Pride Make Slew of Roster Moves in lieu
of injuries; Activate Hajj, Vlahakis & Wedin
June 9, 2004
MONTCLAIR – After last weekend’s game that
left Pride midfielders Joe Ghedina and Austin Garrison
hobbling, the team placed both men on the 30-Day Injured
List, and activated draft picks Walid Hajj and Peter
Vlahakis.
Also, the Pride traded the rights to midfielder Greg
Traynor and a first-round pick in this year’s
Supplemental Draft to the Boston Cannons in exchange
for midfielder Eric Wedin.
To make room for Wedin, the Pride added midfielder
Jack Lingo to the seven-man Practice Squad, meaning
that Hajj, Vlahakis and Wedin will be eligible to play
for the Pride this weekend when the team has its home
opener, Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Philadelphia
Barrage.
“We think that all these players that we’ve
added can certainly have a positive impact on our team,’’
said Pride Assistant General Manager Steve Ferretti.
“Walid [Hajj] was a 1st-Team All American this
past season, and Eric [Wedin] was Long Island’s
primary face-off midfielder when the Lizards won the
MLL Championship in the first year of the league. Peter
[Vlahakis] should also be able to contribute at the
face-off X, and make sure that we don’t lose anything
until Joe [Ghedina] comes back from injury.’’
Hajj was a two-time All-America selection at Georgetown
as a midfielder, and Vlahakis served as Fairfield’s
main face-off specialist this past season. Wedin has
an extensive MLL resume, but was unable to play for
Boston this season due to geography.
Ghedina was injured late in the first quarter of the
Pride’s game last weekend in Denver against the
Baltimore Bayhawks when he apparently stepped on another
player’s foot, and severely turned his ankle.
While the original prognosis was extremely bleak, X-rays
revealed a severe sprain and not a break, which should
allow Ghedina to play again this season.
Garrison was hit up high by a Baltimore defender in
the second quarter, and his leg stuck in the Invesco
Field at Mile High turf, twisting his knee.
The severity of Garrison’s injury is not known
at this point.
“We hope that Austin is OK,’’ said
Georgalas. “He is a guy who can help lead us to
where we want to go, losing him would be a big blow
to the team.’’
|