Boedy Shields and Joel Watson agree to terms with Rochester.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Knighthawks General Manager and Vice President of Lacrosse Operations Dan Carey announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Boedy Shields and goaltender Joel Watson, each to a 2-year contract, pending league approval.
Shields, 20, spent the last two years playing Junior “A” ball with the Calgary Mountaineers in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL), recording 26 points (11+15) in 29 regular-season games as well as 23 points (10+13) in 27 postseason appearances.
During the 2019 season, he was named the RMLL’s recipient of the Happy Ripley Award as the Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the Junior “A” First All-Star Team after producing 17 points on four goals and 13 assists in 15 games for Calgary.
A 6-foot, 180-pound native of Didsbury, Alberta, Shields also played two seasons at the Junior “B” level with the Rocky View Silvertips, during which he totaled 80 points (25+55) in 38 games, including a career-best 42-point campaign in 2017.
Shields currently attends Brock University in St. Catharines, where he’s recorded five points (2+3) in 20 games as a member of the Badgers lacrosse team.
Originally a sixth-round pick (88th overall) of the Buffalo Bandits in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft, Watson posted a 16-16-1 record with an 8.70 goals-against average and a .711 save percentage in 38 games over four seasons (2016-2019) with the Whitby Warriors of the OAJLL.
During the 2018 season, the 6-foot-4, 308-pound netminder set career-highs in wins (7), goals-against average (.696) and save percentage (.790), with his goals-against average ranking second in the league among all goaltenders.
A 22-year-old native of Whitby, ONT., Watson also played three seasons with the Toronto Monarchs of the Arena Lacrosse League, where he held a 5-8 record with a 10.99 goals-against average in 13 appearances.