Rush draft Acchione with first pick in NLL Entry Draft
Sep 15, 2024Saskatoon, SK - The Saskatchewan Rush added nine players during the NLL Entry Draft on Sunday night.
Holding two picks in the first-round heading into the evening, General Manager Derek Keenan made the call to move the sixth overall pick to Vancouver in exchange for Brock Haley. With the pick at 16th overall, the Rush selected Matt Acchione from Barrie, Ontario.
Acchione, a 5’10 left-handed defender spent the summer with the Snake Island Senior B Muskies and Owen Sound Senior A North Stars. In eight games at the Presidents Cup, the transition threat scored five goals and added six assists for the Muskies.
In the second round, Denton Macdonald was picked at 20th overall. Macdonald, a two-way specialist spent his summer with the Victoria Senior A Shamrocks who went all the way to the Mann Cup. In 18 games this season, Macdonald, standing at 5'10 185 lbs, had three goals and eight assists.
With their second pick in the round, the Rush snagged Sherwood Park’s own Reese Barnes at 25th overall. The defender stands 6’1 195 lbs and spend the summer with the Edmonton Junior A Miners where he handled the majority of faceoff duties. Barnes also spent time out west in the Arena Lacrosse League where he won a championship with Black Fish Lacrosse Club.
Adding a faceoff specialist in the third round saw Keenan select Jake Naso out of Duke with the 34th pick. Naso, an American field lacrosse star has represented USA on the national stage and is Duke’s all-time leader in faceoff wins. The U21 World Champion ranks seventh in NCAA history in faceoffs won, finishing his collegiate career just under 60 per cent on the stripe.
Three picks after Naso, Saskatchewan scooped up Charlie McFadden from Edmonton, Alberta. The 6’0 190 lbs lefty defender went to the Minto Cup final in 2022 with the Miners, before heading out to Coquitlam to get some Senior A experience with the Adanacs. The 2001 born dman still has one more year of NCAA eligibility left, so he is not expected to be at training camp in November.
With the 49th overall pick, Keenan went back to the province one over and grabbed Marcus Needham from the Edmonton Senior B Miners. Needham, a right-handed forward had 44 points in 12 games this summer on a Miners squad that went to the Presidents Cup final.
In the fifth round, the Rush acquired the 72nd overall pick from Buffalo where they selected Caleb Creasor. The 6’0 195 lbs defenceman is a graduate of Marquette and played his summer ball in Nanaimo with the likes of Zach Manns and Jerrett Smith.
With the 78th pick in the draft, local Saskatoon dman Garrett Brockmeyer was added to the green machine. Saskatchewan’s largest pick in the draft standing at 6’3 210 lbs is sturdy left-handed grad of Lake Erie, after spending his summer ball with the Junior A SWAT and Edmonton Senior B Miners.
By position, the Rush added seven defenceman and two forwards, six of which shoot left. Four of the nine players currently play or have played summer ball in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, which spans across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.