Cannons Position Preview: Face-off

As we get closer and closer to the season kicking off, I am going to take a look at the Cannons roster and give you my thoughts on the players at all positions Attack, Midfield, Defense, Long-Stick Midfielder, Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Goalie, to Face-off. As of now the Cannons have a pretty deep roster, and have the potential to make a shot at a title run this year. Just all depends on how these players play together as a team.

Having an elite face-off guy, can turn any lacrosse game into a make it take it kind of game. The Cannons have three very capable players who can make any ball game a make it take it kind of game.

The Big Three:

Craig Bunker Colby '11

Craig Bunker is one of those players that has proved it doesn't matter what division you played in, in college if you are a good lacrosse player you can compete against the best regardless of Division. Bunker who attended Colby College was a two-year captain and the first Colby player ever to earn three All-American honors and the first player in program history to make first team All-America in 2011. Craig earned NESCAC First Team honors for three straight years. In his final season at Colby Bunker ranked fourth in the country in face-off percentage (71.4%, 205-for-287) and had 123 ground balls and added one goal. He finished his career with the Mules with a 65.9% face-off percentage (689-of-1045), with 412 groundballs, and added 7 goals, and dished out 8 assists. Bunker did not get a chance to play in the MLL till the 2012 season. The Rochester Rattlers selected him in the 14 round (107th overall) in the 2012 Supplemental draft. The 2012 season the Rattlers really did not have a true face-off guy and used different guys to try and figure out who that star face-off player could be. Bunker struggled in his first season, he did appear in 6 games for the Rattlers but wasn't a good year for him, he struggled at the dot going 51-131 (38.9%). That is not a good year for a face-off man Bunker did pick up 17 ground balls on the year, and he also scored 2 goals on 3 shots and only 2 were on goal. The following season Bunker was added to the Cannons roster by way of the 2013 Supplemental draft. In the 2013 season Buckner did not see much time playing 1 game that year scooping up 2 ground balls and went 7-12 from the face-off dot in that one game. The 2014 season saw him get more time playing in 5 games, in those 5 games he did well going 60-124 from the dot, and picked up 22 ground balls. He also added a goal on the season. Last year Bunker was really called upon to step up after Chrick Eck retired, and boy did Bunker step up. Bunker played in 13 games last season before suffering a late season injury that prevented him from playing the last 2 games of the season. When Bunker did play he was solid 165-356 (46.3%) and picked up 76 ground balls and added 2 goals on the year and dished out 2 assists. Bunker was also chosen to the 2015 MLL All-Star Game, he played well going 10-22 on the day and picked up 2 ground balls. It will be interesting to see what happens if Bunker comes back and is the guy or we see him in a different role.

Joe Nardella Rutgers '15

Joe Nardella was selected in last years MLL Collegiate Draft in the 5th round 36th overall by the Cannons. The pick made total sense after the Cannons former star face-off man Chris Eck decided to call it a career. Nardella had, an excellent career at Rutgers and the Cannons thought that he could be there go to face-off guy and it is possible he might be. Nardella saw action right away when he got to Rutgers starting every game as freshman at the face-off dot. He lead the team in grounballs that season with 52 and had a winning percentage of 52.9% on the year. Nardella's sophomore year was the year he really made his name known finishing the season 4th in the country in face-off winning percentage at 62.2%, not only that but he also picked up 126 ground balls on the year and scored 2 goals and dished out 9 assists. Nardella had a solid junior year as well finishing with a winning percentage of 63.2  good for 5th in the Nation, and picked up 137 ground balls and scored 5 goals and had 7 assists. For the second straight season Nardella was named to the All-Big-East Second Team. Nardella's final year at Rutgers was another great year for him, he finished the year with a winning percentage of 67% good for third in the nation and lead his team  in grounballs with 125. At the end of the season Nardella was named to the Big-TenAll First Team and was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Year. Nardella then following his senior season arrived in Boston ready to go. Nardella arrived as Buckner was having such a good year the Cannons felt like they had no reason to use Nardella so he, did not play any games until the last two games of the regular season. Nardella made his first appearance against the Chesapeake Bayhawks and played well going 9-11 of from the dot and picked up 2 ground balls. In the final game of the regular season Nardella was given the opportunity of being the only one to take a face-off that game. Nardella played well going 21-35 against the Ohio Machine, he also scored 2 goals in the game and picked up 12 ground balls. Once again Nardella was given the chance and was the only player to take a face-off in the Cannons playoff game against the New York Lizards. Nardella went 14-33 on the day going up against Greg Gurenlian who was the MVP last year. Nardella put up a great fight and played well picking up 4 ground balls in the game and added a assist as well. I think Nardella makes a great case that he should be the guy the Cannons look to be there face-off man this season.

