ATLANTA BLAZE 206 Game Notes Media Contact: Kathryn Eckhart keckhart@atlantablaze.com 28-650-0740 30 Shiloh Road NW Suite 340 Kennesaw, GA 3044 470-23-0336 atlantablaze.com @AtlantaBlaze @atlantablazemll SETTING THE SCENE: BLAZE VS. BOSTON CANNONS 206 SCHEDULE & RESULTS 2-2 Overall - Home - Away APRIL 23 vs. Chesapeake 5:00 pm 30 at Boston 7:00 pm MAY 4 vs. Denver 5:00 pm 2 at Florida 7:00 pm JUNE 04 vs. Boston 7:00 pm vs. New York 7:00 pm 8 at Ohio 4:30 pm 25 at Charlotte 7:30 pm JULY 0 vs. Charlotte 8:00 pm 09 All-Star Game Fullerton, CA 6 at Denver 7:30 pm 2 at Chesapeake 7:30 pm 23 vs. Florida 7:00 pm 30 vs. Ohio 7:00 pm AUGUST 04 at Rochester 7:30 pm BROADCAST INFORMATION Stream: Lax Sports Network PxP: Matt Martucci Analyst: Brian Silcott LOOKING AHEAD Blaze vs. New York When: Saturday, June Time: 7 p.m. Location: Fifth Third Stadium MEDIA CONTACT Kathryn Eckhart nhernandez@atlantablaze.com 770-238-9244 (cell) GAME INFORMATION DATE: Saturday, June 4, 206 LOCATION: Kennesaw, GA STADIUM: Fifth Third Bank Stadium FACEOFF: 7:00 p.m. (EST) BROADCAST: Lax Sports Network TWITTER: @AtlantaBlaze All-Time Series: 0-205 Series: 0- THE MATCHUP This will be the second meeting between the Atlanta Blaze and the Boston Cannons. The Atlanta Blaze is the newest expansion franchise in Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league. SCOTT RATLIFF COMES HOME The Atlanta Blaze acquired the defenseman and Marietta (GA) native from the Boston Cannons along with the #5 overall pick in the 206 MLL Draft and a third-round pick in the 207 MLL Supplement Draft. Ratliff, 6 0, 28 pound Defenseman, was a second round selection by the Cannons in the 203 MLL Collegiate Draft. One of the Cannons tri-captains in 205, Ratliff played in all 4 regular season games while leading the team to the playoffs. He scored a career high eight goals in 205 including a career high three 2-point goals. Ratliff was a member of the 202 NCAA National Championship at Loyola University (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. 206 MAJOR LEAGUE LACROSSE CHAMPIONSIOP The season will finish once again in metro Atlanta on Saturday, August 20 with the 206 Championship Game hosted at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State University. This marks the third consecutive year that the greater Atlanta area has hosted the 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. FIFTH THIRD BANK STADIUM Fifth Third Bank Stadium is an 8,300-seat state-of-the-art stadium built in 200 in partnership with the former Women s Professional Soccer team Atlanta Beat, designed to showcase a variety of events. It has hosted Major League Soccer, KSU Soccer and Lacrosse, 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 referred to as Atlanta s sweet spot.
