Virginia goalie Tillman Johnson (St. Mary's), North Carolina defender Ronnie Staines (Severn) and Towson midfielder Drew Pfarr (St. Mary's) each got chosen among the 30 picks in the five rounds for the six-team league.

Johnson, last year's National Player of the Year, went to the Philadelphia Barrage with the third overall pick. Following Johnson, both Staines and Pfarr went to the Boston Cannons in the second and fifth rounds, respectively.

As expected, the Bayhawks used their No. 1 overall pick to select Syracuse attackman/midfielder Michael Powell, who had 47 goals and 42 assists in leading the Orange to a national title win over Navy. The pick was compensation as part of a trade that sent goalie Greg Cattrano to Philadelphia this past offseason.

Baltimore general manager Jay Pivac said despite Powell's claims of taking the summer off and possibly never playing lacrosse again, he expects the Orange great to be in a Bayhawk jersey by July 13. Ironically, that day is a home game against the Rochester Rattlers, the team where Powell's brothers Ryan and Casey both play.

"We've had several talks with Michael and expect to talk with him again," Pivac said. "It's very important for college guys, especially those who played in the Final Four, to take some time off after the season to avoid getting burned out."

Pivac said Powell's stance against
playing changed after talks with Baltimore coach and former Syracuse great Gary Gait, and brother Casey.

"Gary and Casey were very influential in talking with Michael and convincing him to register for the draft," Pivac said. "Michael has a very good understanding of what he can expect here."

In all, the Bayhawks had six picks in the draft. The second round gave Baltimore help in the other area it looked to improve when it selected Brown goalie Mike Levin. Levin had a 7.63 goals against average and a .605 save percentage as a senior.

Other picks by Baltimore were: Lee Zink, Maryland, Defense (first round, fifth pick); Kevin Boland, Johns Hopkins, Midfield (third round, 17th pick); Matt Alrich, Delaware, Attack (fourth round, 23rd pick) and Blaise Fletcher, Bucknell, Defense (fifth round, 29th pick).

Pivac said this draft did a great job in helping Baltimore build toward the future as the Bayhawks were the oldest team in the league last year.

"We accomplished everything we wanted with our first three picks," Pivac said.

The Bayhawks (1-1) play at 9:30 p.m. tomorrow against National Division rival New Jersey Pride (1-1) at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium as part of the MLL's Wild West Tour.

Published June 04, 2004, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2004 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.