Nationals Activate Smith and Poppleton
May 30, 2013 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Hamilton Nationals News Release
The Hamilton Nationals announced four player moves prior to their showdown with the defending Major League Lacrosse Champion Chesapeake Bayhawks. General Manager Stu Brown has activated defenseman Sid Smith and midfielder Mike Poppleton. In related moves, the Nationals moved Evan Kirk and Garrett Billings to the Practice Squad.
The first place Hamilton Nationals will visit the defending MLL Champion Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday, June 1st in Annapolis, Md. The 7:30 p.m. contest will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
In Smith, Hamilton adds a veteran defenseman with three professional and two collegiate championships. The Six Nations product won back-to-back NCAA titles with Syracuse, and captured a MLL title in 2009 with the Nationals. The past two seasons, he has hoisted the National Lacrosse League's Champion's Cup.
"Sid is coming off back-to-back NLL Championships. He was also named team captain for the Rochester Knighthawks in 2013," said Brown. "We are excited to have Sid's leadership as he comes onboard. Also we feel Saturday's game in Baltimore is going to be a physical contest, and Sid brings us an edge in that category."
Smith enters his third season in the MLL and third with the Nationals. Originally the sixth-overall selection by the Nationals in the 2009 MLL Collegiate Draft, he signed with Hamilton in March 2013. He last played in the MLL in 2011, which was the team's last appearance in the MLL Finals.
"I haven't played field lacrosse in a while, but I am anxious to get out there again with the Nationals," said Smith.
This past season with the Knighthawks, he earned team captain honors and led Rochester to its first back-to-back titles in franchise history. In 2013, he was named the Knighthawks Defensive Player of the Year after earning co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and 2011. Smith was the Knighthawks' first-round selection (first overall) in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft. He played two seasons at Syracuse and won NCAA titles in 2008 and 2009.
Hamilton will also have Poppleton in the lineup Saturday. In 2013, the Manlius, NY native was named a Second Team All-American. He won 161 of 235 (.685) faceoffs and grabbed a team-high 89 ground balls. Poppleton also ranked second in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.685), which was a single-season team record. He ended his career at Johns Hopkins as the school record holder in career faceoff winning percentage (.644). Poppleton was the Hamilton Nationals' fifth-round selection (34th overall) in the 2013 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft.
"Mike has had the top faceoff percentage in college lacrosse the last two seasons. We have been eager to see what he can do at the MLL level," said Brown. "This weekend's game in Baltimore was a perfect opportunity to get him into a game and see what we have in him."
• Discuss this story on the Major League Lacrosse message board...
Major League Lacrosse Stories from May 30, 2013
- Chesapeake Expects Early Season Test from Red-Hot Hamilton - Chesapeake Bayhawks
- Nationals Activate Smith and Poppleton - Hamilton Nationals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