HEAD COACH JOHN TUCKER John Tucker is a three time All- American for John Hopkins, who in 984 were undefeated and won the NCAA Men s Lacrosse Championships. He is also a three-time gold medal winner playing for Team USA in the World Lacrosse Championships in 986, 990, and 994, captaining the 990 and 994 teams and recognized at the Top Midfielder in 990. Additionally, he played and captained for the NLL s Philadelphia Wings. There he added two more championships to his resume, 989 and 990. Tucker has been a teacher and administrator in the Baltimore area for 25 years. During which, he has coached five state championship teams. He was inducted into the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2003. He joined the National Lacrosse League as head coach for the Baltimore Thunder in 997 then onto the Pittsburgh Crossfire in 2000. From 2006 to 2008, he served as the head coach of Major League Lacrosse s Los Angeles Riptide. In 2007 he was given the Major League Lacrosse s Coach of the Year Award. Next, he coached the Chesapeake Bayhawks for the 2009 and 200 seasons. In 200, the NLL inducted him into the Hall of Fame. He then joined the Boston Cannons as head coach for the 203 through 205 seasons. In 205, he was named the MLL Brine Coach of the Year. In September 205 he became the Atlanta Blaze s first Head Coach and General Manager. KEVIN RICE Acquired from the Rochester Rattlers, Kevin Rice spent the 205 Season with the Rattlers after being traded from the Florida Launch in the 205 MLL Draft. Rice went on to score 96 Goals and 26 Assists, helping lead the Rattlers to the MLL Finals. Rice was a 3-year starter at Syracuse University and a 2X All American. In Kevin Rice s senior season at Syracuse University, he compiled a long list of accolades. He was a Turnbull Award Winner, the Nation s Best Attackmen, Lowe s Senior Class Award All-American, st Team All-American, st Team All ACC, st 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 09 points. UPCOMING MILESTONES Kevin Rice has four games with hat tricks, recording 26 goals in four games with the Blaze. Randy Staats recorded two hat tricks in just two games with the Blaze with a total of 4 goals. Adam Ghitelman records 59 saves in three games. Scott Ratliff leads the team with 23 ground balls. Scott Ratliff leads defensemen with 9 points. Franchise recorded its first win against the Denver Outlaws, 23-2 and second win against the Florida Launch, 22-0 ATLANTA BLAZE NO. OVERALL PICK MYLES JONES With the first overall pick in the 206 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft the Atlanta Blaze selected Myles Jones of Duke University. This is the 6 th Collegiate Draft in MLL history. In 205, 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 th on Duke s all-time list. Jones became the 43 rd Blue Devil in program history to reach 00 career points for his career. Jones was a four-year letterman at Walt Whitman High School (Huntington Station, NY) and a fourtime Suffolk County All-League selection. He tallied 49 goals and 23 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 0 players by Inside Lacrosse throughout his high school career. 206 Game By Game Results GAME DATE OPP. STRK. RESULT TOTAL HIGH (G) HIGH (A) ATTEND. 4/23 CHE Loss 3-6 2 6 2 4,45 2 430 @BOS 2 Losses 2-3 2 4 2 8,479 3 5/4 DEN Win 23-2 36 5 3 4,279 4 5/2 @FLA 2 Wins 22-0 32 4 2,62 5 6/04 BOS 6 6/ NY 7 6/8 @OH 8 6/25 @CHA 9 7/0 CHA 0 7/6 @DEN 7/2 @CHE 2 7/23 FLA 3 7/30 OH 4 8/04 @ROC
ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS Alphabetical Roster: ACTIVE ROSTER NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 4 Jake Bailey D 6 6 230-8-93 North Carolina 7 Deemer Class M 5 200 6-24-93 Duke R 4 Kevin Cooper M/A 6 4 205 4-7-9 Maryland 3 20 Greg Danseglio D/LSM 6 0 90 5--93 Maryland R 88 Josh Dionne A 5 8 70 4-3-9 Duke 2 5 Nicky Galasso M/A 6 0 90 2-5-9 Syracuse 8 Adam Ghitelman G 5 9 85 4-25-89 Virginia 5 Pat Harbeson M 5 7 70 8-26-9 Virginia 3 Chris Hipps D 6 4 225 9-27-9 Duke 2 8 Graeme Hossack D 6 2 220 7-22-92 Lindenwood 2 Casey Ikeda D 6 90 6-2-9 Maryland 5 Myles Jones M 6 5 240 3-5-93 Duke R 33 9 Shayne Jackson Joe LoCascio A M 5 9 5 9 75 95-6-90 5-5-93 Limestone Maryland 35 Jeremy