And onward we go with the 2017 National Lacrosse League rookies.
Much has been said and written about the new crop of Americans making their mark this season, but it’s not all Tom Schreiber and Kieran McArdle in Toronto. There are guys like Brent Adams in Colorado and Blaze Riordan and Tim Edwards in Buffalo who are having their respective impacts along with leading the way forward for a new generation of Yankees.
It’s a fantastic development to watch unfold and speaking of unfolding, it’s time to check in with how all the rooks are doing after 10 weeks.
Tom Schreiber (Toronto): The right-hander out of East Meadow, N.Y., had 1 goal and 3 assists in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England. His only goal game in the first quarter, meaning he went scoreless on his remaining 10 shots but he did contribute 6 loose balls and a caused turnover. As impressive as Schreiber’s rookie season is, it’s clear that he’s not just a scoring machine and he brings a well-rounded game to Toronto. Still, he maintains his team scoring lead at 45 points (13-32).
Kyle Jackson (Rochester): The left-hander out of Sarnia had 2 goals and 3 assists along with four LBs in Friday’s road loss to Buffalo, then had 1 goal and 3 assists in Saturday’s home overtime win over the Bandits. He’s second in team scoring with 36 points, just 1 point behind veteran right-hander Joe Resetarits.
Josh Currier (Rochester): The right-hander out of Peterborough was without a point in Friday’s road loss to Buffalo but had 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 loose balls and 1 caused turnover in Saturday’s home overtime win over the Bandits. The goal was as timely as it was beautiful, tying the score with 3 seconds left in regulation, which then allowed the Knighthawks to take the game to OT and win.
Ryan Keenan (Saskatchewan): The left-handed forward out of Oshawa had 1 goal and 1 assist in Saturday’s road loss to Vancouver. He also had 6 loose balls and has 18 points (5-13) in his 9 games this season.
Holden Cattoni (Calgary): The lefty out of Calgary was not in the lineup for Friday’s road loss to Colorado, but he was for Saturday’s home win over Georgia and he had his most productive offensive game of the season with 1 goal and 3 assists. He had his goal and 1 assist in the first quarter and was a key part of Calgary’s fast start out of the gate in a game the Riggers led 13-3 at halftime.
Kieran McArdle (Toronto): The left-hander out of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., had 2 assists in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England. He also was charged with 6 turnovers, nearly half of the 16 total charged to the entire Rock roster for Friday’s game.
Latrell Harris (Toronto): The right-hander out of St. Catharines scored his third goal of the season and first since Feb. 17, in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England. He also had 1 assist and scooped 6 loose balls in the game to continue his solid play.
Dan Lomas (Rochester): The lefty-out of Burlington had 1 goal and 1 assist in each game of the weekend split with Buffalo. He also had a combined 7 loose balls and caused 1 turnover in Friday’s loss at Buffalo.
Mike Messenger (Saskatchewan): The right-handed defender out of Surrey had a pair of loose balls in Saturday’s road loss to Vancouver and his night was finished early in the fourth quarter when he picked up an illegal body check major along with a game misconduct game misconduct.
Jacob Ruest (Colorado): The right-hander out of Cornwall continued his steady play – he had at least 1 goal in 6 straight games – with 1 goal, 2 assists and 3 loose balls in Friday’s home win over Calgary. In his 10 games this season, he has 19 points on 11 goals and 8 assists.
Honorable mention
Toronto F Reid Reinholdt has played a game a month for the Rock, but he’s making a case for a permanent spot in the lineup. In Friday’s home overtime loss to New England, Reinholdt had 2 goals and 1 assist along with 5 loose balls and 2 caused turnovers. In his 3 games this season, he’s got 10 points on 5 goals and 5 assists with 13 loose balls … Buffalo D Adam Will had 4 loose balls in Friday’s home win over Rochester and Saturday’s road loss to Rochester … Buffalo T Tim Edwards recorded his first NLL assist and scooped 6 LBs in Friday’s home win over Rochester, then scooped 4 loosies and caused a pair of turnovers in Saturday’s road loss to Rochester … Buffalo D Justin Martin scooped 3 loose balls in Saturday’s road loss to Rochester … Toronto F Phil Caputo scooped 3 loose balls in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England … Toronto D Challen Rogers had 4 loose balls and 1 caused turnover in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England … Toronto D Jordan Magnuson had 3 loose balls in Friday’s home overtime loss to New England … New England F Seth Oakes had 1 goal and 1 assist in Friday’s road overtime win against Toronto … New England D Joel Coyle had 1 assist and 6 loose balls in Friday’s road overtime win at Toronto … New England D Matt Spanger played in his first game since Jan. 14 and had 4 loose balls and 1 caused turnover in Friday’s road overtime win against Toronto … Colorado F Zach Herreweyers had 4 assists in Friday’s home win over Calgary … Colorado F Brent Adams had 2 goals and 2 assists in Friday’s home win over Calgary … Calgary D Chad Cummings had 1 assist and 5 loosies in Friday’s road loss to Colorado, then had 2 assist and 7 LBs in Saturday’s home win over Georgia … Calgary G Christian Del Bianco saw nearly 28 minutes in Friday’s road loss to Colorado and made 12 saves on the 22 shots he faced. He also had 1 assist … Buffalo D Jonathan Brier made his 2017 debut and had 1 assist and 2 loose balls in Saturday’s road overtime loss to Rochester … Rochester D John Raes played his first game since Feb. 11 and had 1 loose ball in Saturday’s home overtime win over Buffalo … Vancouver F James Rahe had 3 assists and 3 LBs in Saturday’s home win over Saskatchewan with all 3 helpers coming in the first quarter to help the Stealth get off to q quick start and their first home win of the season … Georgia D Connor Sellars had 1 assist, 4 loose balls and 1 caused turnover in Saturday’s road loss to Calgary … Georgia T Bryan Cole had 1 assist and 3 LBs in Saturday’s road loss to Calgary … Georgia T Sean Young had 5 loose balls and 2 caused turnovers in Saturday’s road loss to Calgary.