Peter Vlahakis Fairfield '04

The Cannons recent addition from the open-tryout has really added an interesting dynamic to the Cannons face-off position. As I said before to be honest I had never heard of him, until I looked his name up, and let me tell you this might be one of the game changing addition for the Cannons. Vlahakis had a great career at Fairfield as a tremendous face-off guy, in his four years with Fairfield he always finished in the top 10 in face-off percentage every year. In his junior year he broke and finished 7th in the country with a face-off percentage of 63.3% and then his senior year he finished with a winning percentage of 65.4%. In his senior season he also led the Stags in groundballs and was eighth in the nation averaging 5.93 groundballs per game. In his career at Fairfield he was also a two time All-New England selection. Vlahakis also had a great MLL career but it just came at the beginning of Major League Lacrosse. In 2004 he was selected in the fourth round by the New Jersey Pride (no longer exist). Vlahakis might not be a big name to many people to this day but if you look at the numbers in his career, he is arguably one of the most dominating faceoff men in Major League Lacrosse. He holds four MLL All-Time faceoff records. Vlahakis holds the MLL career face-off wins (1,053), career faceoff percentage 56.6%, single game faceoff wins and single game faceoff percentage records. He was also selected to participate in the 2007 and 2008 MLL All-Star Game. In that 2008 season he set the league record for faceoff wins and percentage by winning 35 of 48 or 72.91% of his faceoffs in a single game. In 2012 he was selected in the Supplemental draft in the 12^th round 90^th overall by the Hamilton Nationals (No longer exist). Entering the 2013 MLL season (his 10^th) he ranks fourth in faceoff attempts (1,861) and eighth in ground balls (352). At the end of the 2013 season the Nationals were dissolved and that was the last we heard until the Cannons gave him the invite to training camp. I think Vlahakis could provide the Cannons with another great face-off guy along side Craig Bunker and Joe Nardella, now that's scary.

The talent the Cannons have at the face-off position is scary. They have Vlahakis who if you look at the numbers could be one of the best face-off guys in MLL history. Then you have Craig Buckner who had a good season for the Cannons last year and was selected to the All-Star game last year. Then you have Nardella who came on strong at the end of the year when he was given the chance to play. This is really a tough choice the Cannons will have to make, and it will most likely be a choice the make game by game of who will be the guy at the Face-off dot. But if had the choice here is my depth-chart. Before I name my depth chart in all honesty would not surprise me to see all of them see some time in games this year.

Depth Chart:

Starter: Joe Nardella

Back-up: Craig Bunker

3rd: Peter Vlahakis

Cannons Position Preview: Long-Stick Midfielders

As we get closer and closer to the season kicking off, I am going to take a look at the Cannons roster and give you my thoughts on the players at all positions Attack, Midfield, Defense, Long-Stick Midfielder, Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Goalie, to Face-off. As of now the Cannons have a pretty deep roster, and have the potential to make a shot at a title run this year. Just all depends on how these players play together as a team.

The long-stick midfield position for the Cannons currently only has two players that have played LSM before. Both these players are both recent college graduates and both have only been in the league for one year. Both had successful college careers and saw a little bit of time last season.

The Duo:

Brian Fischer Harvard '15

Brian Fischer was selected in the 2015 collegiate MLL draft by the Boston Cannons in the 5th round 34th overall. Fischer suited up in 1 game for the Cannons last year after finishing a great career at Harvard, he didn't do anything in his appearance last year but expect him to get a chance this year. At times Fischer showed during his senior year that he has glimpses of Ratliff who could push transition and score goals. Fischer did that his final year at Harvard scoring 3 goals and dishing out 1 assist. Fischer when you look at his stats really wasn't that big of a ground ball machine, and really didn't cause that many turnovers either, but watching some film of him playing at Harvard what he did do well was make it hard for teams Midfielders to get off some good shots, due to great body position and throwing in some good lifts as players were taking shots to throw their shot off a bit. Fischer and Pellegrino complement each other Fischer is more of the big strong LSM at 6'2 185, Fischer is more strength and can really bully people while Pellegrino is on the small side, he uses his speed to stay in front of defenders. I think these two will bring a unique strength to the Cannons depth at LSM.


