<<

BLAZE ______2016 Game Notes______Media Contact: Kathryn Eckhart • [email protected] • 281-650-0740 1301 Shiloh Road NW Suite 340 • Kennesaw, GA 30144 • 470-231-0336

atlantablaze.com • @AtlantaBlaze || @atlantablazemll

SETTING THE SCENE: BLAZE VS. CANNONS 2016 SCHEDULE & RESULTS GAME INFORMATION 2-2 Overall DATE: Saturday, June 4, 2016 1-1 Home • 1-1 Away LOCATION: Kennesaw, GA : APRIL FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m. (EST) 23 vs. Chesapeake 5:00 pm BROADCAST: Lax Sports Network 30 at Boston 7:00 pm TWITTER: @AtlantaBlaze MAY

14 vs. 5:00 pm All-Time Series: 0-1 21 at Florida 7:00 pm 2015 Series: 0-1 JUNE 04 vs. Boston 7:00 pm 11 vs. 7:00 pm THE MATCHUP This will be the second meeting between the and the Boston Cannons. The 18 at Ohio 4:30 pm Atlanta Blaze is the newest expansion franchise in Major League , the premier 25 at Charlotte 7:30 pm professional outdoor lacrosse league. JULY 01 vs. Charlotte 8:00 pm SCOTT RATLIFF COMES HOME 09 All-Star Game Fullerton, CA The Atlanta Blaze acquired the defenseman and Marietta (GA) native from the Boston Cannons along with the #15 overall pick in the 2016 MLL and a third-round pick in the 16 at Denver 7:30 pm 2017 MLL Supplement Draft. Ratliff, 6’0”, 218 pound Defenseman, was a second round 21 at Chesapeake 7:30 pm selection by the Cannons in the 2013 MLL Collegiate Draft. One of the Cannons tri-captains 23 vs. Florida 7:00 pm in 2015, Ratliff played in all 14 regular games while leading the team to the 30 vs. Ohio 7:00 pm playoffs. He scored a career high eight goals in 2015 including a career high three 2-point AUGUST goals. Ratliff was a member of the 2012 NCAA National Championship at Loyola University 04 at Rochester 7:30 pm (MD). His experience motivated Ratliff to return to Atlanta and give back to the sport the same way his coaches had, by promoting its growth and sharing his passion for it with kids.

2016 CHAMPIONSIOP BROADCAST INFORMATION The season will finish once again in metro Atlanta on Saturday, August 20 with the 2016 Stream: Lax Sports Network Championship Game hosted at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State PxP: Matt Martucci University. This marks the third consecutive year that the greater Atlanta area has hosted the Analyst: Brian Silcott MLL Championship Game. For the past two years, the Fifth Third Bank Stadium has hosted the final showdown of the MLL season for a crowd of over 8,000 energetic fans.

LOOKING AHEAD FIFTH THIRD BANK STADIUM Blaze vs. New York Fifth Third Bank Stadium is an 8,300-seat state-of-the-art stadium built in 2010 in When: Saturday, June 11 partnership with the former Women’s Professional Soccer team Atlanta Beat, designed to Time: 7 p.m. showcase a variety of events. It has hosted Major League Soccer, KSU Soccer and Lacrosse, Location: Fifth Third Stadium the Southern Lacrosse Showdown, NCAA Women’s College Cup, concerts and music festivals. Situated within a beautiful 88-acre KSU Sports and Recreation Park, the facility is conveniently located just one mile from both I-75 and I-575 in Cobb County, which is often MEDIA CONTACT referred to as Atlanta’s sweet spot. Kathryn Eckhart [email protected] 770-238-9244 (cell)

