Lizards go local, take five Long Islanders in 2019 MLL draft
Yale's Jack Tigh works against Albany during the first half in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I college lacrosse tournament in Foxborough, Mass., Saturday, May 26, 2018. Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer
The Lizards will have five rookies playing in front of a hometown crowd to start the 2019 season.
The team drafted six players to its roster in Saturday's Major League Lacrosse Draft in Charlotte, five of those hailing from Long Island.
Garden City's Jack Tigh and Danny Dolan, St. James' John Daniggelis, Holtsville's Connor Farrell and Wantagh's Brendan Kearns all were selected to play for the Lizards this season, which starts May 31 at Shuart Stadium.
“Picking local guys was also a big consideration for us,” said GM Joe Spallina in a news release. “They came up through high school as Lizards fans and know the thrill of playing in front of a hometown audience.”
Spallina said in the release he was excited to draft midfielders Tigh (24th overall) and Daniggelis (33rd overall), two players that fell to the Lizards despite the team not having a first round pick.
“These six players check all the boxes, including having a champion pedigree, having great coaches that have turned them into great players and knowing how to win,” Spallina said in a statement.
Tigh currently plays for Yale, and is on the 2019 Tewaaraton Award watch list. He also was named unanimously to the First-Team All-Ivy League in 2018. Before college, he made Newsday's 2015 All-Long Island lacrosse team playing for Chaminade.
Daniggelis also plays for Yale, and was named the team's new captain for the 2019 season after being an honorable mention for All-Ivy League midfielder in 2018. He achieved similar awards in high school at Smithtown East, making Newsday's All-Long Island lacrosse second team in 2014, and first team in 2015.
Both Tigh and Daniggelis helped engineer Yale's first ever national championship last season over Duke.
"They know how to turn defense into offense and accomplish a variety of things on the field," said Lizards coach B.J. O'Hara in a statement. "We feel very good coming out where we did.”
Farrell (42nd overall), a Sachem East graduate and face-off specialist at LIU Post, was All-ECC first team and finished second in the conference in groundballs (153) and faceoff percentage (.703) in 2018.
Garden City alumnus Dolan (51st overall), currently a redshirt senior goalie at Maryland, has started all six games so far in 2019. Kearns (60th overall) plays attack for Providence, where he was the Friars' leading scorer in 2017. The Chaminade graduate has 19 points through six games this season.
The Lizards also selected Decker Curran, a midfielder at Michigan from Greenwich, Connecticut, at No. 57 overall.
