BOCA RATON, Fla. (October 8, 2015) – The Florida Launch (Launch), Major League Lacrosse (MLL)’s only team in Florida, announced today its 12-man protected roster ahead of the 2016 MLL Expansion Draft.  The Launch’s 12-man roster includes notable MLL stars Kieran McArdle, Lyle Thompson and Casey Powell but other notable names such as PT Ricci, Casey Ikeda and Austin Kaut were left off the list. “This was an extremely difficult process to cut the roster from 23 to 12 players. If we had it our way, we would be protecting everyone on our roster as we had a good group that started coming together at the end of this past season,” said Launch Head Coach Stan Ross. “With this wave of cuts, we had to really focus on who we could and couldn’t live without and those weren’t easy decisions to make, especially with the depth and experience we have on our roster.” Ross and his coaching staff look to build on a strong finish to the 2015 season where the team won four of its last five games, including a decisive 18-11 victory over MLL Championship runner-up Rochester in the final week of the season and a 16-12 victory over the eventual MLL Champion New York Lizards. The new roster will be anchored on the frontline by 2014 MLL Rookie of the Year Kieran McArdle and 2014 MLL MVP Casey Powell while also featuring 2014 All-World defenseman Tucker Durkin, MLL veteran and All-Star Steven Brooks and back-to-back Tewaaraton Trophy winner Lyle Thompson. “The core group we have now will be able to help us continue to build towards our end goal of a championship,” said Ross. “We hope to bring back as many players from our 2015 roster as we can but our 12-man roster will be who we build upon for 2016.” The Launch saw some impressive individual performances in 2015 from the players on the 12-man protected list. Powell tallied his 500th career point during the season; while budding superstars McArdle and L. Thompson each etched their names in the MLL record books as well.  McArdle recorded the most goals in the league with 47 and second most points (and the 9th most all time in a single season) with 65, while L. Thompson tallied the fourth most points in a single season by a rookie ever with 38. The Florida Launch begins its third MLL season April 2016 and will call Florida Atlantic University Stadium home once again. Season tickets are on sale now for the 2016 season by calling (561) 923-9067.