2025 California Redwoods Season Preview

2024 Record and Result: 3-7, Missed playoffs

Notable Additions: Ryan Aughavin (free agent), Vince D’Alto (free agent), Ronan Jacoby (free agent), Dylan Molloy (free agent), Jackson Morrill (free agent), Brendan Nichtern (trade)

Notable Departures: Chris Gray (retired), Garrett Degnon (trade), Owen Grant (trade), Rob Pannell (free agent), Isaiah Davis Allen (retired), Holden Garlent (retired)

Draft Picks: Andrew McAdorey, Sam English, Chris Kavanagh, Carter Rice, Griffin Schutz

The above section is players only, but the architect of many of these moves belongs in the notable additions. Following the departure of Nat St. Laurent, the roster rebuild is in the hands of new GM Joe Spallina and head coach Anthony Kelly.

The 2024 Redwoods finished with the second worst offense in the league. They had just 104 scores, and though 11 of those were twos, they had by far the fewest one point goals in the league. They also had the league’s worst shooting percentage. On the defensive end they had the worst SAA in the league. That’s a little skewed by a handful of particularly bad outings. This team did hold the Cannons to seven once, but the rest of the year offenses had their way with the Woods. A reset was needed, and the button has been pushed.

The offseason was loaded with moves, some made by St Laurent and some by Spallina. Since Trader Joe took over, the team dealt away players like Owen Grant for draft picks, acquired Brendan Nichtern (who reportedly is set to play all summer), and signed Dylan Molloy. The draft went offense first. The defense may still need a boost, particularly at defensive midfield. Carter Rice will be asked to do a lot early on. Lacrosse turnarounds can happen very quickly though, and this team certainly has been shaken up.

Best Case Scenario:

Spallina pulled all the right levers in the offseason, and Kelly pulls them all from the sideline. The rebuilt Redwoods offense clicks right away, with Brendan Nichtern regaining his rookie form. Paired with shooters like Kavanagh, Berg, Dennis, Aughavin, and Bertrand, Nichtern leads the league in assists as the Redwoods feast on teams who play poor off ball defense. McAdorey hits the ground running and is drawing a pole almost immediately, freeing up Dennis, Bertrand, Molloy, and others to dodge shorties or giving the defense the unfortunate choice of picking an attackman to short stick. The focus on movement and ball distribution leads to more opportunities for Garnsey to dodge off the catch with a matchup. Cole Kastner reminds everyone he had a claim to the title of best pole in the draft a year ago had he not played basketball, and is an immediate impact player down low. The Woods find a way to balance an offense built on depth, not superstars.

Worst Case Scenario

This rebuild takes a while, and year one is bumpy. Nichtern’s time away from the field results in inconsistent and turnover prone play that stunts the offense. McAdorey plays more like a secondary threat than a primary dodger, leaving the Woods looking for answers in the midfield. English arrives late to the team as a Canadian rookie, and the Woods desperately miss him as he was penciled in to do a little of everything for them. For all the moves on the offense, there’s promising flashes, but they just take too long to fit together and gel and as a result production comes up short. They aren’t quite sure who to go to in crunch time or for big possessions. The giant roster shake up also takes some time to adjust to in the locker room as players get used to playing together. Redwoods fans have to endure a season of growing pains before this team gets off the ground and back into title contender status.