HERZLIYA, ISRAEL — Ryan Hunter, Josh Karp and Seth Mahler have been named franchise players for Herzliya LC, which was recently announced as an expansion club in the Israel Premier Lacrosse League.
The legendary and eccentric Mickey-Miles Felton, who served as head coach at University of Arizona for 37 years, returns to Israel in 2017 to take over as bench boss in the coastal city. Felton last served as head coach for Tel Aviv LC in a series of exhibitions in Israel in 2012, which served as a precursor to the IPLL.
Hunter is a 2016 graduate of Ohio State, where he scored 39 career goals and earned All-ECAC Second Team in 2014. He has seen some previous action with the Israel box program, scoring three goals and four assists for the blue-and-white at E-BOX and chipping in three assists for Tel Aviv LC at the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial. Hunter, who was a participant on the 2014 Israel Lacrosse Birthright trip, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he was recognized as the 400,000th Taglit-Birthright participant.
Karp, who appeared in 14 games as a Freshman at Colgate, had a storied high school career at Newark Academy, where he served as a captain in his Senior season. The 6-0, 195-pound defenseman earned First-Team All-Essex County Honors and notched seven goals, 11 assists, and 119 ground balls over his high school career.
Mahler is a veteran of the Israeli program and is expected to captain the upstart Herzliya club. A 2010 product of Whittier, the 29-year-old midfielder has competed for the Israel Men’s National Team at the 2014 World Championships in Denver, the 2015 World Indoor Championships in Syracuse, and the 2016 European Championships in Budapest.
Mahler also serves as head coach of the Israel U-19 Men’s National Team, which earned an astonishing #6 World Ranking under his watch in 2016 with primarily homegrown Israeli players.
Herzliya will make their IPLL debut on July 20th against Ashkelon LC in a neutral-site game at Tubruq Field in Netanya.