The National Lacrosse League will have a hefty showing on the United States roster for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in September in the NLL home market of the Vancouver Warriors.
The NLL will occupy 16 of the 23 American roster spots and will send four alternates to compete in the tournament in Langley, British Columbia on Sept. 19-28.
“I want to thank all of the players that have participated in our events over the last two and a half years,” said head coach Regy Thorpe, who captained the U.S. team in 2007. “We had great enthusiasm throughout the process and for the last few spots we had some really tough decisions. At the end of the day, it come down to what we were looking for and who we thought could fill those roles the best.”
The U.S. squad will be led by Toronto Rock’s Tom Schrieber, who posted 94 points last season in the NLL, as well as Greg Downing of the New England Black Wolves, who caused 26 turnovers. They will be joined by 2019 All-Rookie Team selections Trevor Baptiste and Matt Rambo of the Philadelphia Wings and John Ranagan of the expansion New York Riptide, who won Teammate of the Year as a member of the Georgia Swarm last season.
The United States, which captured the bronze medal at each of the four previous World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, will return five NLL players from the team that represented the Stars and Stripes in 2015, including Downing, Brett Manney (New England), Chris O’Dougherty (Vancouver Warriors), Joe Resetarits (New England) and Blaze Riorden (Philadelphia).
Filling out the roster with NLL experience are: Gowah Abrams (Philadelphia), Matt Dunn (Georgia), Tim Edwards (Colorado Mammoth), Connor Kelly (New York), Kieren McArdle (New York), Ethan O’Connor (Buffalo Bandits) and Taylor Stuart (Colorado).
Alternates from the NLL include Brent Adams (Colorado Mammoth), Kevin Buchanan (New England), David Emala (New England) and Adam Osika (Philadelphia).
Seven players who played outside the NLL last year including Connor Buczek, Anthony Kelly, Jacob Lazore, David Mather, Cody Radziewicz, Gale Thorpe, and Joel White made the final roster. Eli Gobrecht, Marcus Holman and Nick Mariano were named as alternates.
The U.S. team opens its schedule on Sept. 19 against Canada and has pool play games against Israel on Sept. 20 and the Iroquois Nationals on Sept. 21.
Keep up with the action and follow all the NLL players as they compete in throughout the tournament on NLL.com
