POINT MEN - By: Joe Beninati
If you took a survey, and asked Major League Lacrosse fans to name their favorite player of all-time (since the league began in 2001), odds are you’d get a wide variety of different responses. Names of retired greats like Gait, Marechek, Jalbert, and Cattrano would get their share of votes. Names of still-current stars like Colsey, Hubbard, Grant Jr., and Merrill would be on the list too. But none of those players find themselves among the elite company of four we can refer to as the “Point Men.”
As I write this, Casey Powell is set to become the greatest point scorer in MLL history. Mark Millon is about to be surpassed in the record books. Ryan Powell has hopes someday of joining his brother in racing by Millon. And then there’s Conor Gill, who must wonder if he can catch all of them.
These top four scorers have amassed their massive point totals in different ways. Lucky for me, I have been able to describe a great deal of their heroics and their playing styles.
I remember the first time I had to call a MLL game with Casey Powell in the line-up for the Lizards. Everything he did, he did at hyper-speed. If you took your eyes off him for a second, you might miss something special. It’s no surprise to anyone that he is about to become the league’s scoring king. For as long as he has been on the circuit he has been a multi-dimensional scoring threat. If you needed him to be a feeder as an attackman, he’d get you four assists. If you needed him to dodge from out front, running as a midfielder, he’d do that and get you two goals. Playing attack with the Rattlers this weekend, in his early 30s, the “grab-your-eyes-out-of-your-head” explosiveness may not be the same, but the ruthless efficiency is still there. And it’s about to make Casey #1.
Mark Millon makes room for Casey, and as a TV play-by-play man, I miss seeing Mark on the weekends. He was a dream player for a game-caller like me. The first thing you remember about him was his pure and simple love of shooting the ball. From every angle, from a multitude of release points, on the run, or stationary on the wing, when Millon got the ball he was eventually going to let it fly. Still the finest goal-scorer Major League Lacrosse has ever known, Millon’s lefthanded, falling away from the goal, jump shots are forever burned into my memory, and shouldn’t be forgotten as players approach and pass him on these lists.
Ryan Powell is likely to be the next one to catch up with Millon. This fun-loving attackman always impresses me with his ability to see offensive plays develop. He doesn’t have the blinding athleticism of brothers Casey and Mikey, but to me, his mind for the game has made him a top-of-the-line point man. People will point to his knee troubles to explain why he’s not as flashy as his siblings. Few players have ever been able to dissect a defense as well as Ryan. He’s taken his share of punishment doing so, but he’s carved them up unmercifully on his way through the record books.
If you look at Ryan Powell as a “down and dirty”, power attackman, then you must see Conor Gill having a more elegant line to his attack. That would be my point of view. Everything Conor does with a lacrosse ball, he does so smoothly; unhurried and on his terms. The youngest of these four great “point men”, Gill may have the right stuff and the right amount of playing time left in his career to eclipse all of the great scoring giants of Major League Lacrosse. Most attackmen in the game would kill to have his passing ability. Conor has forever grasped the knowledge of where and when to put the ball on the stick of those who can deliver the big goal. If he stays healthy and burns to be the best, he has the chance to be at the top of the charts when he’s all through.
For now though, we salute Casey Powell as the leader, and wonder for how long he’ll hold the distinction of being the top gun of Major League Lacrosse.
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