The Team USA Roster was announced and there were a couple of surprises in terms of guys that got cut. In the end I think that the roster they went with is solid as hell. Could you argue that some of the guys that were cut could potentially outperform some of the guys that made the roster? You bet your sweet ass you could. But the roster they went with is still 100% certifiably filthy and I can get behind it even with the guys that were left off being huge names.
THE ROSTER…
Attack
- Kieran McArdle (19g, 23a, 42p in 2022, PLL)
- Rob Pannell (16g, 22a, 38p in 2022, PLL)
- Matt Rambo (21g, 11a, 32p in 2022, PLL)
Attack/Midfield
- Charlie Bertrand (18g in 2022, PLL)
- Brennan O’Neill (53g, 21a, 74p in 2022, Duke)
- Michael Sowers (21g, 11a, 32p in 2022, PLL)
Midfield
- Ryan Conrad (10g, 8a, 18p in 2022, PLL)
- Connor Kelly (12g, 6a, 26p in 2022, PLL, 4 two-point goals)
- Tom Schreiber (17g,, 14a, 35p in 2022, PLL, 2 two-point goals)
Faceoff
- Trevor Baptiste (70% faceoff, 83gbs, 4g, 4a, 10p in 2022, PLL, 1 two-point goal)
- TD Ierlan (54% faceoff, 78gbs, 1g, 1a, 2p in 2022, PLL)
SSDM
- Zach Goodrich (6cts, 9gbs, 1g, 1p, 3.5 penalty minutes)
- Danny Logan (6cts, 19gbs, 1g, 2a, 9p, 2 penalty minutes, 3 two-point goals)
- Jacob Richard (7cts, 9gbs, 1g, 1a, 2p, 4 penalty minutes)
- Ryan Terefenko (6cts, 21gbs, 2g, 3a, 5p, 1.5 penalty minutes)
LSM
- Liam Byrnes (15cts, 27gbs, 1.5 penalty minutes)
- Michael Ehrhardt (10cts, 33gbs, 3 two-point goals, 2a, 8p, 1 penalty minute)
Defense
- Jesse Bernhardt (8cts, 22gbs, 1 penalty minute)
- Matthew Dunn (5cts, 9gbs, 0.5 penalty minutes)
- JT Giles-Harris (11cts, 24gbs, 1.5 penalty minutes)
- Jack Rowlett (7cts, 17gbs, 1g, 1p, 1.5 penalty minutes)
Goalie
- Jack Kelly (46% save percentage)
- Blaze Riorden (54% save percentage)
THE OFFENSE
What’s not to like here. Yes, some guys got snubbed, Marcus Holman, Sam Handley, Grant Ament and Connor Shellenberger most notably in terms of offensive guys. But the balance the offense possesses based on the guys they kept is pretty impressive.
McArdle, Pannell and Sowers all provide the ability to both score goals and generate offense for teammates while Rambo provides them that veteran crunch time dodging presence and swag.
Schreiber, Kelly and O’Neill all have monster shots from range and can extend a defense, while Conrad and Bertrand provide utility all over in terms of playing off ball, sticking mid-range shots and being solid options as a second dodge opposite some of the other bigger ball carriers in the group.
Yes, Handley could have provided a better dodging midfielder with a cannon, but O’Neill’s utility is in his ability to make things happen more without the rock with a deadly outside shot.
Yes, Ament could have been a solid quarterback and could replace Pannell or Sowers, but Sowers can feed in line with Ament, but has proven himself more than capable as a goal scorer last year.
So cry all you want about who didn’t make this team. But the reality is this is a filthy looking roster offensively.
THE DEFENSE
I like every selection overall and same with the offense, snubs like Ty Warner aren’t going to be a big deal because the four SSDM’s that made the cut are all more than capable. Warner may be the better cover guy overall, but Logan and Terefenko are better in transition, so it makes sense with this style of play and limited roster spots that you would choose utility over lock down capabilities.
THE GOALIES
Now Riorden is a no brainer. Jack Kelly did actually surprise me a bit only because his save percentage in the PLL last year was soooo much lower than other guys that tried out. Concannon had the second highest save percentage in the PLL last year (55%) compared to Jack Kelly’s 46%, but the coaching staff must have seen something that I obviously didn’t. I mean let’s be honest, every one of the goalies that tried out, filthy. But I was surprised not to see Concannon make the cut because all I had to go on leaning into the cuts were last seasons stats (which means I know exactly nothing).
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