Noble M 5 8 75 9-5-9 Denver 2 25 68 Chris May Conrad Oberbeck FO A 5 8 6 2 95 95-2-2-92 Ohio State Yale 4 Justin Pennington M 5 20 7-3-88 Rutgers 6 2 Scott Ratliff LSM 5 90 7-26-9 Loyola 3 22 Kevin Rice A 5 9 80 0-26-92 Syracuse 45 6 Randy Staats Eric Schneider A/M G 6 2 6 0 200 75-23-92 3-30-92 Syracuse Johns Hopkins 77 Henry Schoonmaker M 6 200 6-7-92 Syracuse 3 Ryan Tucker M 6 95 0--92 Virginia PRACTICE SQUAD NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 32 Jay Carlson A 6 90 3-2-92 Maryland 47 Jon Gill LSM 6 0 20 7-22-90 Lynchburg R 23 Rick Lewis M 6 2 20 0-8-92 Ohio State R 50 Ned Kaish A 5 0 85 6-8-92 Lenoir-Rhyne R 34 Patrick Resch M 6 3 200 8-5-9 Darthmouth/Duke 48 Sam Wyatt FO 6 0 25 6-9-93 Stevenson R INACTIVE LIST NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 44 40 28 42 Joe Cinosky Brian Cooper Connor Doyle Mark Matthews D D A A 6 3 6 0 5 6 5 220 75 75 230 2-2-85 4--92 5-26-92-27-90 Maryland Maryland Notre Dame Denver 8 2 4 COLLEGE DRAFTEES NO. NAME POS HT WT BIRTHDATE COLLEGE YRS. PRO 2 Tyler Albrecht M 6 85 2-3-93 Loyola R Warren Hill G 5 0 250 7-6-92 Syracuse R 26 Case Matheis A 5 7 65 0-5-93 Duke R
ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS Pronunciation Guide: Player Name : #8 Adam Ghitelman (Gittle-man) Player Name : #9 Joe Locasscio (Low-Cah-see-o) Player Name : #2 Casey Ikeda (Eye-Ked-uh) Player Name : #34 Patrick Resch (RESH) Player Name : #44 Joe Cinosky (Sin-aw-ski) Player Name : #68 Conrad Oberbeck (Oh-ber-beck) Player Name : #77 Henry Schoonmaker (Skoon-maker) How the Active Roster was built: Collegiate Draft: Supplemental Draft: Myles Jones, st RD, st overall, 206 Jeremy Boltus, st RD, st overall, 206 Deemer Class, 2 nd RD, 0 th overall, 206 Josh Dionne, st RD, 7 th overall, 206 Tyler Albrecht, 2 rd RD, 5 th overall, 206 Hakeem Lecky, 2 nd RD, 0 th overall, 206 Greg Danseglio, 3 rd RD, 9 th overall, 206 Michael Pellegrino 3 rd RD, 9 th overall, 206 Warren Hill, 5 th RD, 36 th overall, 206 Patrick Resch, 4 th RD, 28 th overall, 206 Case Mathesis, 7 th RD, 53 rd overall, 206 David Planning, 5 th RD, 37 th overall, 206 Josh Amidon, 6 th RD, 46 th overall, 206 Johnny Rodriguez, 7 th RD, 55 th overall, 206 Matt Poillon, 8 th RD, 64 th overall, 206 Geoff Snider, 9 th RD, 73 rd overall, 206 Chase Carraro, 0 th RD, 87 th overall, 206 Brendan Porter, th RD, 9 st overall, 206 Brian Cooper, 2 th RD, 00 th overall, 206 Drew Kennedy, 3 th RD, 09 th overall, 206 Richard Lewis, 4 th RD, 8 th overall, 206 Jon Gill, 5 th RD, 27 th overall, 206 Numerical Roster: NO. NAME POS 2 Scott Ratliff LSM 3 Ryan Tucker M 4 Jake Bailey D 5 Nicky Galasso M/A 6 Eric Schneider G 7 8 Deemer Class Adam Ghitelman M G 9 Joe Locascio M Pat Haberson M 3 Chris Hipps D 4 Justin Pennington M 5 8 Myles Jones Graeme Hossack M D 20 2 Greg Danseglio Casey Ikeda D D 22 Kevin Rice A 25 Chris May FO 33 35 Shayne Jackson Jeremy Noble A M 4 Kevin Cooper A/M 45 68 Randy Staats Conrad Oberbeck A/M A 77 Henry Schoonmaker M 88 Josh Dionne A Expansion Draft: Trades: Player Pool Ryan Tucker, from Boston, 206 Kevin Rice, from Rochester, 206 Shayne Jackson, February 2, 206 Adam Ghittelman, from Boston, 206 Graeme Hossack, from Rochester, 206 Jesse Gamble, February 7, 206 Brodie Merrill, from Boston, 206 Conor Doyle, from Rochester, 206 Eric Schneider, March 4, 206 Ryan Young, from Boston, 206 Kevin Cooper, from Ohio, 206 Jay Carlson, March 7, 206 Mitch Belisle, from Boston, 206 Jimmy Dailey, from Ohio, Date Sam Wyatt, March 25, 206 Ranfy Staats, from Roschester, 206 Jake Bailey, from Ohio, 206 TJ Kemp, March 25, 206 Justin Turri, from Roschester, 206 Joe Locascio, from Florida, 206 Ned Kaish, April 5, 206 John Ranagan, from Roschester, 206 Nicky Galasso, from Florida, 206 Mark Matthews, from Roschester, 206 Scott Ratliff, from Boston, 206 Chris Hipps, from Chesapeake, 206 Henry Schoonmaker, from Chesapeake, 206 CJ Costabile, from Chesapeake, 206 Jeff Reynolds, from Chesapeake, 206 Kevin Cooper, from Ohio, 206 Dominique Alexander, from Ohio, 206 Scott Rodgers, from Ohio, 206 Justin Pennington, from Denver, 206 Jeremy Noble, from Denver, 206 Casey Ikeda, from Florida, 206 Joe Locascio, from Florida, 206 Ryan Walsh, from New York, 206 Joe Cinosky, from Charlotte, 206
