When the opportunity arose to acquire attackman Drew Westervelt in the Major League Lacrosse college draft Thursday night, Denver Outlaws general manager Brian Reese made a late trade with Long Island.
Exchanging the ninth and 10th overall picks for the Nos. 4 and 14 selections, Reese drafted Westervelt, the leading scorer (35 goals and 36 assists) at Maryland-Baltimore County, and defensemen Zach Jungers, a first team All-American at Princeton.
“I had a pretty good idea that some teams drafting at No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 might take Drew, so I was happy to be able to move up,” Reese said by phone from draft headquarters at New York’s Stony Brook University.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Westervelt impressed Reese at the North-South All-Star Game and again Thursday, in a predraft all-star game.
“Drew was great,” Reese said. “If they had given an MVP award, he would have gotten it.”
Another factor was Westervelt’s on-field chemistry with current Outlaws attackman Brendan Mundorf, his former UMBC teammate.
Also, in a league that conducts physicals, athletic testing, interviewing and skill evaluation all in one long day, Reese’s relationship with UMBC coach Don Zimmerman was critical.
Reese also is familiar with Jungers’ coach, Princeton’s Bill Tierney, the father of Outlaws’ goalkeeper Trevor Tierney.
“Zach is a good position defender in one-on-one situations, and he’s also a team defender,” Reese said.
With their third-round pick, the Outlaws selected another Princeton man, midfielder Scott Sowanick.
“He was one of the fastest players in the draft,” Reese said. “He can also shoot and he has a high lacrosse IQ. He could push for time in the midfield or on offense or defense.”
In the fourth round, Denver selected goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman, who made 15 saves and earned most outstanding player honors for Johns Hopkins in its 12-11 triumph over Duke in the NCAA championship game Monday. He also was the top player in the 2005 national championship game as a sophomore.
The pick was unexpected, given the Outlaws’ depth at goalie with Tierney and backups Reed Sothoron and Parker’s Alex Smith.
“At that point in the draft, we chose the best player available,” Reese said. “I was surprised he was there. Jesse’s a big-time goalie. He might not get playing time right away.”
With their final pick, in the fifth round, the Outlaws chose Vermont midfielder Peter Hein, a former Cherry Creek High standout.
With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility for Duke players, the draft changed dramatically. Instead of selecting Duke’s Matt Danowski with the No. 1 pick, Chicago chose Penn State midfielder Pat Heim.
Virginia netminder Kip Turner was selected by Boston with the second pick, and Rochester nabbed face-off specialist Alex Smith of Delaware at No. 3.
Next up
The Outlaws (1-0) travel to Chicago (0-1) for a Saturday contest at Toyota Park. The Machine was winless last season.