Michael Pellegrino Johns Hopkins '15

Michael Pellegrino was also selected in the 2015 collegiate MLL draft but not by the Cannons but instead by the New York Lizards being drafted in the 2nd round 10th overall. Pellegrino had an outstanding career at Johns Hopkins. Things never worked out for Pellegrino in New York he played in 2 games having only 1 career ground ball and had a total of 6 penalty minutes in those 2 games. Pellegrino was eventually put on waivers by the Lizards and the Cannons picked him up. Pellegrino never played any games for the Cannons last year after being picked up and was eventually let go for this years supplemental draft by the new Atlanta Blaze. Pellegrino was eventually traded back to the Cannons in the deal that sent Scott Ratliff to the Blaze and brought in Justin Turri and brought back Brodie Merrill as well. Pellegrino was great player and Hopkins and I think with Ratliff now gone you can expect Pellegrino to finally get his chance to step up and shine with the Cannons.

In my opinion it's very possible that these two LSM's split time because they both do things so well and both almost provide a different look at LSM when you put one or the other out there.
Depth Chart:
Starter: Michael Pellegrino
Back-up: Brian Fischer

Cannons Add 5 Players from Open Tryout

The Boston Cannons recently held open tryouts and informed 5 players that they will be invited to the Cannons training Camp which starts on April 2nd and goes through the 3rd, at Endicott College.

The five players invited were James Fahey (UMass Amherst), Andrew Newbold (Sacred Heart), and Jak Wawrzyniak (Providence) all defensemen. They also added midfielder Peter Vlahakis (Fairfield) and attackmen Chris Breiner (Lemoyne).

Now it's time for the overview of each player, and what I have found about them.

Andrew Newbold Sacred Heart '14

Andrew Newbold had an outstanding career in his time at Sacred Heart, and Newbold is far from home being from Loveland, Ohio. Newbold stands tall at 6'3 210 lbs., and with his size he is not afraid to toss around the body. Newbold was able to see time in just his sophomore year at Sacred Heart starting all 13 games that year, Newbold did manage to see time in 5 games though his freshmen year. But his sophomore year his career at Sacred Heart really took off, in his junior year he started 11 games out of the teams 14 games and lead the team with 22 caused turnovers and was second on the team with 40 ground balls. Newbold was also chosen to the All-NEC first team for the first time during his Junior year. Newbold followed up a great Junior year with an even better Senior season this time starting all 15 games for the Pioneers and leading the team in groundballs with 43 and caused turnovers with 27. Once again Newbold was selected to the All-NEC first team, as well as being selected to the All-NEC tournament team. What Newbold left behind at Sacred Heart was a great career finishing with 127 groundballs, and caused 61 turnovers. He also scored 10 goals, and added 3 assists in his time at Sacred Heart. What I think Newbold gives the Cannons is a young defender who is a big guy who is not afraid to toss the body around and someone who can help the Cannons cause turnovers, and help them possible in transition if they need it from the close defense position.

Jak Wawrzyniak Providence '14

Let me just say Jak Wawrzyniak is a bad man, the defender stands at 6'4 and weighs 235 lbs, and the crazy part is he is not from the United States either he hails from Manchester, England. I was not really able to find much about Wawrzyniak, but from what I could he had a pretty decent career. He initially started his college career at Stony Brook where he played for two years where he played in just 21 games. Following the end of his sophomore year Wawrzyniak decided he wanted to transfer, and decided to go to Providence. I couldn't really find much about Wawrzyniak career at Providence, but from what I could find his time playing for the England National team has been pretty successful. In 2012 Wawrzyniak was a gold medalist for England in the European games, he was also chosen to the England World Champions team in 2010, and in 2008 he was a member of the U-19 England National team. What Wawrzyniak, provides the Cannons with is a young player who has international experience that is not for the United States.

