Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 9/29/15
From Press Release
Former Lehigh men’s lacrosse standouts Dan Taylor was selected in the National Lacrosse League Draft on Monday, going in the second round (12th overall) to the Saskatchewan Rush. Taylor owns extensive indoor (box) lacrosse experience as he looks to become just the second Lehigh Lacrosse alum to ever play in the NLL.
Chris Cameron ’89 was the other Lehigh alum to play in the National Lacrosse League. Cameron played for the Boston Blazers from 1992 to 1994, tallying 11 goals and 22 assists in 19 career games.
The Rush relocated from Edmonton to Saskatchewan following last season. The defending NLL Champions, Saskatchewan will play at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one province to the east of Taylor’s hometown of Calgary, Alberta.
Last January, Taylor was selected by the Denver Outlaws in the fifth round (38th overall) of the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Draft. He played two games for the Outlaws, scoring a goal in his MLL debut then dishing an assist one week later. Taylor went on to play professional indoor lacrosse for the Maple Ridge Burrards of the WLA over the summer. The Calgary, Alberta native won the Ed Bailey Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year. Taylor made an immediate impact, finishing the year tied for the team lead in points with 56. His 40 assists stood among the WLA’s top five, right there amongst some experienced NLL players, including 2014 NLL Rookie of the Year Logan Schuss.
While with the Mountain Hawks, Taylor rewrote the record books. A member of the Patriot League 25th Anniversary Team, he broke onto the national scene with 76 points as a junior then 77 points as a senior. Taylor also eclipsed 50 points as a sophomore and finished his career with 220 points (fourth in Patriot League history and trailing former Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum by just five points).
Taylor was the 2015 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time honorable mention All-American. He finished his career by posting three or more points in his last seven games and 13 of 16 games during his senior season overeall. Included was a 10-point (five goal, five assist) effort at Furman in February which earned him USILA National Offensive Player of the Week. He also received national recognized from Lacrosse Magazine following 13 combined points during Lehigh’s back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked foes, #14 Princeton and #18 Stony Brook.
The Rush season begins Jan. 2 at Calgary. The NLL regular season runs through April with the postseason beginning in May.
The current Mountain Hawks feature a young team after graduating 12 seniors from a season ago. Among Lehigh’s top returnees are 51-point scorer Reid Weber who tallied 38 goals and 13 assists last season. Senior All-League defenseman Casey Eidenshink returns, as does junior Casey McAdam and sophomore Matt Ernst at the faceoff X, and sophomore goalkeeper Adam Sawicki, who started seven games last season. Lehigh welcomes 15 freshmen to the roster as part of a freshmen class ranked 19th in the nation by Inside Lacrosse.
