Four Seawolves to Compete in 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship

Four Seawolves are set to compete in the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. Blake Behlen and David Miele-Estrella ’23 are on team Puerto Rico’s roster, while Ryland Rees ’19 and Challen Rogers ’16 will represent team Canada.
 
“We are excited to watch our Seawolves play in the 2023 World Championships. It is a great honor to represent your country on the biggest stage. We look forward to watching Ryland and Challen with Team Canada and Dave and Blake on Team Puerto Rico in San Diego. We know those guys are going to crush it,” said head coach Anthony Gilardi.
 
The 2023 World Lacrosse Championship will be held from June 21-July 1, at Snapdragon Stadium, as well as all tournament games at San Diego State University and University of San Diego. On Wednesday, June 21, the games will commence with an Opening Ceremony followed by the first game between USA and Canada. Puerto Rico’s first game will be on Thursday, June 22, when it goes head-to-head with the Czech Republic.
 
Behlen started 5fall 16 games in his first season with the Seawolves. The attackman recorded 45 points, 23 goals, and 22 assists. He was tied for second on the team in points, was first in assists, and fifth in goals. He recorded 14 multi-point games and finished the season by tallying 10 consecutive multi-point contests. He scored a season-high four goals in Stony Brook’s 15-8 win over Air Force on February 24.
 
Miele-Estrella appeared in 66 games for the Seawolves and picked up 118 ground balls and caused 28 turnovers over the course of his career. Prior to the 2023 season, he was named a team captain and went on to play in all 16 games, picking up 25 ground balls, and causing five turnovers. He picked up a season-high four ground balls on four occasions this season and caused a season-high three turnovers in the March 18 win at Hampton.
 
Both Behlen and Miele-Estrella were driving forces in the Seawolves’ 2023 run to their first-ever CAA Championship game appearance.
 
A 2019 graduate, Rees was named America East Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-America East after leading the Seawolves with 40 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers in 13 games for Stony Brook as a senior. He also earned First Team honors during the 2017 and 2018 campaigns, starting all 25 contests for the Seawolves. Before his time with Stony Brook, he was the youngest member on Team British Columbia’s U19 squad and was one of 63 players across Canada to be invited to the Team Canada U19 camp. Rees currently plays professionally in the NLL for the Rochester Knighthawks and in the PLL for the Waterdogs. In 2022, Rees helped lead the Waterdogs to a PLL Championship title.
 
Rogers, a 2016 Stony Brook graduate, was a three-time All-America East First Team selection and recorded 92 goals and 116 assists in 66 games from 2013-16. He was named a USILA Third Team All-American as a senior and was an America East All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman. Rogers has enjoyed a standout professional career in the NLL, PLL, and MLL (which merged with the PLL). Rogers was selected in the first round, second overall by the Toronto Rock in the 2016 NLL Draft. He has gone on to be named Rock team captain and has claimed two NLL Transition Player of the Year honors in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Rogers will play for the Archers in the PLL this season after spending the 2022 season with the Chaos. Before his PLL career started, he played in the MLL with the Boston Cannons from 2016-20.
 
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Read the full story at stonybrookathletics.com.