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MLL's Top Players To Gather At 2007 MLL All-Star Game

June 22, 2007 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release


BOSTON, Mass. - Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Friday the MLL players who have been selected to play in the sixth annual Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game, which will be held on Sunday, July 8 at Harvard Stadium at 12:30 p.m., according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. The All-Stars were selected by the League's head coaches, general managers and players.

For the first time in the MLL's seven-year history, the game will match up all stars from the Eastern Conference against their Western Conference counterparts. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Joe Beninati and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Tickets are available by calling 888-847-9700 or by visiting www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.

"This game will feature one of the most talented groups of players in MLL history. It is an exciting mix of veterans and emerging young stars," said Gross. "We want to especially thank the players for their input in the voting process. Very few leagues afford the opportunity of letting players vote for their peers. This year we decided to include them in the process and they did an outstanding job with it."

In addition to the game, the All-Star festivities will include the Bud Light MLL All-Star Skills Competition, which will take place at half-time. The events will consist of the Fastest Shot, Accuracy and Freestyle contests.

The Fastest Shot competition is the first event and six players will each get two attempts to shoot as hard as possible from thirty feet away. The speed of each shot will be determined by a radar gun on the field. Last year former Boston Cannons midfielder Chris Fiore won the contest with a shot of 108 miles per hour. Fiore will not be back to defend his championship but competition will be close amongst Roy Colsey, Matt Poskay, Josh Sims, Jeff Sonke and first time contestants Kyle Dixon and Graham Gill.

Where the Fastest Shot recognizes power, the Accuracy event focuses on precision and skill. Last year Philadelphia attackman Ryan Boyle earned the Accuracy Shot championship. The event features four targets at distances of five yards (one point), eight yards (six points), 12 yards (12 points), 15 yards (24 points) with the players earning the corresponding points for successfully hitting each target.

Without question, though, the most exciting contest is the Freestyle. Not only is it the most creative event, but the winner is also determined by fan reaction (as long as the player scores on the shot). Six of the league's top talents will have two breakaway attempts to show their best finishing move. This contest has seen some of the MLL's most memorable-and most talked about-plays. 2006 was no different as current Boston Cannon Mikey Powell brought down the house with his array of signature moves, including doing a flip and shooting with the stick behind his back. The Chicago Machines' Sean Morris headed the ball in soccer style while San Francisco Dragon Chris Rotelli turned in a no look shot.

After reaching the New Balance MLL Championship Game last year in their inaugural season, the Denver Outlaws had eight players chosen to appear in the game, which is the most of any MLL team. The defending MLL champion Philadelphia Barrage will have five representatives in the game, including last year's Warrior Goalie of the Year Brian Dougherty, who will be making his fourth All-Star appearance.

Each team has at least one representative on its respective conference all-star squad.

MAJOR LEAGUE LACROSSE

Major League Lacrosse, a ten-team professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded in 1999 by fitness entrepreneur Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global L.L.C., and founding partners Dave Morrow, a former champion lacrosse player and now CEO of Warrior Lacrosse, a leading global provider of innovative and high performance lacrosse equipment; Timothy B. Robertson, former CEO of The Family Channel and the current chairman of Bay Shore Enterprises, L.L.C., an investment holding company with activities in international media and Internet technology ventures; and Jim Davis, chairman and CEO of New Balance. The MLL commenced play in June of 2001. The MLL is comprised of two conferences. The Eastern Conference contains the original six teams, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Rochester and Washington. The Western Conference debuted in the 2006 season with MLL expansion franchises Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.

2007 MLL All-Star Game Rosters

Eastern Conference

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. MLL Team College

0 Mikey Powell A 5-10 165 lbs. Boston Syracuse, '04

1 Dan Cocchi M 5-11 185 lbs. Long Island Towson, '03

3 Roy Colsey M 6-1 195 lbs. Philadelphia Syracuse, '95

4 Chris Passavia D 6-1 210 lbs. Boston Maryland, '04

6 Brian Dougherty GK 6-1 202 lbs. Philadelphia Maryland, '97

7 Kyle Sweeney D 6-2 190 lbs. Philadelphia Georgetown, '03

8 Peter Vlahakis M 5-10 190 lbs. Long Island Fairfield, '04

9 Matt Striebel M 6-1 190 lbs. Philadelphia Princeton, '01

11 Kyle Dixon M 6-4 214 lbs. Washington Virginia, '06

12 Matt Ward A 5-10 203 lbs. Washington Virginia, '06

13 Stephen Berger M 6-0 190 lbs. Long Island Washington Coll., '04

14 Ryan Boyle A 5-11 180 lbs. Philadelphia Princeton, '04

15 Chris Garrity GK 6-2 195 lbs. Washington Penn State, '03

17 Brodie Merrill D 6-4 210 lbs. Rochester Georgetown, '05

18 Kyle Harrison M 6-0 194 lbs. New Jersey Johns Hopkins, '05

22 Casey Powell A 6-1 196 lbs. Rochester Syracuse, '98

23 Matt Poskay M 6-0 204 lbs. Boston Virginia, '06

24 John Grant, Jr. A 6-2 220 lbs. Rochester Delaware, '99

41 Nicky Polanco D 6-4 235 lbs. Long Island Hofstra, '02

Head Coach: Tony Resch, Philadelphia

Assistant Coach: Bill Daye, Boston

Western Conference

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. MLL Team College

2 Brendan Mundorf A 5-11 195 lbs. Denver UMBC, '06

5 Eric Martin D 6-2 215 lbs. San Francisco Salisbury, '04

6 Brian Langtry M 5-10 180 lbs. Denver Hofstra, '98

7 Geoff Snider M 5-11 195 lbs. Denver Denver, '06

9 Josh Sims M 6-2 205 lbs. Denver Princeton, '00

12 Graham Gill M 6-3 203 lbs. Los Angeles Navy, '05

15 Jeff Sonke M 6-2 200 lbs. Denver North Carolina, '01

19 Kevin Leveille A 5-10 185 lbs. Chicago Massachusetts, '03

21 Sean Lindsay M 6-1 185 lbs. Los Angeles Syracuse, '04

22 Ryan Powell A 6-0 205 lbs. San Francisco Syracuse, '00

25 Chris Rotelli M 5-10 180 lbs. San Francisco Virginia, '03

26 Pat Heim M 5-11 205 lbs. Chicago Penn State, '07

29 Lee Zink D 6-4 195 lbs. Denver Maryland, '04

30 Mickey Jarboe GK 5-10 165 lbs. Los Angeles Navy, '00

36 Mike Culver D 6-1 190 lbs. Chicago Virginia, '06

37 Benson Erwin M 6-0 200 lbs. Denver Johns Hopkins, '05

40 Trevor Tierney GK 5-11 200 lbs. Denver Princeton, '01

44 Greg Bice D 6-3 220 lbs. Los Angeles Ohio State, '04

77 Spencer Ford A 6-0 200 lbs. Los Angeles Towson, '99

Head Coach: John Tucker, Los Angeles

Assistant Coach: TBA

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