Major League Lacrosse Announces All-MLL Team

[Sonny]

BOSTON, Mass. - Major League Lacrosse announced Wednesday the players who have been named to the 2007 All-Major League Lacrosse team, recognizing the best players at each position. The selections were based on votes submitted by the general managers and head coaches of the ten MLL teams. Named to the All-MLL team were:

Attack: Ryan Boyle (Philadelphia), Spencer Ford (Los Angeles), John Grant, Jr. (Rochester)
Midfield: Kyle Dixon (Washington), Sean Lindsay (Los Angeles), Matt Striebel (Philadelphia)
Defense: Brodie Merrill (Rochester), Brian Spallina (Philadelphia), Kyle Sweeney (Philadelphia)
Goalkeeper: Brian Dougherty (Philadelphia)
Face-off Specialist: Alex Smith (Rochester)

Named to the All-MLL team for the second straight year, Boyle led the defending MLL champion Barrage in scoring with 58 points. He ranked second in the league with 31 assists and had seven games in which he tallied three or more assists. A 2004 graduate of Princeton University, Boyle had a career-high nine points in a June 2 victory over Rochester with four goals, including the first two-pointer of his career, and four assists.

Honored as the 2007 Warrior Most Improved Player of the Year, Ford set the league single-season record with 47 assists, which shattered the previous record of 40 held by attackman Conor Gill. A 1999 graduate of Towson University, Ford ranked second in the league with 60 points and helped the Riptide win their first Western Conference title. He recorded at least three assists in nine of the Riptide's 12 games this season, including a league-high seven assists in a 17-5 victory over the Denver Outlaws on July 14.

Selected as the Warrior Offensive Player of the Year, Grant led the league with 44 goals and 71 points while helping Rochester reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2005 season. He set the MLL single-season points record in the season finale against Boston, scoring seven goals with three assists to pass the previous record of 70 points, which was set by Rochester attackman Casey Powell in 2003.

Named to the All-MLL team for the first time in his two-year career, Dixon led the Bayhawks in scoring with 22 goals and 17 assists. The 2006 University of Virginia graduate ranked second in the league among midfielders with 41 points as the Bayhawks had a 5-7 record. He scored a season-high five goals in Washington's 17-16 overtime victory against New Jersey on June 2 and had five assists in the Bayhawks' one-point win at San Francisco on July 14.

A first time All-MLL honoree, Lindsay helped the Riptide to a 9-3 record this season by scoring 20 goals with 11 assists. He also led the league with five two-point goals in 12 games, including a pair of two-point markers in Los Angeles' June 23 win over Chicago.

Striebel was named to the All-MLL team for the first time in his career after ranking third on the Barrage squad in scoring with 39 points, tallying 25 goals with 13 assists. He was honored as the league's Offensive Player of the Week after scoring four goals with an assist in Philadelphia's August 4 victory at Washington, which clinched a play-off berth for the defending MLL champions.

Honored as the Warrior Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, Merrill was named to the All-MLL team for the second straight season. Merrill led the league with 101 ground balls this season as the Rattlers earned their first postseason berth in two years. In addition, he led all defenseman in scoring with five goals and nine assists. Merrill, who was named as the Cascade Rookie of the Year in 2005 with the Baltimore Bayhawks, was named as the league's Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.

Spallina, who was named to the All-MLL team for the first time in his career, played in 11 games for the defending MLL champion Barrage and had 14 ground balls. He recorded a season-high five ground balls against the San Francisco Dragons on July 6.

Meanwhile, Sweeney earned the first All-MLL team honor of his career after scoring five goals in 12 games for Philadelphia while contributing 29 ground balls. Against Rochester on June 2, he scored two goals and added an assist along with four ground balls.

A two-time winner of the Goalkeeper of the Week award, Dougherty ranked second in the league in goals against average, allowing 11.79 goals per game. In addition, his .580 save percentage ranked second in the league behind Mickey Jarboe of the Los Angeles Riptide. Dougherty made 20 or more saves three times during the regular season, including a season-high 21 saves against Denver on July 21.

The third overall pick in the 2007 MLL Collegiate Draft, Smith won 190 of 331 face-offs (.574) while ranking among the league leaders with 79 ground balls. In addition, Smith scored one goal with three assists. He was honored as the Cascade Rookie of the Year on Wednesday and earned the league's weekly rookie honor twice for the Rattlers, who will be making their first postseason appearance in two years.

The 2007 NB ZIP MLL Championship Weekend will begin on Saturday, August 25 with a pair of semi-final games. The defending MLL champion Philadelphia Barrage will play against the Denver Outlaws while Rochester plays Los Angeles. The two semi-final winners will meet on Sunday, August 26 in the NB ZIP MLL Championship Game at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN2 HD.