The college draft, in any American sport, is designed to help struggling teams add new talent in an effort to make them competitive again. Heading into the 2014 Major League Lacrosse draft, several teams found themselves in tough spots.

The Ohio Machine, picking first, finished 2013 with a record of 2-12, the second consecutive season with that record.

The Rochester Rattlers picked second after missing the 2013 playoffs by one game, with a record of 6-8. It was the third consecutive season without a playoff appearance since reentering the league.

The Florida Launch picked fifth. The team took the roster of the Hamilton Nationals, a team that made the playoffs but ceased operations, but the roster underwent a lot of turnover, making it almost unrecognizable.

Ohio took Princeton midfielder Tom Schreiber first overall. Rochester followed by drafting Duke attackman Jordan Wolf. After New York took a pair of defenders, Florida rounded out the top five with another offensive player, Kieran McArdle, an attackman out of St. John’s.

Four years later, those three teams are in the playoffs (joined by the Denver Outlaws), and those first-round picks are looking to add their first Steinfeld Cup to already impressive individual MLL careers.

“[A championship is] something I’ve wanted for a while, going back to high school and college and now professional,” McArdle said. “I don’t have anything to show for my playing career. Getting this championship is a huge goal of mine and something I need on my playing resume. To get this right now is once in a lifetime. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to the playoffs in the future. I want to be in the moment, play in the moment, and hopefully come out victorious.”

While Wolf and Schreiber reached the playoffs in their first professional seasons, 2017 marks the first time McArdle plays in the MLL postseason. It wasn’t for a lack of individual effort. McArdle set a rookie single-season record with 34 goals in 2014 — Chesapeake Bayhawks rookie Josh Byrne eclipsed McArdle with 39 goals this season — to go along with 15 assists. He finished as the Launch’s second leading scorer and as MLL Rookie of the Year.

Florida, however, struggled as the roster attempted to adjust to a myriad of new faces. The team did not win more than five games in any of McArdle’s first three seasons. Those past failures, however, did not lower the Launch’s goals coming into 2017.

“Anytime you go through a struggle, the success is that much better when you get there,” McArdle said. “Our goal wasn’t just to make playoffs. This is amazing and a great experience, but if we don’t win it all, it’s just as bad as last year going 3-11.”

Despite it being his first trip to the postseason, McArdle is not intimidated by the moment.

“I’m going to treat it like any other game,” he said. “I’ve played so many lacrosse games in my life. The stakes make it more valuable, but you have to keep a focused mindset. I’m not going to change anything up now.”

Wolf and Schreiber not only made the playoffs in their first seasons, but both also have had opportunities to play in the MLL championship game.

In his rookie season, Wolf finished second on the Rattlers in points (33) despite playing in just seven games. He helped lead Rochester to the 2014 MLL final, in which he scored a goal and added an assist, but the Rattlers lost to Denver 12-11.

The following year, Wolf was named the MLL Offensive Player of the Year, leading Rochester with 61 points and carrying the Rattlers back to the championship game. He scored two goals in the final, but Rochester fell short of a title with a 15-12 loss to the New York Lizards.

While the losses were disappointing, Wolf used them as fuel moving forward.

“It just made my drive hungrier,” he said. “A lot of people play in this league for different reasons. The only thing I’m here to do is win championships. I’m lucky to do that with a special group. It kept me motivated to keep working in the offseason, stay in shape and try again the following years.”

PHOTO BY PRETTY INSTANT/JOE TERRITO

Schreiber was named the 2016 MLL MVP after a regular season in which he scored 23 goals (including one 2-point goal) and tallied a league-high 36 assists. Ohio earned a trip to the 2016 MLL championship game. In a wild, weather-delayed, back-and-forth final in Atlanta, the Machine also lost to the Outlaws 19-18, despite three goals and two assists from Schreiber.

“I haven’t spent too much time dwelling on that game. I never re-watched it,” Schreiber said. “It was a tough pill to swallow the way things went down. Going forward, we want to make sure energy levels are always the same. With the shot clock, 2-pointers and talent out there, no lead is safe. I don’t think anyone was complacent with the lead at the delay. [Denver] earned that win. It’s a tough experience for me and our team, but I think it makes us stronger as a unit to be hungry to get back there and finish.”

Coming into the league, the three players did not know each other outside of what they saw in the box scores. They all played in the 2015 MLL All-Star Game, however, and recently tried out for the 2018 U.S. national team. Prior to the 2017 MLL season, Schreiber and McArdle grew closer as National Lacrosse League rookies with the Toronto Rock, helping them create a new bond.

 “I have tremendous respect for them,” Wolf said. “They both come across as super humble. They carry themselves well around kids.” 

Schreiber, Wolf and McArdle all were tasked with the responsibility of reversing the fortunes of their respective MLL franchises. While none of them did it alone, they all have delivered on the expectation that comes with being top draft picks.

In 2015, McArdle, Wolf and Schreiber finished second, third, and fourth in the league in points, respectively. All three were in the top 15 in scoring in 2017 despite none playing more than 10 games.

McArdle said it has been an honor to help his team and the league grow with other players from his draft class. The Launch will make their first MLL playoff appearance Saturday at Ohio (7:30 p.m. Eastern on Twitter). Rochester visits Denver in the other semifinal (4:30 p.m. Eastern on Twitter).

“As a group or individually, you have an impact like that, all three of us have helped our teams tremendously,” McArdle said. “It’s a real cool feeling to succeed with guys in your draft class and down the line. In the future, if Lax Sports Network or [US Lacrosse Magazine] are talking about draft classes and our names are thrown around, that’s a real cool honor.”

Wolf, who won back-to-back NCAA Division I championships with Duke in 2013 and 2014, related his MLL experience to what he had in college.

“The Rattler locker room and culture is really tight,” he said. “I learned that early on with Kevin Leveille, Joel White, Jordan MacIntosh. It was really difficult, because I felt like a freshman and wanted to win it again for the seniors, and honestly four years in, I’m still trying to win them a championship.”

Schreiber said he would trade all of his points for the ultimate team prize.

“Going back to the Machine and building this thing and being a part of this process, we’ve made the playoffs the last couple years and the championship last year,” he said. “If I score zero points the next two games and we win, I’m happy.”

Their pasts, although different, are success stories. Their futures, most likely intertwined, will be talked about in length. What the three players each are focused on, however, is the present and their opportunity to win their first MLL championships.

“We knew our fate in Rochester could be coming to an end, which would be awful,” Wolf said. “So we’re just trying to win.”

“I won a championship my senior year of high school, and it was one of my best memories playing lacrosse,” Schreiber added. “It’s an effort to do it again at the next level. It didn’t work out in college. I’m excited to do that now, and to do it with this group that gels and has built something special would be even better.”