• Complete List of Invitees
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell (Smith) and National Lacrosse League (Alrich)

BALTIMORE -- US Lacrosse has announced that former University of Delaware men’s lacrosse standouts Matt Alrich (bottom right) and Alex Smith (top right) were among 84 players selected to try out for the 2010 United States men’s lacrosse team that will compete in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship in Manchester, England July 10-24, 2010.

Alrich, an attackman, currently players for the New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League (indoor) and the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (outdoors) while Smith, a faceoff specialist, is a current assistant coach on the Blue Hen men’s lacrosse staff and also plays for the Washington Bayhawks of the MLL.

The tryouts will be held from June 7-10, 2009 at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. Nearly 200 players submitted applications to be considered for tryouts and pool was narrowed down to 84 by the U.S. Men’s Team Player Selection Committee.

“These are players who have shown that they can compete at the highest level and win championships, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Larry Quinn, chair of the player selection committee.

Following the tryout weekend, the group will be trimmed to approximately 40 players that will compete in three training weekends during the fall of 2009. After those three weekends, the roster will be cut to the FIL-mandated size of 23 players. Twelve of the invitees were members of the 2006 U.S. Team and four were members of the 2002 team.

Alrich, a native of Timonium, Md. (Calvert Hall High School), was a four-year standout at attack for the Blue Hens in 200-04 for head coach Bob Shillinglaw and helped lead the Hens to the America East conference title as a freshman in 2000. He led the team in scoring his final two seasons in 2003 and 2004 and earned All-America East honors each season. He was co-captain of the 2004 team, a season in which he also earned the team Sportsmanship Award, Most Valuable Player Award, and Gary Celeste Dedication Award. He scored 103 career points on 83 goals and 20 assists and ranks among the all-time UD leaders in points.

He is currently in his fifth season with the NLL and will begin his sixth year in the MLL this spring. He scored 31 goals for Boston last season.

Smith, also a native of Timonium, Md. (Boy’s Latin HS), is one of the world’s top faceoff specialist as he has followed a record-breaking collegiate career at Delaware with an outstanding pro career in the MLL.

A three-time All-American at Delaware, Smith earned second team honors in 2007 when he led the Blue Hens to the Colonial Athletic Association title and helped the team advance to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history. A four-time All-CAA selection and three-time CAA All-Tournament pick, he was named CAA Player of the Year in 2007 and CAA Rookie of the Year. He led the nation in faceoff percentage three of his four varsity seasons.

The 2007 UD Outstanding Senior Male Athlete, he rewrote the NCAA and Delaware record books as a faceoff specialist. Among his school and NCAA records are career games played (69), groundballs in a game (22), season (170), and career (553), and faceoffs won in a game (27), season (31), and career (1,027).

He was named the MLL Rookie of the Year in 2007 with the Rochester Rattlers and was named the league’s Faceoff Specialist of the Year last summer.

Colonial Athletic Association schools had five players represented on the tryout list. In addition to Delaware’s Alrich and Smith, also invited were midfielder Dan Cocchi of Towson (‘03) and defensemen Nicky Polanco (‘02) and Brian Spallina (‘00) of Hofstra.