By Chris Goldberg
PhillyLacrosse.com

The announcement Thursday that the San Francisco Dragons are one of four teams that have been contracted from Major League Lacrosse due to financial reasons brought shock and disappointment to the franchise’s Philadelphia connection. 

Dragons coach Tom Slate, a Downingtown resident and former Philadelphia Barrage assistant, called his hiring a year ago a dream come true. Slate rebuilt San Francisco’s roster last year, fielding a team that included nine rookies and eight players from Philadelphia who played significant roles for a team that won three of its final five games and finished 4-8.

“It’s a bummer,” said Slate, who also coaches Downingtown East High, the 2007 Pennsylvania state champion. “This was a dream come true for me. The kicker is that we put in all this time to build a team, and now to have it disappear, it’s tough.”

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Slate said his team had high expectations after its strong finish and was expecting to challenge for a playoff berth in 2009. 

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“We had so many young players, and we were really looking forward to this year and getting back into the playoffs,” he said.

“It is crushing for everyone who was a part of it,” said Mike Podgajny, a 2008 Notre Dame graduate. “We worked so hard to turn the corner and get the kinks out. We spent the offseason looking forward to next year.”

Podgajny said the team built strong team chemistry last year.

“On and off the field, we had this camaraderie that was very unique,” he said. “We just enjoyed being on the field with each other and hanging out with each other off the field.

“It’s hard to express how upset this makes us. But there is no one to blame. No one would have known the economy was going to spiral down like this.”

Aside from dropping four teams, the MLL relocated most of the players to cities close to their home towns in order to reduce travel costs. What’s more, some players were moved off the rosters from teams that were not contracted just to save more travel costs.

Podgajny was placed on the Boston roster, and most of the Dragons were scattered throughout the league. Bill McGlone and Steve Holmes went to Chicago, and face-off specialist Greg Gurenlian went to Toronto. Ryan Cranston, Xander Ritz, Matt Ogelsby and Todd Fairlie are not on any roster but could be added to teams when the player pool reopens Monday.

Meanwhile, other key Dragons also were all over the league. Attackman Liam Banks is in Chicago, attackman Jake Byrne is in Washington while attackman Lewis Ratcliff and midfielder Brendan Loftus were sent to Toronto. 

Slate said the teams will be much stronger, but many jobs will obviously be lost.

“Now there (will be) 80 to 100 guys without jobs,” Slate said. “The talent level was already unbelievable. Now it will be off the charts.”

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