Former University of Maryland men’s lacrosse players Jesse Bernhardt, Dan Burns and Lee Zink were selected to the U.S. Men’s National Team final 23-man roster for the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Championship, US Lacrosse announced on Monday.
The trio will look to help Team USA claim its second consecutive gold medal in the tournament that runs from July 10-19 in Commerce City, Colo.
The team was selected from a 31-player roster that attended training camp last week in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and competed in Thursday’s MLL All-Star Game at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass.
Bernhardt (2013) makes his first U.S. National Team one year after completing a sensational All-America career as a Terp. The current Chesapeake Bayhawk missed the Champions Challenge in January due to injury, but has recovered to record 25 groundballs in seven games with Chesapeake to go along with two goals and an assist. The two-time USILA All-American can play both close defense or long-stick midfielder for Team USA.
Burns (2011) earned his first U.S. National Team spot as one of two short-stick defensive midfielders on the roster. A former walk-on at Maryland, Burns also currently plays professionally for the Bayhawks and has totaled 17 groundballs in eight appearances this season.
“I hope my story helps a couple high school students attempt to walk on a college team that normally would not consider it,” Burns has said.
Zink (2004) is the second-oldest player to make the Team USA roster (two months younger than Kevin Leveille) was an alternate on the 2010 team that won gold in Manchester, England. The two-time reigning MLL Defensive Player of the Year has played nine of his 11 MLL seasons for the Denver Outlaws and was the 2004 Schmeisser Award winner, which is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate defender, as a senior at Maryland in 2004.
Maryland alums Jeff Reynolds (2009) and Drew Snider (2012) were among those from the 31-player roster that attended the final training camp and competed for Team USA in the MLL All-Star game that were not selected to the final 23-man roster.
Team USA will next head to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., for a final training camp July 6-9 before beginning its world title defense in Denver on July 10.
“These men were selected from a group of 52 that participated in Orlando and 31 that participated this past week, so we feel this is a very solid team that will represent our country well in Denver,” said Team USA head coach Richie Meade. “Several of the men who have been part of this process distinguished themselves, but weren’t chosen for this team. We’re very humbled to represent our country and endeavor to do so to the best of our collective ability.”
The 23-man roster by position with professional teams, collegiate alma maters, and previous U.S. team experience noted:
Attack
Ned Crotty, New York Lizards, Duke*
Marcus Holman, Ohio Machine, North Carolina
Kevin Leveille, Rochester Rattlers, Massachusetts
Brendan Mundorf, Chesapeake Bayhawks, UMBC*
Rob Pannell, New York Lizards, Cornell
Garrett Thul, Florida Launch/Philadelphia Wings, Army
Midfield
Matt Abbott, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Syracuse
Kevin Buchanan, Boston Cannons, Ohio State
Dan Burns, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Maryland
Kyle Harrison, Ohio Machine, Johns Hopkins^
David Lawson, Rochester Rattlers, Duke
Paul Rabil, Boston Cannons, Johns Hopkins*
Max Seibald, New York Lizards/Philadelphia Wings, Cornell*
Defense
Mitch Belisle, Boston Cannons, Cornell
Jesse Bernhardt, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Maryland
Tucker Durkin, Florida Launch, Johns Hopkins
Michael Evans, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Johns Hopkins
Kyle Hartzell, New York Lizards, Salisbury
Lee Zink, Denver Outlaws, Maryland
Goalie
Drew Adams, New York Lizards, Penn State
Jesse Schwartzman, Denver Outlaws, Johns Hopkins
Faceoff
Chris Eck, Boston Cannons, Colgate
Greg Gurenlian, New York Lizards, Penn State
from umterps.com
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