The final piece in a three-part series, a Major League Lacrosse scout gives us his opinion on the Pride’s 2005 campaign. This time he focuses on the defense and goalies.

On the defense as a whole:
“When you look at the upgrades the team made from 2004 to 2005 defensively, it was like night and day in terms of talent and playing a help-type scheme. Brett Hughes was a steal in the Supplemental Draft and having (Dave) Stilley back there brought a lot of veteran leadership back, which was the biggest thing the team was missing on that end of the field in 2004.’’

On Jamie Hanford:
“When the Pride traded David Curry for Jamie last offseason, I wasn’t that sure how he would fit in with the team, but when Stilley came back from a year off, I knew they would be fine since they’ve played together pretty much forever. The Pride got exactly what they were looking for from Hanford across the board. He is a big, bad dude who will hit you and harass you and you’ll go home knowing who was playing you. That was something they didn’t have in 2004. He isn’t a take-away guy too much anymore, but he plays great position and just pounds you into submission. He is a great locker room guy too.’’

On Brett Hughes:
“He turned into a guy who covered the faster players like Mikey Powell and Casey Powell, and showed that he has the skills to stick with those guys. He plays great position, and in this league, if you can keep those guys in front of you and push them out, you are considered a good defender. As time goes on and he gets his legs under him, I think you’ll see him be more aggressive and take the ball away more, because he’ll know what he can and can’t get away with in terms of getting beat to the cage. His rookie year was no doubt a success, and he is a guy who the Pride will be able to count on, in my opinion, for a while.’’

On Ryan McClay:
“Everyone talked about how he was maturing into a great defender, and he was all set up to have a mediocre year and not really take the hype very well. But for all the nay-sayers, McClay actually was better than I think a lot of people thought he would be. He looked like he learned a lot from 2004, and didn’t get beat top side very often this season. He isn’t tall, but plays bigger because he might be the smartest guy on the team. He was a leader in the back in terms of knowing the schemes and being verbal out there. He had the best ground ball skills on the team, but that’s a given. He is always that guy who runs through the pile and comes out with the ball. He just has a knack for that.’’

On Scott Schroeder:
“He showed in two of the team’s games, what kind of goalie he can be, and not ironically they were both of the team’s wins. When he is on, he is so tough to beat. His problem was just that he was a bit inconsistent in the middle of the season. He probably gives up too many two-point goals, but he’ll make some miraculous saves in tight with his body, because he is so athletic. You probably won’t find a nicer guy in the league than Schroder, and the guys want to play in front of him. He’s positive, and doesn’t get down on anyone. That last win against Philadelphia, he was absolutely lights out.’’

On Jay Pfeifer:
“You only got a glimpse of what that kid can do because his injury came at a bad time. I think he was really starting to hit a stride there and play with more confidence. He was feeling his way out, and I think he’ll be better for it for his career.’’

On Justin Sussman:
“He is a competitor, and you know that he wanted to get into some more games. He is a serviceable goalie who came in and made a couple of saves when the team was out in Seattle. But he played well from what you hear when he was on the practice field, and just because he has experience in the league, he is a commodity.’’