2009 All-MLL Team Announced

August 21, 2009 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release

Boston, Mass. -Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional lacrosse league, announced Friday the players who have been named to the 2009 All-Major League Lacrosse Team, recognizing the best players at each position. Named to the All-MLL team were:

Attack: Merrick Thomson (Toronto), Kevin Leveille (Chicago), Brendan Mundorf (Denver)

Midfield: Paul Rabil (Boston), Kyle Dixon (Washington), Joe Walters (Toronto)

Defense: Brodie Merrill (Toronto), Kyle Sweeney (Boston), Lee Zink (Denver), Matt Bocklet (Denver)

Goalkeeper: Jesse Schwartzman (Denver)

Face-off Specialist: Alex Smith (Washington)

The All-MLL selections were based on votes submitted by the general managers and head coaches of the six MLL teams.

For the second consecutive year, Merrick Thomson has been named to the ALL-MLL team. His 44 goals this season not only leads the League but places him at a tie for sixth place all-time on the single season goal list. Thomson was named Offensive Player of the Week following the opening weekend of the 2009 season, when he had 7 points against Washington. He was also given the same honor in week 10 when he put up 5 goals and 3 assists against the Cannons to secure Toronto's spot in the postseason. In 2009, Thomson had two game-winning goals and an astounding 50% shooting percentage, helping him to win the Bud Light Game MVP award three times this season. Thomson has had some incredible numbers over the past two seasons. In his last 23 games, he has scored 86 goals, and amassed 102 points. In his career, Thomson has 95 goals and 112 points. The Toronto attackman was a unanimous selection to the All-MLL Team.

Chicago's Kevin Leveille has been voted onto the 2009 All-MLL Team following a solid season. The former UMass Minuteman has had a huge impact for on offense for the Machine this season. Leveille finished second in goals scored this season with 35, and adds 8 assists to his total of 44 points. In his six seasons, Leveille has scored at least 40 points in all but one year. On July 4th, he was awarded the Bud Light Game MVP after scoring 7 goals, 8 points as the Machine defeated the Toronto Nationals. Leveille has a career 200 goals and 258 points.

This past season, Denver's Brendan Mundorf led the Outlaws in goals, and he picked up the Offensive Player of the Week Award in Week 2 for a 5 goal,1 assist performance as the Outlaws defeated Boston in a 15-14 nail biter. He has also been awarded Bud Light Game MVP three times. This was the third year in a row that Mundorf has put up over 40 points in a season. In his career, the UMBC graduate has 122 goals, 42 assists, and 164 points. Mundorf was also named to the 2009 All-Star Game where he had 3 goals and 1 assist.

One of only three unanimous selections the All-MLL team, Boston's Paul Rabil was also awarded the 2009 Bud Light MVP and Warrior Offensive Player of the Year honors earlier this week. Surpassing his impressive rookie season stats form 2008, Rabil led the league in points with 53, compiled from an impressive 33 goals, 12 assists and 8 2-pointers. His 33 goals were third most all-time by a midfielder in a single season. He was named the Offensive Player of the Week twice this past season.

Washington Bayhawks points leader Kyle Dixon was also unanimously selected to the All-MLL Team. Dixon scored 23 goals, an impressive 10 two-point goals, and 8 assists. On July 19th, Dixon put away 3 2-pointers in the game, earning not only give him the Bud Light Game MVP but also equaling the League record for most two-pointers scored in a single game.

Toronto's Joe Walters has been awarded a spot on the 2009 All-MLL Team for the second year. The Toronto midfielder leads his team in assists with 17, a career high, and was second in points with 42. Walters put up 23 goals all together, including 2 two-pointers, 3 power-play goals and 1 short-handed goal. On June 4th he received the Bud Light Game MVP for his 5 goal effort in Toronto's defeat of the Washington Bayhawks. Another big game came against Long Island on July 18th as he helped the Nationals defeat the Lizards by adding 4 goals and 2 assists.

Toronto's Brodie Merrill has been named the Warrior Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season. He picked up an impressive 69 ground balls this season, putting him third on the all-time regular season list. Merrill's 20 points and 12 assists lead all defensive players in the two categories, He also had 8 goals. In week 2 and week 5, Merrill was awarded the Defensive Player of the Week honors. Against Chicago in week 2, Merrill held the Machine's Matt Striebel to a rare pointless performance. In week 5 versus Washington, Merrill defended Kyle Dixon very well and also put away 2 goals on the evening, including the game winner.

Boston's Kyle Sweeney has been voted onto the All-MLL team for the third consecutive year. It was a career season for the Boston Cannons' defenseman in goals (9), points (13) and groundballs. His 9 goals led all defensemen. This veteran player has also collected 274 regular season groundballs.

The Outlaws' Lee Zink was a cornerstone of Denver's successful defensive unit. Zink tied a personal season high this year with 26 groundballs, giving him 140 for his career. The Maryland graduate was also a member of the Old School team in the 2009 All-Star Game, picking up 5 groundballs.

Denver's Matt Bocklet has 4 points on the season. He is in third place for groundballs having picked up 49. Matt's biggest game this season came against Long Island on June 13th when he scored two goals in Denver's victory. As a member of the Young Guns team in the 2009 All-Star Game, the former Hopkins defender scored a goal and an assist. Bocklet has been a consistently staunch defender all year long for the Outlaws.

Denver goaltender Jesse Schwartzman had a sensational year and was rewarded for his efforts by being named the Warrior Goalie of the Year. Schwartzman had a goals against average of 11.28, placing him second all-time in single season GAA. He finished the season with a 9-2 record and was named Defensive Player of the Week three times. In week 4 Schwartzman made 17 saves and only allowed 10 goals in a win over Chicago. Against Long Island in the second to last game of the season, Schwartzman gave up just 9 goals and made 16 saves as the Lizards were stifled for the third time this year by Denver.

Finally, Washington Bayhawks face-off specialist Alex Smith has been placed on the All-MLL Team for the third year in a row. Smith went 217-368 this season in the face-off circle. For his career, Smith has a career regular season face-off winning percentage of 60%. He is already sixth all-time in face-off wins with 665, and has taken 1094 face-offs in his MLL career.

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Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 21, 2009

• Chicago Machine's Kevin Leveille Named to All MLL Team - Chicago Machine
• Merrill, Walters and Thomson Named to 2009 All-MLL Team - Hamilton Nationals
• 2009 All-MLL Team Announced - MLL

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