BUFFALO, N.Y. – Former Syracuse All-American Sid Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft held Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the HSBC Arena. Smith was selected by the Rochester Knighthawks, which owned the first and second picks in Wednesday's night's draft.

Full results of the draft are listed below along with additional releases about players who were selected.

Smith played two seasons for the Orange and earned All-America honors both years. He anchored a defense that was vital to Syracuse's consecutive national championships in 2008 and 2009. Both seasons, Syracuse recorded sub-8.0 goals-against averages, the first time in back-to-back years the Orange achieved that feat since 1969 and 1970.

Smith started all 36 games he played for the Orange and recorded 76 ground balls. His final collegiate ground ball was his most memorable as he stripped Cornell attackman Ryan Hurley on the first possession of overtime in the 2009 NCAA title game to set up Cody Jamieson's (Six Nations, Ontario) game-winning goal.

With Smith going No. 1 overall, Syracuse completed a lacrosse draft sweep, boasting the top pick in both professional leagues in 2009. Former Orange attackman Kenny Nims was the No. 1 pick in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Draft by Chicago back in May.

In addition to Smith, former Syracuse standouts Dan Hardy, Matt Abbott, Scott Kahoe and Nims were selected Wednesday night. Hardy and Abbott went back-to-back in the second round to Orlando (19th overall) and Boston (20th overall). Kahoe was tabbed by Boston in the third round (33rd overall) and Nims was selected with the last pick of the fourth round (41st overall) by Orlando.

Hardy was SU's leading midfield scorer in 2009 with 25 goals and 18 assists. He ended his career with 136 points (83g, 53a) in 64 games. Last month, he was voted the MLL Rookie of the Year after helping lead the Denver Outlaws to the MLL title game.

Abbott was a 2009 Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and a first-team All-American. He led the Orange with 77 ground balls and recorded 12 goals and 11 assists. Abbott recently completed his first professional season as a member of the MLL's Washington Bayhawks.

Kahoe was a member of SU's second midfield in 2009. He scored 16 points, including nine goals.

Nims was a first-team All-American in 2009 and finished second in the nation in scoring at 4.11 points per game. He scored 32 goals and had 42 assists for a total of 74 points. Nims tallied eight goals and seven assists to earn NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player honors, including the tying goal with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to help lead the Orange past Cornell in the NCAA championship game.

* * * *

FIRST ROUND
1. Rochester - Sid Smith - Syracuse
2. Rochester - Ilija Gajic - Denver
3. Minnesota - Zach Greer - Bryant
4. Colorado - Cliff Smith - Denver
5. Colorado - Alex Gajic - Denver
6. Toronto - Garrett Billings - Virginia
7. Toronto - Joel Dalgarno - Ohio State
8. Boston - Max Seibald - Cornell
9. Edmonton* - Corey Small - Albany
10. Buffalo** - Kyle Clancy - Peterborough, ON
11. Toronto - Stephen Leblanc - Queens
12. Edmonton - Scott Tinning - Brampton, ON

SECOND ROUND
13. Washington*** - Matt Beers - Coquitlam, BC
14. Edmonton - Dane Stevens - Brampton, ON
15. Buffalo - Chris Corbeil - Brampton, ON
16. Philadelphia - Bobby Snider - Bellarmine
17. Colorado - Brad Richardson - Denver
18. Rochester - Holdon Vyse - Six Nations, ON
19. Orlando** - Dan Hardy - Syracuse
20. Boston - Matt Abbott - Syracuse
21. Buffalo - Steve Priolo - St. Catharines, ON
22. Orlando - Michael Evans - Johns Hopkins
23. Washington*** - Erik Sage - Victoria, BC

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2009-09-10