapman (Vancouver Stealth): The left-handed transition man out of Prince George, B.C., also scored his first career NLL goal, this one coming in his first NLL game. His goal was Vancouver’s first of the fourth quarter and it cut Buffalo’s lead to 11-10, but it wasn’t enough to help the Stealth as they lost Saturday’s home game. Chapman was one of a few new faces in Vancouver’s back end on Saturday and at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, the second-round draft pick has plenty of up-side.
10) Colin Boucher (Vancouver Stealth): Yet another sizeable addition to Vancouver’s back end on Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound free agent defenseman out of Huntsville is no stranger to lacrosse fans. He’s a 2-time Mann Cup winner with Six Nations and was last year’s CLax Defensive Player of the Year. The Stealth announced his addition to the roster last week and brought a physical presence in Saturday’s home loss to Buffalo.
