Last weekend your intrepid reporter put all common sense aside and sailed for a brave, new world . . . okay, not exactly the same as trying to prove the world was not flat.  But I might have been better off if it was, because Baltimore is not . . . and walking from my hotel to the Convention Center was not a lot of fun Saturday . . . Anyway, on Friday morning Baltimore was yet to see any snow and the flight was only an hour late so I was able to get to the location of the MLL draft, just like last year at the Hilton ballroom attached to the Convention Center for what had become a rescheduled MLL College Draft, as the league raced to beat the coming blizzard.  70 players were picked by the now nine-team league as Atlanta joined in the festivities for the first time.  8 rounds with two picks forfeited left 70 slots. The Launch entered the draft with an incredible 7 of the Top 29 picks, looking to fill some talent needs on defense in particular and also looking to ensure that if the top offensive talents play deep into the NLL indoor season that there would be players that can keep the team afloat in the early part of the schedule.  Two of the first three games this season are home games against the Rattlers and Lizards, last year’s finalists, AT HOME.  Two tough games against last year’s finalists . . . and two teams looking for a little revenge against a Launch team that handled both of them comfortably down the stretch last season. The Launch ended the season playing their best lacrosse as the 2015 Draft class finally got comfortable with how the MLL plays and hopes are that with a quicker start the team can not only make the playoffs but make a run at the title too.  But some parts of the team need shoring up and that is where this year’s draft focused on.  The few mock drafts (wouldn’t it be great when in future years we can actually have mainstream mock drafts?  Maybe our own version of Kiper and McShay?) had the Launch focusing on defense and had slotted Matt Landis as the Launch’s choice at #3 overall and it made a lot of sense. So after the Blaze picked the consensus overall #1 Myles Jones of Duke and Charlotte surprised a number of those in attendance with Dylan Donahue of Syracuse at #2 the Launch did fulfill their pre-draft prognostication by taking Matt Landis of Notre Dame at #3 overall:  

Landis pictured guarding a familiar foe . . .

Matt Landis’ Notre Dame Bio   An interesting note from his biography is that in his senior year of high school he was ranked the 18th overall defenseman in his class . . . he’s moved up a few slots since. Patrick McEwen (@LaxFilmRoom) provided this film breakdown for IL of how Landis (#43) battled Lyle Thompson at last year’s NCAA Quarterfinal game: (McEwen has produced a number of these for IL and they are absolutely must watches for serious lacrosse fans!)  

https://vine.co/v/eApmhM6zbux For the full video see here: Matt Landis Vs. Lyle Thompson   In the second round the Launch went with a middie at #12 in Henry West of Maryland, a 20-goal scorer as a junior for the championship runner-up Terrapins (West transferred from Cornell in 2014).  West’s eventual draft position was not a consensus one as opinions seemed to differ among the prognosticators but Coach Ross stuck to his guns on the pick.   Henry West Maryland Bio   West was the feature of one of Maryland’s Be The Best Video Series:     And here is one of him in action from @LaxFilmRoom       In the 3rd round the Launch were scheduled for three picks but before the draft they traded one of them, the 22nd overall, to Chesapeake for Niko Pontrello, a member of Loyola’s national championship team.  Again, looking to fill a potential void in the lineup for the possible impact of the NLL season.  He didn’t contribute much last season for Chesapeake but with the way MLL sometimes plays out that isn’t always an indicator of future performance (as we would say in the finance world . . . ).   With the 21st overall selection of the draft the Launch went north and to the midwest for Marquette’s LSM Liam Byrnes.  Coach Ross said only one word to me after the selection . . . “Beast”.  A comforting thought to Launch fans who were looking for a little more physicality to the defense . . . Byrnes was just named the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year for the upcoming 2016 season and Third-team Preseason IL All-American . . . he was also a player that was highly touted going into the draft and I’m sure Coach Ross is thrilled he was able to get him in the 3rd round.   Liam Byrnes Marquette Bio   And here is one of him in action from @LaxFilmRoom     With the 25th pick overall the Launch decided to monopolize the Pontrello family by picking Niko’s younger brother Steve.   Steve Pontrello UNC Bio   And here is one of him in action from @LaxFilmRoom     And after that pick the Launch went into the 4th round and added to their depth on the defensive side of the ball with #28 Gunnar Waldt and #29 Robby Haus.  Waldt is the starting goalie for Bryant College and Haus is a close defender from Ohio State. Waldt was a 3rd team All-American as a junior and the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and helped propel Bryant to their fist round upset of #2 seed Syracuse in the 2014 NCAA tournament.   Gunnar Waldt Bryant Bio   Waldt making the final save for the Syracuse upset from @LaxFilmRoom:   Robby Haus is entering his senior year as a Buckeye as the prototypical stay at home defenseman and comes from a long line of the extended Haus family as he is cousin to John, Will and Sam.   Robby Haus OSU Bio   The Launch then sat out the draft for awhile until their next pick came up at #46 overall and they went to the Ivy League and drafted Devin Dwyer of Harvard with the pick (finally, an intellectually match for a Hobart grad . . . ) Dwyer is a 3rd team Preseason All-American and is a versatile attackman who both scores and feeds.  With all Ivy grads availability can be an issue since they are pretty much a given to make a lot more money at their day jobs but his performance on the field makes this a solid risk/reward proposition for the Launch.   Devin Dwyer Harvard Bio   Here’s a feature on him from last season:       With their final pick (and certainly not least given that Casey Ikeda was the last pick in 2015 and he turned into a reliable part of the defensive rotation) the Launch went with a defenseman out of Bucknell named Alex Spring.  A first-team Patriot League defender in 2015   Alex Spring Bucknell Bio Based on his bio he might well be targeted to fit into Ikeda’s role on the faceoff wing.   Last year the Launch pretty much hit the jackpot with their draft and this year we will see but if the Launch are lifting the Steinfeld Cup we can probably look back to January 22nd as the day the final pieces of the puzzle were put into place!