HEAD COACH UPCOMING MILESTONES John Tucker is a three time All- American for John Hopkins, who in 1984 were undefeated and won the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships. He is also a three-time gold medal winner Kevin Rice has four games with hat playing for Team USA in the Championships in 1986, 1990, and 1994, tricks, recording 26 goals in four games captaining the 1990 and 1994 teams and recognized at the Top Midfielder in 1990. Additionally, with the Blaze. he played and captained for the NLL’s Wings. There he added two more championships to his resume, 1989 and 1990. Tucker has been a teacher and administrator in the Randy Staats recorded two hat tricks in area for 25 years. During which, he has coached five state championship teams. He just two games with the Blaze with a total was inducted into the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2003. He joined of 14 goals. the as head coach for the in 1997 then onto the Pittsburgh Crossfire in 2000. From 2006 to 2008, he served as the head coach of Major League Adam Ghitelman records 59 saves in Lacrosse’s Riptide. In 2007 he was given the Major League Lacrosse’s Coach of the Year Award. Next, he coached the for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In three games. 2010, the NLL inducted him into the Hall of Fame. He then joined the Boston Cannons as head coach for the 2013 through 2015 seasons. In 2015, he was named the MLL Brine Coach of the Scott Ratliff leads the team with 23 Year. In September 2015 he became the Atlanta Blaze’s first Head Coach and General Manager. ground balls.

KEVIN RICE Scott Ratliff leads defensemen with 9 Acquired from the Rochester Rattlers, Kevin Rice spent the 2015 Season with the Rattlers after points. being traded from the in the 2015 MLL Draft. Rice went on to score 96 Goals and 126 Assists, helping lead the Rattlers to the MLL Finals. Rice was a 3-year starter at Franchise recorded its first win against and a 2X All American. In Kevin Rice’s senior season at Syracuse the , 23-12 and second University, he compiled a long list of accolades. He was a Turnbull Award Winner, the Nation’s win against the Florida Launch, 22-10 Best Attackmen, Lowe’s Senior Class Award All-American, 1st Team All-American, 1st Team All ACC, 1st Team Academic All-American, Tewaaraton Award Finalist, ACC All Tournament

Team, ACC Tournament MVP, and All Academic ACC. Rice finished his final season for the Orange with 36 goals and 48 assists for a total of 109 points.

ATLANTA BLAZE NO. 1 OVERALL PICK With the first overall pick in the 2016 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft the Atlanta Blaze selected Myles Jones of . This is the 16 th Collegiate Draft in MLL history. In 2015, Jones, a 6’5”, 240 pound senior midfielder, was the Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Award winner as the nation’s top midfielder. He was also a first-team USILA All-America selection. Jones led the Blue Devils in scoring with 77 points (40 goals/37 assists) and led all midfielders nationally in scoring and ranked fourth overall in points per game (4.28). His 77 points are the most by a midfielder in Duke single-season history and he ranks 11 th on Duke’s all-time list. Jones became the 43 rd Blue Devil in program history to reach 100 career points for his career. Jones was a four-year letterman at Walt Whitman High School (Huntington Station, NY) and a four- time Suffolk County All-League selection. He tallied 149 goals and 123 assists for 272 points in his scholastic career. Jones was rated as the No. 8 postgraduate player by Inside Lacrosse and ranked among the top 10 players by Inside Lacrosse throughout his high school career.

2016 Game By Game Results GAME DATE OPP. STRK. RESULT TOTAL HIGH (G) HIGH (A) ATTEND. 1 4/23 CHE 1 Loss 13-16 21 6 2 4,145 2 430 @BOS 2 Losses 12-13 12 4 2 8,479 3 5/14 DEN 1 Win 23-12 36 5 3 4,279 4 5/21 @FLA 2 Wins 22-10 32 4 2 1,621 5 6/04 BOS 6 6/11 NY 7 6/18 @OH 8 6/25 @CHA 9 7/01 CHA 10 7/16 @DEN 11 7/21 @CHE 12 7/23 FLA 13 7/30 OH 14 8/04 @ROC

ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS Alphabetical Roster:

