OWU Lacrosse Alumni and MLL Connection

John Schlegel ’05

Zach Gagel ’00

Jed Cronin ’95

Kevin Finneran ’90

John Schlegel ’05, was drafted in the 9th round as an attack player by the Chicago Machine, one of the four new expansion teams to the MLL. John is no stranger to the OWU lacrosse community as he garnered many accolades and honors from 2001-2005, while playing for the Red & Black Attack. Most notable honors included 2002 NCAC Newcomer of the Year, 2004 NCAC Player of the Year; All America honors in 2005, represented OWU in the 2005 Annual North-South All-Star Game, and the 2005 recipient of the OWU Lacrosse Alumni Award presented at the 2005 OWU Lacrosse Alumni Reunion during Homecoming.

A well deserved honor was also bestowed upon OWU Assistant Lacrosse Coach, Zach Gagel ’00, who was also drafted as a defenseman by the Chicago Machine in the 17th round of the supplemental draft. During his playing career for the Bishops, Zach distinguished himself, as an outstanding defensemen, and earned the 2000 NCAC Player of the Year honors following his three prior years as first team NCAC and the 1996 NCAC Newcomer of the Year. Zach’s playing career was capped by his selection as 1st Team All America in 2000, as well as representing the Bishops in the 2000 Annual North-South All-Star Game. Gagel continued his playing career after OWU until 2003 with both the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) and the Columbus Landsharks of the National Lacrosse League (indoor lacrosse).

The need for additional quality lacrosse players, with the MLL announcing the expansion of 4 new franchise teams, it was fitting to see that Jed Cronin ’95 was also drafted in the 21st round by the Boston Cannons to play in the upcoming 2006 season. During his playing career while wearing the Red & Black, Jed earned honors as NCAC 1st Team Midfielder as a junior and NCAC 1st Team Attack as a senior. His overall play, reflecting his skills and versatility as a complete lacrosse player were recognized when Jed earned 2nd Team All America Honors at attack at the end of his senior playing season.

Surprisingly, the OWU-Chicago Machine-MLL connection is tighter than it seems on the MLL Web site’s supplemental draft page. In a recent article written by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff, Kevin Finneran ’90, is noted as becoming an integral part of the Chicago Machine MLL team:

According to a league release announcing the trade that sent Boston’s Kevin Leveille to Chicago for Drew Pfarr and Bill Glading after Tuesday’s expansion draft, former MLL player Kevin Finneran has already overtaken both positions, though the organization itself would not confirm.

On the Chicago end, the trade was made by “newly named head coach and general manager Kevin Finneran,” according to the release. Finneran could not be reached for comment.

Chris Brennan, a stakeholder in the Chicago Lacrosse Group, LLP, said the organization would make an official announcement regarding Finneran’s hiring within a week. He declined further comment on the conditions leading to the departure of Hiller and Harvey.

From his playing days as a student-athlete at OWU, through his professional lacrosse career, Kevin Finneran earned many honors:

• 1st Team All-America and 1989 Division III Middie of the Year
• played in the 1989 Annual North-South Game
• 1st Team and MLA Player of the Year for 1989
• 1989 NCAC Player of the Year
• established himself in the OWU Lacrosse record books in 1989 as the overall leading midfielder with 25 assists and 16 goals in the 1989 lacrosse season—this record was surpassed by only 2 other OWU lacrosse players since 1999
• a member of World Games ’98 Champions TEAM USA
• the 4 time Indoor Lacrosse World Champion Philadelphia Wings, Toronto Rock
• 2 Time MLL Champion Long Island Lizards
• Asst. Coach: Anaheim Storm and Team USA Heritage Cup Captain

While the position of head coach and general manager gets sorted out by the ownership of the Chicago Machine, it is great to see the “Pride & Tradition” of Bishop Lacrosse players moving into the spotlight of Major League Lacrosse.

The MLL is currently comprised of 6 teams in the league—Baltimore Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, Long Island Lizards, New Jersey Pride, Philadelphia Barrage and Rochester Rattlers. The MLL announced on August 21, 2005, its plans to expand teams to Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The MLL season consists of 36 regular season games from May to August with the following additional league-run special events—Warrior Major League Challenge (June), All-Star Game (July) and New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend (August).

The MLL Web site states the following about its players:

Our Players

The 150 best lacrosse players in the world—good-looking, well-spoken young men from some of the top academic institutions, including Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia. MLL icons include the legendary Gary Gait, Mark Millon, Jesse Hubbard, Roy Colsey, Mike Battista, and current superstar siblings Casey and Ryan Powell.

To that list of players, you can now add OWU’s own John Schlegel, Zach Gagel, and Jed Cronin! Congratulations to John, Zach, and Jed, the OWU players, Head Coach Sean Ryan, and his coaching staff, for their continued efforts in putting OWU Lacrosse on the national radar of college lacrosse. Go Bishops!