With the MLL Collegiate Draft coming at the conclusion of the college season, rookies were immediately available to help their teams, making the infusion of new talent a reason for excitement.

The first three players selected in the draft did not suit up, however, and six of the nine first round picks were not active. It was a fourth-round selection, though, that stole the show.

John Crawley, taken 33rd overall by the Charlotte Hounds out of Johns Hopkins, scored six goals and added one assist in his first Major League Lacrosse game.

The Hounds scored seven goals in the second period, with Crawley scoring two and assisting on another. He scored the first two goals of the third quarter to give Charlotte a 13-9 lead.

“I think he’s one of those players that gets the most out of himself every day,” Johns Hopkins offensive coordinator Bobby Benson said in an article in The Baltimore Sun prior to the team’s NCAA Tournament game against Duke in early May. “He practices hard, he plays hard, he brings that toughness and physicality to the way he dodges and plays, which I think has been really good for us. He’s definitely our emotional leader.”

On the other side of the field, Atlanta midfielder Adam Osika – a third round pick out of Albany – scored two goals and had an assist of his own. Osika’s first goal was Atlanta’s first goal of the third quarter, ending a 9-0 Charlotte run that started with just under 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

His second goal came with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter and gave the Blaze a 15-14 lead, one that was not relinquished for the remainder of the game.

For the Florida Launch, Nick Mariano, the fourth-overall selection and brother of Launch head coach Tom Mariano, scored two goals and his Syracuse teammate Sergio Salcido, the eighth pick in the draft and a Winter Park, Florida native, scored one goal, in the team’s victory over the New York Lizards.

“It’s kind of something we’ve been missing. Both (Nick) and Sergio came in, finished shots. I mean, they were shooting deep, and they were quality shots,” Tom Mariano said on the team’s website. “Nick is a goal scorer. I try to tell people, we didn’t draft him because of the name on his jersey, we drafted him because he’s a legit player. I think he proved that tonight.”

The Denver Outlaws also saw an immediate impact from a pair of rookies in their 19-13 victory over Boston. First-round pick Zach Currier, whom the Outlaws traded up three spots to draft, scored one goal and added two assists, while LSM Larken Kemp picked up three ground balls.

Although the Chesapeake Bayhawks lost to the Ohio Machine, 18-11, face-off specialist Ben Williams – a fifth-round pick out of Syracuse – won 23 of 32 face-offs and picked up 15 ground balls. He also had an assist.

Donahue on Fire

Prior to the 2017 MLL season, the Atlanta Blaze traded Deemer Class and Wells Stanwick to the Charlotte Hounds for Dylan Donahue, while also swapping first-round picks.

Donahue, the second overall selection in the 2016 MLL Collegiate Draft, started his MLL career slowly, scoring 11 points in eight games, but the Atlanta front office was excited to add him to an attack unit that featured his teammates from Syracuse, Kevin Rice and Randy Staats.

“Dylan Donahue is a phenomenal talent and we are very excited to reunite him with his old teammates from Syracuse,” Atlanta general manager Spencer Ford said in a press release on the team’s website at the time of the trade. “He will provide great depth to an already solid attack unit. He plays with high IQ and has a great skill set. He can score in bunches and if need be, he can feed as well. The Atlanta Blaze just got truly better today and Coach Huntley and myself are excited to get started.”

After a three-goal, three-assist performance in the team’s 19-18 victory over Charlotte, Donahue passes his point total from last year. The six points was also a career-high. He’s also doing this without his fellow Orange attackmen, as Rice played one game before breaking his hand and Staats still has NLL commitments.

McArdle and Schreiber Continue Strong Form

Big news during the MLL offseason was that Tom Schreiber and Kieran McArdle had made the roster for the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock. The pair of 2014 first-round draft picks surprised the box lacrosse world with the seasons they had, helping the Rock to the league semi-finals, but their MLL teams were happy to get them back.

In their second game back, both players made huge impacts for their teams. Schreiber tallied seven points in his, helping the Ohio Machine beat the Chesapeake Bayhawks. McArdle, who had 17 goals and 19 assists in 14 games for the Rock, was also his team’s leading scorer, scoring three goals and adding three assists in Florida’s victory over New York.

“Kieran is one of the best in the MLL. He has a drive to excel and is a tenacious competitor,” Tom Mariano said on the team’s website prior to the start of the season. “His priority is to take the Launch to a championship level.”

Noteworthy

Although MLL doesn’t categorize him as a rookie as this is not his collegiate graduation year, Florida saw another player score his first MLL goal when Tim Edwards scored in the third quarter. … Austin Kaut was named Player of the Game in Florida’s victory over New York after he made 21 saves. It was the second consecutive week he made over 20 saves. … In his second consecutive start, Ohio goaltender Kyle Bernlohr made 20 saves and the Machine earned their second straight victory. … Matt Mackrides scored a season-high six points for Atlanta with two goals and four assists, three of which came in the second half. … Both Wes Berg (four goals, one assist) and Eric Law (three goals, two assists) scored five points for the Denver Outlaws. … Boston’s Max Seibald scored two goals against the Outlaws, both of which were two-pointers.

Player of the Week

Tom Schreiber, M, Ohio Machine

The reigning league-MVP picked up where he left off from last season, scoring two goals and providing five assists. Not only were his five assists the most by any player this week, it was as many as the Florida Launch combined for and one more than the entire New York Lizards roster. Playing for the Toronto Rock in the NLL, Schreiber finished sixth in the league in assists (61) and seventh in the league in points (94).