ACTIVE ROSTER NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 4 Jake Bailey D 6’6” 230 1-8-93 1 7 Deemer Class M 5’11” 200 6-24-93 Duke R 41 Kevin Cooper M/A 6’4” 205 4-7-91 3 20 Greg Danseglio D/LSM 6’0” 190 5-1-93 Maryland R 88 Josh Dionne A 5’8” 170 4-31-91 Duke 2 5 Nicky Galasso M/A 6’0” 190 12-5-91 Syracuse 1 8 Adam Ghitelman G 5’9” 185 4-25-89 5 11 Pat Harbeson M 5’7” 170 8-26-91 Virginia 1 13 Chris Hipps D 6’4” 225 9-27-91 Duke 2 18 Graeme Hossack D 6’2” 220 7-22-92 Lindenwood 1 21 Casey Ikeda D 6’1” 190 6-2-91 Maryland 1 15 Myles Jones M 6’5” 240 3-15-93 Duke R 33 Shayne Jackson A 5’9” 175 11-16-90 Limestone 1 9 Joe LoCascio M 5’9” 195 5-15-93 Maryland 1 35 Jeremy Noble M 5’8” 175 9-5-91 Denver 2 25 Chris May FO 5’8” 195 - Ohio State 1 68 Conrad Oberbeck A 6’2” 195 12-12-92 Yale 1 14 Justin Pennington M 5’11” 210 7-13-88 Rutgers 6 2 Scott Ratliff LSM 5’11” 190 7-26-91 Loyola 3 22 Kevin Rice A 5’9” 180 10-26-92 Syracuse 1 45 Randy Staats A/M 6’2” 200 11-23-92 Syracuse 1 6 Eric Schneider G 6’0” 175 3-30-92 Johns Hopkins 1 77 Henry Schoonmaker M 6’1” 200 6-17-92 Syracuse 1 3 Ryan Tucker M 6’1” 195 10-11-92 Virginia 1

PRACTICE SQUAD NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 32 Jay Carlson A 6’1” 190 3-12-92 Maryland 1 47 Jon Gill LSM 6’0” 210 7-22-90 Lynchburg R 23 Rick Lewis M 6’2” 210 10-8-92 Ohio State R 50 Ned Kaish A 5’10” 185 6-8-92 Lenoir-Rhyne R 34 Patrick Resch M 6’3” 200 8-5-91 Darthmouth/Duke 1 48 Sam Wyatt FO 6’0” 215 6-9-93 Stevenson R

INACTIVE LIST NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 44 Joe Cinosky D 6’3” 220 12-12-85 Maryland 8 40 Brian Cooper D 6’0” 175 4-1-92 Maryland 2 28 Connor Doyle A 5’11” 175 5-26-92 Notre Dame 1 42 A 6’5” 230 1-27-90 Denver 4

COLLEGE DRAFTEES NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 12 Tyler Albrecht M 6’1” 185 2-13-93 Loyola R 1 Warren Hill G 5’10” 250 7-16-92 Syracuse R 26 Case Matheis A 5’7” 165 10-5-93 Duke R

ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS

Pronunciation Guide: Numerical Roster: Player Name : #8 Adam Ghitelman (Gittle-man) Player Name : #9 Joe Locasscio (Low-Cah-see-o) NO. NAME POS Player Name : #21 Casey Ikeda (Eye-Ked-uh) 2 Scott Ratliff LSM Player Name : #34 Patrick Resch (RESH) 3 Ryan Tucker M Player Name : #44 Joe Cinosky (Sin-aw-ski) 4 Jake Bailey D Player Name : #68 Conrad Oberbeck (Oh-ber-beck) 5 Nicky Galasso M/A Player Name : #77 Henry Schoonmaker (Skoon-maker) 6 Eric Schneider G 7 Deemer Class M 8 Adam Ghitelman G 9 Joe Locascio M How the Active Roster was built: 11 Pat Haberson M 13 Chris Hipps D 14 Justin Pennington M Collegiate Draft: Supplemental Draft: 15 Myles Jones M st st st st Myles Jones, 1 RD, 1 overall, 2016 Jeremy Boltus, 1 RD, 1 overall, 2016 18 Graeme Hossack D nd th st th Deemer Class, 2 RD, 10 overall, 2016 Josh Dionne, 1 RD, 7 overall, 2016 20 Greg Danseglio D rd th nd th Tyler Albrecht, 2 RD, 15 overall, 2016 Hakeem Lecky, 2 RD, 10 overall, 2016 21 Casey Ikeda D Greg Danseglio, 3rd RD, 19th overall, 2016 Michael Pellegrino 3rd RD, 19th overall, 2016 th th th th 22 Kevin Rice A Warren Hill, 5 RD, 36 overall, 2016 Patrick Resch, 4 RD, 28 overall, 2016 25 Chris May FO Case Mathesis, 7th RD, 53rd overall, 2016 David Planning, 5th RD, 37th overall, 2016 th th 33 Shayne Jackson A Josh Amidon, 6 RD, 46 overall, 2016 35 Jeremy Noble M Johnny Rodriguez, 7th RD, 55th overall, 2016 41 Kevin Cooper A/M Matt Poillon, 8th RD, 64th overall, 2016 45 Randy Staats A/M , 9th RD, 73rd overall, 2016 68 Conrad Oberbeck A Chase Carraro, 10th RD, 87th overall, 2016 Brendan Porter, 11th RD, 91st overall, 2016 77 Henry Schoonmaker M Brian Cooper, 12th RD, 100th overall, 2016 88 Josh Dionne A Drew Kennedy, 13th RD, 109th overall, 2016 Richard Lewis, 14th RD, 118th overall, 2016 Jon Gill, 15th RD, 127th overall, 2016

Expansion Draft: Trades: Player Pool Ryan Tucker, from Boston, 2016 Kevin Rice, from Rochester, 2016 Shayne Jackson, February 2, 2016 Adam Ghittelman, from Boston, 2016 Graeme Hossack, from Rochester, 2016 Jesse Gamble, February 17, 2016 , from Boston, 2016 Conor Doyle, from Rochester, 2016 Eric Schneider, March 4, 2016 Ryan Young, from Boston, 2016 Kevin Cooper, from Ohio, 2016 Jay Carlson, March 7, 2016 , from Boston, 2016 Jimmy Dailey, from Ohio, Date Sam Wyatt, March 25, 2016 Ranfy Staats, from Roschester, 2016 Jake Bailey, from Ohio, 2016 TJ Kemp, March 25, 2016 Justin Turri, from Roschester, 2016 Joe Locascio, from Florida, 2016 Ned Kaish, April 5, 2016 John Ranagan, from Roschester, 2016 Nicky Galasso, from Florida, 2016 Mark Matthews, from Roschester, 2016 Scott Ratliff, from Boston, 2016 Chris Hipps, from Chesapeake, 2016 Henry Schoonmaker, from Chesapeake, 2016 CJ Costabile, from Chesapeake, 2016 Jeff Reynolds, from Chesapeake, 2016 Kevin Cooper, from Ohio, 2016 Dominique Alexander, from Ohio, 2016 Scott Rodgers, from Ohio, 2016 Justin Pennington, from Denver, 2016 Jeremy Noble, from Denver, 2016 Casey Ikeda, from Florida, 2016 Joe Locascio, from Florida, 2016 Ryan Walsh, from New York, 2016 Joe Cinosky, from Charlotte, 2016

ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS Point Leaders:

#4 – JAKE BAILEY • DEFENSE - 1 season in MLL/ 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 28 Ground balls in senior year with University of North Carolina - College: North Carolina - Acquired March 2016

#7 – DEEMER CLASS • MIDFIELD - 1st season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - All-ACC, 53 points with Duke senior year, 44th player in Duke history to reach 100 career points - College: Duke - Acquired January 2016 #41 – KEVIN COOPER • MIDFIELD/ATTACK - 3 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 14 Points in 2015 season, Rookie of the week, player of the game with the - College: Maryland - Acquired March 2016

