Riptide Gets Stronger With Two Recent Trades
April 2, 2007 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Los Angeles Riptide News Release
CARSON, CALIFORNIA - Monday, April 2, 2007 - In addition to its March 28 trade with the Long Island Lizards with which the Los Angeles Riptide acquired stellar attackman Wes Green, the club has made two more key off-season player personnel moves prior to opening day of its 2007 training camp on April 28. Late last week, the Riptide finalized two additional player trades adding two goalies and another offensive threat to the training camp roster.
In a multiple player deal with the San Francisco Dragons, the Riptide sent 2006 back-up goaltender Matt Vallone, his brother, midfielder Steve Vallone, and a conditional third round 2008 collegiate draft pick up the coast in exchange for the Dragons' 2008 first round collegiate draft pick, 2006 Dragon starting goaltender Alex Cade and 2006 Maryland All-American attackman Xander Ritz (pronounced "Zand-err"). In addition, the two teams flipped 2007 second round collegiate picks (Riptide's 16th for the Dragons' 17th).
"We are very pleased with the outcome of our trade with San Francisco," said Riptide general manager G.W. Mix. " We hated to give up Matt Vallone as we believe he is one of the best-kept secrets in the league. Ultimately, his professional travel schedule and career pursuits made continuing to play in LA very difficult. Since he and Steve both live in San Francisco, a trade like this made sense for everyone. What we received in return we hope will make the deal very worthwhile in the long run."
Cade started all 12 games in 2006 for the Dragons and led them to an appearance in the MLL playoffs in their inaugural year. He recorded a season high 23 saves against Chicago on June 3, and he had 15 saves in the Dragons' semi-final loss to Denver during the 2006 New Balance MLL Championship Weekend. His 197 saves ranked him fourth in the MLL in 2006 and his seven wins had him tied for third in the circuit. At Notre Dame, Cade was a three-time All Great Western Lacrosse League selection and a 1996 All-American. He led the Fighting Irish to three appearances in the NCAA tournament. Cade lives in the San Diego area and is the director of Adrenaline Lacrosse.
Ritz was a 2006 All-American and an All-ACC attackman at Maryland. In his senior season at Maryland, he tallied 34 goals and 12 assists. His four-year collegiate career scoring total was 80 goals and 70 assists for a total of 150 points. Ritz was originally selected by the Philadelphia Barrage in the third round of the 2006 collegiate draft, and he was eventually acquired by the Dragons in a mid-season trade. Ritz joins former Terrapin Andrew "Buggs" Combs (Maryland '01) as the second Riptide player to have played at ACC power Maryland.
In a simultaneous deal with the Washington Bayhawks, the Riptide traded a 2007 third round collegiate pick (26th overall) for the rights to Matt Russell. Russell was a three-time All-American goalie at Navy. In 2004, he led Navy to the NCAA Championship game, was named First Team All-American and was the recipient of the C. Markland Kelly Award honoring the nation's top collegiate goalie. In 2005, Russell again led Navy to the NCAA tournament and was named Second Team All-American. In 2006, he became just the third goalkeeper in Navy history to be named All-American three times when he was named to the Third Team. His 2006 goals against average of 5.45 is a single season NCAA record. He also holds the NCAA record for career goals against average with a 6.28 GAA. Currently stationed in San Diego, Russell joins fellow Midshipmen Jon Birsner ('06), Graham Gill ('05), Mitch Hendler ('05), Mickey Jarboe ('00), and Chris Pieczonka ('05) on the 2007 Riptide roster.
"We went into the off-season with the goal of trying to add youthful talent at the offensive end," said Riptide head coach John Tucker. "Through the supplemental draft and the recent acquisitions of team-oriented players like Wes Green and Xander Ritz, we think we will be a much more dangerous goal-scoring team in 2007. The fact that we were able to add such great goaltending at the other end of the field with guys like Cade, Jarboe and Russell is a huge bonus for us."
"I am excited about the player moves we made last week," added Riptide defensive coordinator Shawn Trell. "We have always believed the goalie position is of the utmost importance. In addition to Tillman, we will now have several outstanding goalies in training camp with a proven pedigree of leadership and winning at a very high level."
The five goalies currently on the Riptide roster boast a total of 10 All-American team selections, four C. Markland Kelly Awards (given to the nation's top collegiate goaltender), three NCAA Division I National Championships and 14 NCAA tournament appearances as starting goalies.
For more information on the fast approaching season or to purchase your tickets for the 2007 MLL season, please call toll free at 1-866-4-LAX-TIX or visit lariptide.com.
2007 L.A. RIPTIDE SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time (PT)
Saturday, May 19 @ Chicago Machine 5:00 PM
Sunday, May 27 New Jersey Pride 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 2 @ Boston Cannons 4:00 PM
Saturday, June 9 @ Denver Outlaws 5:00 PM
Saturday, June 16 @ San Francisco Dragons 1:00 PM
Saturday, June 23 Chicago Machine 5:00 PM
Saturday, June 30 San Francisco Dragons 5:00 PM
Saturday, July 14 Denver Outlaws 5:00 PM
Saturday, July 21 @ Washington Bayhawks 1:00 PM
Saturday, July 28 San Francisco Dragons 7:00 PM
Saturday, August 4 @ Denver Outlaws 5:00 PM
Saturday, August 11 Chicago Machine 4:00 PM
Major League Lacrosse Stories from April 2, 2007
- Riptide Gets Stronger With Two Recent Trades - Los Angeles Riptide
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