ATLANTA BLAZE PLAYERS Point Leaders:
#4 JAKE BAILEY DEFENSE - season in MLL/ st season with Atlanta Blaze - 28 Ground balls in senior year with University of North Carolina - College: North Carolina #7 DEEMER CLASS MIDFIELD - st season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - All-ACC, 53 points with Duke senior year, 44 th player in Duke history to reach 00 career points - College: Duke - Acquired January 206 #4 KEVIN COOPER MIDFIELD/ATTACK - 3 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 4 Points in 205 season, Rookie of the week, player of the game with the Ohio Machine - College: Maryland #20 GREG DANSEGLIO DEFENSE - st season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Member of 202 USA U9 Team winning gold medal, was in finals of 206 NCAA Championship - College: Maryland - Acquired January 206 #88 JOSH DIONNE ATTACK - 2 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 2 Points v. Chesapeake in 205, 2 points v. Rochester 205 - College: Duke - Acquired December 205
#5 NICKY GALASSO MIDFIELD/ATTACK - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - ACC All-Tournament Team, second on team with 36 goals in a season at Syracuse - College: Syracuse #8 ADAM GHITELMAN GOALIE - 5 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 528 Career saves, 85 season high - College: Virginia - Acquired in 206 Expansion draft # PAT HARBESON MIDFIELD - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 6 points in 205 season with Denver Outlaws - College: Virginia - Acquired November 205 #3 CHRIS HIPPS DEFENSE - 2 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 20 ground balls in 205 season with Chesapeake
College: Duke #8 GRAEME HOSSACK DEFENSE - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 204 Sepcialist of the year, first team all-ecac - College: Lindenwood #2 CASEY IKEDA DEFENSE - season in MLL / st seasons with Atlanta Blaze - 3 points, 6 ground balls in 205 season with Florida - College: Maryland #33 SHAYNE JACKSON ATTACK - st season in MLL / st 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 206
#5 MYLES JONES MIDFIELD - st season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Finalist for Tewaarton Award, USILA All-American first team, led all midfielders nationally in scoring - College: Duke - Acquired January 206 #9 JOE LOCASCIO MIDFIELD - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Career-high 44 points in senior year - College: Maryland #68 CHRIS MAY ATTACK - 2 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Won 7 faceoffs at Ohio State, 35 career ground balls, three-time First Team ALL-WCAC - College: Georgetown, Ohio State - Acquired May 206 #35 JEREMY NOBLE MIDFIELD - st season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - NCAA All-Tournament Team, Tewaarton Award Watch List, 8 points in senior year at Denver - College: Denver #68 CONRAD OBERBECK ATTACK - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - First team All-Ivy - College: Yale
#4 JUSTIN PENNINGTON MIDFIELD - 6 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Career-high 2 goals in season with Denver Outlaws - College: Rutgers #2 SCOTT RATLIFF LONG STICK MIDFIELD - 3 seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 8 ground balls and 20 points in 205 season with Boston Cannons - College: Loyola - Acquired January 206 #22 KEVIN RICE ATTACK - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - ACC Offensive Player of the year, Ranked 4 th nationally in scoring, Team co-captain, 2 points with Rochester in 205 - College: Syracuse - December 205
#6 ERIC SCHNEIDER GOALIE - season in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 6 saves in senior year, 48.9% - College: John Hopkins #77 HENRY SCHOONMAKER MIDFIELD - seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Team co-captain at Syracuse - College: Syracuse #45 RANDY STAATS MIDFIELD/ATTACK - seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - Senior year at Syracuse had a career-high of 33 goals with 23 assists. - College: Syracuse - Acquired in 206 Expansion Draft #3 RYAN TUCKER MIDFIELD - seasons in MLL / st season with Atlanta Blaze - 0 points with Boston Cannons in 205 - College: Virginia