Stealth sign five players from preseason tryouts

EVERETT — The Washington Stealth’s preseason tryout bore fruit as the team announced Wednesday it had reached contract agreements with five prospects who attended the camp.

The Stealth signed transition players Drew Snider and Mitch McMichael, defenseman Ben McCullough, forward Mark Negrin and goaltender Nick Patterson to one-year contracts.

“We think we’ve found some players that are going to push the veterans when main camp starts,” Stealth head coach Chris Hall said in a press release after the tryout camp concluded. “When you’re 4–12 (the Stealth’s 2012 season record) you need to look at what you’re doing. We’re going to find out what we’ve got.”

Snider has professional experience playing for Denver of Major League Lacrosse and helped guide Maryland to the NCAA Men’s Division I title game in each of the past two seasons. As a preps player, Snider was twice named a high school lacrosse All-American while attending O’Dea High School in Seattle.

McMichael, from Port Perry, Ontario, scored 15 goals and 18 assists in his four-year field lacrosse career at Cornell University.

McCullough played this past season with Victoria of the Western Lacrosse Association. The Brampton, Ontario, native was originally selected by Buffalo in the second round in the 2010 National Lacrosse League entry draft.

Negrin also played in the WLA in 2012. The forward scored six goals and eight assists for his hometown team of Coquitlam during the Adanacs’ run to the championship series.

Patterson spent 2005 to 2011 with the Minnesota Swarm before sitting out the 2012 season. In 2011, his final season with the Swarm, the 29-year-old compiled an 11.08 GAA and .768 save percentage in 18 games.

All five will join Stealth veterans and NLL draft picks at the club’s December training camps. The final cuts to determine the active 23-man roster and three practice-roster spots take place Dec. 20.