Cottle likes makeup of Bayhawks’ roster

Coach will see it in action Sunday in MLL opener

The Chesapeake Bayhawks announced the roster going into their 2019 season opener Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Dallas Rattlers.

Coach Dave Cottle is pleased with the overall makeup of the roster and believes the Bayhawks can be a contender for the Major League Lacrosse championship come September.

“I like our team,” Cottle said. “I think our strengths are at attack, short-stick defensive midfield and goalie. We have excellent talent on defense and in the offensive midfield, but I feel we still need to bolster those units.”

Cottle, who also serves as general manager, set the 22-man squad following two weekends of training camp that included scrimmages against Dallas and Denver last weekend. He is confident Chesapeake will field one of the most dangerous starting attacks in the MLL, with Lyle Thompson leading the way.

Thompson, a two-time Tewaaraton Award winner, enters his third season with the Bayhawks and his fifth overall in the league. Thompson has amassed 43 points in only 10 games with the Bayhawks, his availability limited because of professional indoor lacrosse and injuries.

Steele Stanwick is a wily veteran of six seasons in MLL and has 216 career points. He was the 2011 Tewaaraton Award winner while at Virginia and a former member of the United States National Team.

The Baltimore native resumed playing professional lacrosse last summer following a one-year hiatus and had a strong season for the Bayhawks, totaling 20 goals and seven assists.

After having a breakout sophomore campaign in 2018, Colin Heacock has positioned himself as one of the rising stars in MLL. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Maryland graduate led Chesapeake in scoring with 40 points on 25 goals and 14 assists in 15 games last season.

Chesapeake’s offensive midfield group is led by the ageless Matt Abbott, the franchise’s all-time leader in games played. The 11-year veteran has totaled 172 points in 128 regular-season games while also gobbling up 375 ground balls.

Ryan Tucker, a Towson native, enters 2019 coming off his most productive campaign in MLL after scoring 16 goals — three of which were two-pointers.

Nick Mariano, a newcomer to Chesapeake after playing for the Florida Launch, is another proven offensive weapon. The third-year professional out of Syracuse amassed 23 points in 14 contests last season.

Colton Watkinson, who received the 2017 MacLaughlin Award as the Division III Midfielder of the Year with Limestone College, has been impressive during preseason camp.

Chesapeake is blessed with a deep short-stick defensive midfield corps led by third-year pro Isaiah Davis-Allen, who was among the best in the league at the position in 2018.

DJ Plumer, who played in three games for the Florida Launch as a rookie in 2018, has emerged as a key figure at short-stick defensive midfield. Plumer’s development will enable the Bayhawks to utilize Nick Manis as a close defenseman while that unit is short-handed early in the season.

Manis, an Annapolis native who played at Severn School and was a key member of Maryland’s 2017 national championship team, proved to be very reliable last season while splitting time between long-pole and short-stick defense.

CJ Costabile returns as Chesapeake’s top long-stick defensive midfielder after totaling 30 ground balls, causing 10 turnovers and totaling eight points last season.

Jesse Bernhardt will once again anchor the close defense in his sixth season with the Bayhawks. The two-time AllAmerican from the University of Maryland has gobbled up 259 ground balls and scored 12 goals as a pro.

Bernhardt, who represented the United States at the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships, will not be available early in the season while he continues to recover from an injury.

Third-year pro Chris Fennell (Navy), rookies Zac Prattson (Le Moyne) and Kyle Tucker (Salisbury) and the aforementioned Manis are the Bayhawks’ options on close defense for Sunday’s opener.

Chesapeake boasts a very capable goaltending duo in veterans Niko Amato and Brian Phipps, both of whom were All-Americans at Maryland.