Peter Vlahakis Fairfield '04

Peter Vlahakis, to be honest I had never heard of him, until I looked his name up, and let me tell you this might be one of the game changing addition for the Cannons. Vlahakis had a great career at Fairfield as a tremendous face-off guy, in his four years with Fairfield he always finished in the top 10 in face-off percentage every year. In his junior year he broke and finished 7th in the country with a face-off percentage of 63.3% and then his senior year he finished with a winning percentage of 65.4%. In his senior season he also led the Stags in groundballs and was eighth in the nation averaging 5.93 groundballs per game. In his career at Fairfield he was also a two time All-New England selection. Vlahakis also had a great MLL career but it just came at the beginning of Major League Lacrosse. In 2004 he was selected in the fourth round by the New Jersey Pride (no longer exist). Vlahakis might not be a big name to many people to this day but if you look at the numbers in his career, he is arguably one of the most dominating faceoff men in Major League Lacrosse. He holds four MLL All-Time faceoff records. Vlahakis holds the MLL career face-off wins (1,053), career faceoff percentage 56.6%, single game faceoff wins and single game faceoff percentage records. He was also selected to participate in the 2007 and 2008 MLL All-Star Game. In that 2008 season he set the league record for faceoff wins and percentage by winning 35 of 48 or 72.91% of his faceoffs in a single game. In 2012 he was selected in the Supplemental draft in the 12^th round 90^th overall by the Hamilton Nationals (No longer exist). Entering the 2013 MLL season (his 10^th) he ranks fourth in faceoff attempts (1,861) and eighth in ground balls (352). At the end of the 2013 season the Nationals were dissolved and that was the last we heard until the Cannons gave him the invite to training camp. I think Vlahakis could provide the Cannons with another great face-off guy along side Craig Bunker and Joe Nardella, now that's scary.

Chris Breiner LeMoyne '15

The recent division two graduate Chris Breiner had a good career as an attackmen for the LeMoyne Dolphins. Just by looking at the numbers it seems like Breiner did not see much time on the field till his senior year. Breiner never really had one of those breakout years in which he produced a lot of points or anything but was just a solid all around player. His senior year he had 16 goals and 14 assists to total 30 points in 19 games for the Dolphins. The crazy part is the fact that Breiner had 46 career points and almost 2/3 of those points came during his senior season. Looking at the numbers it seems like Breiner was smart with his shots and put a high percentage on goal. In fact in his four year career for the Dolphins 55.1% of his shots were on goal taking 95 shots in his career. Of those 95 shots, 49 were on goal, and 27 of those found the back of the net. I don't really know what to think of this addition, I think they might like Breiner because he takes quality shots, and gets his shots on net, or maybe it's the fact he can be clutch scoring 2 game winning goals in his senior season for the Dolphins. It will be interesting to see what happens with Breiner.

James Fahey UMass Amherst '14

James Fahey he is the last one because of the connection we have, Fahey attended the same high school as me St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts and lead our high school to it's only state championship so far in school history. James Fahey is the original CJ Costabile to me, the only difference is Fahey didn't win a face-off to score a the game-winning goal in overtime, but instead took a clear all the way up the field to score the game winning-goal. Not only was it the program's first state championship in lacrosse but it ended the dynasty of Duxbury lacrosse who was a powerhouse at the time and still is. Duxbury had won 6 straight division one state titles but Fahey was not gonna let them get their 7th, and took a full field clear all by himself to score the game winner. So you can say I was happy to see, a former alum of my high school being added to the Cannons roster, and I am pretty sure he is the first person to ever play in the MLL from our high school, so congrats James!! Once Fahey got to UMass the defensemen had a hard time seeing the field until his Junior year, where he got to make his first 2 career starts in the 12 games he played that year. Fahey started the first 2 games that year before he suffered in an injury that caused him to miss a couple games that year. Fahey did not start the rest of the year but still saw appearances in games, and helped the Minutemen any way he could, but come Senior year Fahey was back. In his final season he started all 13 games at close for UMass and had a great conclusion to his career, causing 20 (career high) of his 28 career turnovers that year. He also scooped a career high 31 groundballs, he finished his career with 53 groundballs. Also bad news for Fahey his last career goal in an actual game was not the OT winner against Duxbury, but he scored 1 goal and his only career college goal in his senior season in fact it was his only career shot. I think Fahey could really help the Cannons as a defensemen whether it be at the possibility of playing LSM or close. I would love to see Fahey possibly play LSM because he can score goals trust me Coach Quirk, he can just watch the tape of the Duxbury game.

I had to do it here is the picture of Fahey celebrating that State Title victory!

Cannons Position Preview: Short-Stick Defensive Midfielders

As we get closer and closer to the season kicking off, I am going to take a look at the Cannons roster and give you my thoughts on the players at all positions Attack, Midfield, Defense, Long-Stick Midfielder, Short-Stick Defensive Midfielder, Goalie, to Face-off. As of now the Cannons have a pretty deep roster, and have the potential to make a shot at a title run this year. Just all depends on how these players play together as a team.

When you look at short-stick defensive unit for the Cannons it's pretty scary to see how much talent they have at this position. These three players really bring a great mind-set of defense first to this team.

