A 23-0 record. 11 All-Americans. Seven NCAA men?s lacrosse championships in 14 seasons. The numbers speak for themselves and at Thursday?s Major League Lacrosse draft in Stony Brook, N.Y., three local players on Division III powerhouse Salisbury were chosen to play at the highest level this summer.
A graduate of Franklin High, Matt Dasinger, turned heads at the Warrior Major League Challenge Thursday afternoon, scoring four goals and impressing the Rochester Rattlers enough to use their second round pick on the midfielder.
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Dasinger, who scored 43 goals and tallied 19 assists this past season, was barely recruited out of high school, according to Salisbury coach Jim Berkman. That meant little, though, to the MLL scouts.
“He wasn?t a really good lacrosse player, but he was a really good athlete,” Berkman said. “He became a good lacrosse player with time. And when you put a good lacrosse player with his athletic ability, he really shot past a lot of those kids that went Division I.”
Along with Dasinger, fellow Gulls Luis Gonzalez and Chris Heier will be taking their sticks to the next level this summer.
An Arundel High product, Gonzalez was picked by the Washington Bayhawks in the fifth round. Gonzalez received a text message from the team Thursday night while he was in Long Island with his friends.
“My buddies and I were watching the draft and I saw some of my teammates get picked up, but I had no idea I would really have a chance of going,” Gonzalez, an all-American defensive midfielder, said.
Heier, a 6-foot-4 long-pole defenseman, was picked by San Francisco in the fourth round. A graduate of Fallston High, Heier attended Widener University his freshman year before transferring to Towson in hopes of walking on to the roster. He was cut on the last day of fall ball.
“After I was cut by Towson, I was really down and told my parents I wasn?t sure if I wanted to play lacrosse,” Heir said. “I sent coach Berkman an e-mail and he welcomed me? He brought me down and I?ve played well ever since.”
No. 3 Cornell had five seniors selected, the most of any program. No. 10 Maryland had four players taken in the draft.
Salisbury?s three were on par with final four participant Delaware and lacrosse powers Princeton, Virginia, and Loyola.
