Canadian Lacrosse Association – OTTAWA, ON – A total of 47 Canadians were selected during last night’s National Lacrosse League (NLL) entry draft, including 31 players from Ontario, 13 from British Columbia, and one each from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

Josh Byrne (New Westminster, B.C.) was selected first overall by the Buffalo Bandits, followed by Peterborough, Ont. products Jake Withers and Zach Currier, who were selected by the Rochester Knighthawks and Calgary Roughnecks, respectfully.

Zed Williams (Irving, N.Y.), who played Junior B with the Six Nations Rebels and Senior B with Native Sons, was the first of twelve American players drafted into the league, chosen 4^th overall by the Georgia Swarm.

A handful of Ontario players would then have their names called, as the Knighthawks chose Austin Shanks (Whitby, Ont.) and Eric Fannell (St. Catharines, Ont.), and the New England Black Wolves selected Colton Watkinson (Burlington, Ont.), Anthony Joaquim (Guelph, Ont.) and JP Kealey (Ottawa, Ont.).

The Roughnecks wrapped up the first round by grabbing two more B.C. products in Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C.) and Ryan Martel (Langley, B.C.).

Three other Canadian provinces were represented by picks in the later rounds.

The 2017 Champions Cup winning Swarm used their fourth round pick, 42^nd overall, to select Nik Farrus, an Alberta native who has played junior for both Calgary and Orangeville.

Trevor Stacey, a Kahnawake, Quebec native and member of the Minto Cup champion Six Nations Arrows, was picked shortly after by the Knighthawks, 44^th overall.

Finally, the Saskatchewan Rush opted for some homegrown talent with their final pick of the draft, selecting Saskatchewan SWAT defenceman Anthony Hallborg with the 58^th overall pick.

NCAA field lacrosse standouts Matt Rambo (Glenside, Pa) and Dylan Molloy (Setauket, N.Y.), both of whom have captured the Tewaaraton Award as the most outstanding American college lacrosse player, were also drafted into the professional box lacrosse league.

A full breakdown of the 2017-2018 NLL Entry Draft can be found by visiting http://www.nll.com/news/the-national-lacrosse-league-2017-18-draft-results/.

	Ontario	British Columbia	Alberta	Saskatchewan	Quebec	United States
Buffalo Bandits	5	2				1
Calgary Roughnecks	3	6
Colorado Mammoth	1	1				2
Georgia Swarm	1		1			5
New England Black Wolves	5					3
Rochester Knighthawks	5				1
Toronto Rock	5	1				1
Saskatchewan Rush	3	1		1
Vancouver Stealth	3	2
TOTAL	31	13	1	1	1	12

About the Canadian Lacrosse Association       

Founded in 1867, the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) is the governing body responsible for all aspects of lacrosse in Canada. Our organization is comprised of 10 Member Associations representing nearly 80,000 individual participants, including coaches, officials, and athletes of all ages and abilities. The CLA’s mission is to honour the sport of lacrosse and its unique nation-building heritage, by engaging our members, leading our partners, and providing opportunities for all Canadians to participate. We strive to accomplish this while adhering to our core values of health, excellence, accountability, respect and teamwork. The CLA oversees the delivery of numerous national championships and the participation of Team Canada at all international events sanctioned by the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL). The CLA is proud to be affiliated with partners that share the same vision and values, including our corporate partners – New Balance Athletics, Warrior Sports, Westjet, and Baron Rings – as well as our funding partners the Government of Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada, and the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation. For more information on Canadian Lacrosse Association and the sport of lacrosse, visit our website at www.lacrosse.ca and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, please contact:
 

Alain Brouillette

Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Canadian Lacrosse Association
Phone: 613-260-2028 ext. 302
Email: alain@lacrosse.ca