#20 – GREG DANSEGLIO • DEFENSE - 1st season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Member of 2012 USA U19 Team winning gold medal, was in finals of 2016 NCAA Championship - College: Maryland - Acquired January 2016 #88 – JOSH DIONNE • ATTACK - 2 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 2 Points v. Chesapeake in 2015, 2 points v. Rochester 2015 - College: Duke - Acquired December 2015

#5 – NICKY GALASSO • MIDFIELD/ATTACK - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - ACC All-Tournament Team, second on team with 36 goals in a season at Syracuse - College: Syracuse - Acquired March 2016

#8 – ADAM GHITELMAN • GOALIE - 5 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 528 Career saves, 185 season high - College: Virginia - Acquired in 2016 Expansion draft

#11 – PAT HARBESON • MIDFIELD - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 6 points in 2015 season with Denver Outlaws - College: Virginia - Acquired November 2015

#13 – CHRIS HIPPS • DEFENSE - 2 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 20 ground balls in 2015 season with Chesapeake

College: Duke - Acquired March 2016

#18 – GRAEME HOSSACK • DEFENSE - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 2014 Sepcialist of the year, first team all-ECAC - College: Lindenwood - Acquired March 2016

#21 – CASEY IKEDA • DEFENSE - 1 season in MLL / 1st seasons with Atlanta Blaze - 3 points, 16 ground balls in 2015 season with Florida - College: Maryland - Acquired March 2016

#33 – SHAYNE JACKSON • ATTACK - 1st season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - USILA First-Team All-American, Tewaarton Award Finalist, Lacrosse Magazine Online National Division II Player of the Year - College: Limestone - Acquired February 2016

#15 – MYLES JONES • MIDFIELD - 1st season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Finalist for Tewaarton Award, USILA All-American first team, led all midfielders nationally in scoring - College: Duke - Acquired January 2016 #9 – JOE LOCASCIO • MIDFIELD - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Career-high 44 points in senior year - College: Maryland - Acquired March 2016

#68 – CHRIS MAY • ATTACK - 2 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Won 71 faceoffs at Ohio State, 35 career ground balls, three-time First Team ALL-WCAC - College: Georgetown, Ohio State - Acquired May 2016

#35 – JEREMY NOBLE • MIDFIELD - 1st season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - NCAA All-Tournament Team, Tewaarton Award Watch List, 18 points in senior year at Denver - College: Denver - Acquired March 2016

#68 – CONRAD OBERBECK • ATTACK - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - First team All-Ivy - College: Yale - Acquired March 2016

#14 – JUSTIN PENNINGTON • MIDFIELD - 6 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Career-high 12 goals in season with Denver Outlaws - College: Rutgers - Acquired March 2016

#2 – SCOTT RATLIFF • LONG STICK MIDFIELD - 3 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 81 ground balls and 20 points in 2015 season with Boston Cannons - College: Loyola - Acquired January 2016

#22 – KEVIN RICE • ATTACK - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - ACC Offensive Player of the year, Ranked 4th nationally in scoring, Team co-captain, 21 points with Rochester in 2015 - College: Syracuse - December 2015

#6 – ERIC SCHNEIDER • GOALIE - 1 season in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 161 saves in senior year, 48.9% - College: John Hopkins - Acquired March 2016

#77 – HENRY SCHOONMAKER • MIDFIELD - 1 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Team co-captain at Syracuse - College: Syracuse - Acquired March 2016

#45 – RANDY STAATS • MIDFIELD/ATTACK - 1 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - Senior year at Syracuse had a career-high of 33 goals with 23 assists. - College: Syracuse - Acquired in 2016 Expansion Draft

#3 – RYAN TUCKER • MIDFIELD - 1 seasons in MLL / 1st season with Atlanta Blaze - 10 points with Boston Cannons in 2015 - College: Virginia - Acquired March 2016