The Rookie:

Jake Matthai North Carolina '16

In this years' Collegiate Major League lacrosse draft the Cannons selected a big guy from North Carolina in the 5th round 41st overall his name Jake Matthai. Matthai has been a impact player for the Tar Heels since he stepped on campus has been a big part of the Tar Heels in his time there on the defense of side of the ball. Let me just say this Jake Matthai is a beast he stands at 6'6 230 lbs. that is one bad man right there, one of those guys you don't want to have running at you in any game. In his freshmen year Matthai saw action in 17 games that year but had not been completely turned into a defensive midfielder yet. That year he had four goals and two assists and scooped up 10 ground balls and had two caused turnovers. Matthai's sophomore year saw him officially change to a full time defensive midfielder playing in every game that year, Matthai recorded five goals on the season had 14 ground balls, and had caused three turnovers on the year. Matthai continued to play well and his junior year he once again played in every game, he had 21 ground balls on the year and caused 5 turnovers on the year. Matthai also added 2 goals and 3 assists on the year. Matthai entered his senior year this season, as a captain for the Tar Heels, Matthai has played well so far this season for the Tar Heels, so far this year Matthai has one goal and two assists on the season as well as 12 ground balls in only 5 games played. Matthai should have a big impact this season for the Cannons he has the size and the strength to play in the MLL so it won't surprise me if he immediately steps in and sees sometime at the position as a one-two punch along side Josh Hawkins.

Young Gun:

T.A. Demoulas Bentley '15

Just last year the Cannons selected T.A. Demoulas in the 8th round 56th overall. The Lowell, Massachusetts native was a key part of Bentley lacrosse in his time there seeing time in 54 games in his time at Bentley starting in 51 of those games. In his four years Demoulas scooped up 150 ground balls including a career high 58 ground balls in his Junior year. That year Demoulas also had a career high 15 turnovers that season, and had 41 caused turnovers in his career at Bentley. Demoulas did not see any time playing for the Cannons last year but it is possible he could see some playing time this year. Demoulas is a local guy so in all honesty it would not surprise me if played a game since he lives close.

The Stud:

Josh Hawkins Loyola '13

Josh Hawkins is the dream short-stick midfielder, people aspire to play like him and have the impact he has when he steps on the field. Hawkins really came into the spotlight in his junior year at Loyola when he helped lead the GreyHounds to a National Championship that year, and left behind a fantastic career finishing with 172 ground balls, but Hawkins also has some offensive game to scoring 26 goals in his 4 years at Loyola. In the 2013 MLL collegiate draft Hawkins was selected in the 1st round 5th overall by the Hamilton Nationals (no longer exist). Sadly Hawkins did not get to spend much time in Hamilton only playing in 3 games for them scoring 2 goals and had 8 ground balls. Approaching the trade deadline in Hawkins rookie year he was traded to the Charlotte Hounds to help them make a post-season run. Hawkins played in 5 more regular season games for the Hounds scoring 3 goals and picking up 12 ground balls. Hawkins did have the chance to help the Hounds in a playoff run that season but it did not end the way he probably dreamed it to end, seeing the Hounds lose in the title game that year to the Chesapeake Bayhawks 10-9. Hawkins in the playoff run had 1 assist and picked up 5 ground balls. In Hawkins 2nd season in the MLL things seemed to be looking good for Hawkins he played in every game that year for the Hounds scoring 6 goals and dishing out 2 assists and had a career high 32 ground balls that season. Then came the 2015 season Hawkins started the year playing for the Hounds playing in their first 7 games he had 3 goals and had added 14 ground balls. But come trade deadline time Hawkins was once against dealt away this time he was coming home, traded to the Boston Cannons. The Amherst, Massachusetts native was coming home and in his time returning back to Boston he continued to play well. Hawkins finished the season playing for the Cannons playing in 6 games, he scored 3 goals and dished out 3 assists as well as picking up 14 ground balls. Hawkins added an even better defense first player to the Cannons roster to make them look even better. Hawkins also helped the Cannons give the Lizards a game in the playoffs last year scoring 2 goals and picking up 1 ground ball in the game. The way Hawkins plays is a little different from other defensive midfielders, he does have that defense first mentality but he can play offense. In fact Hawkins has a really good shot, and knows how to put his shot on net, and he doesn't take bad shots either. I expect Hawkins to play in every game this year since his job is located in Boston working for the newly started Lacrosse Sports Network which is a TV network completely dedicated to lacrosse, where he co-hosts his own show, check out some quality stuff.

Short-Stick Defensive Midfielders Depth Chart:

Starter: Josh Hawkins

2nd: Jake Matthai

3rd: T.A. Demoulas