As the MLL wraps up the first part of the season, the New York Lizards are proving that they are the cream of the league as they went 5-0 in a rematch against the Boston Cannons. There was no way, I believed, the second game in New York would live up to the excitement of the previous week’s game in Boston that was decided by one goal. Well, much like my Division I bracket, I seriously underestimated my ability to predict games. Boston came out firing from the opening bell and put up two goals to take an early lead. New York’s offense produced fifteen points and showed they could spread the ball with all the talent they posses. The Lizards started to pull away from the Cannons in the third until Max Seibald scored a two point goal to narrow the New York lead. The Cannons fielded their best and most physical defense of the season and looked tough as Jordan Burke made some incredible saves. Boston’s offense still missed Will Manny for the second week, but still put up twelve points on New York. The face off battle between Gurenlian and Bunker was a war, but the Beast got the better of Bunker. New York’s defense held Boston scoreless for the first part of the fourth quarter. Keeping opponents from scoring in the second half has been an issue for the Lizards, but if they continue buying into the team concept they are an easy pick for the championship. Boston continues to play entertaining lacrosse and even though they are 1-3 it is not time to give up hope as there are three other teams with the same record.
Two of the one and three teams played this weekend as the Florida Launch played its most complete game of the season and dropped the Ohio Machine to 1-3 as well. The Launch defense, led by Tucker Durkin, P.T. Ricci, Reid Acton, Bobby Lawrence, and, Charlie Cipriano frustrated the Machine’s high powered offense. Florida’s midfield had its most productive outing of the season as David Earl, Steven Brooks, and Sam Snow made Ohio defend the top of the box and take some of the pressure off of Florida’s attack. Powell, McArdle, and Cunningham took advantage of the Machine’s spacing to move the ball and score like the high powered offense of last season. Ohio’s offense could not maintain possession of the ball and was forced to play too much defense. Just to make it clear I do not hate Ohio or Florida’s defense as some people have accused. Any player to make a roster in the MLL or even the practice squad is one of the best players in the world. Lacrosse is a team sport and the MLL rules favor the offense. Defense cannot spend entire quarters fending off talented offenses and the Machine need to find balance and outscore opponents. Florida shows some life as they are waiting for their college draft picks to join the roster and the recently traded Miles Thompson.
Chesapeake defeated the Charlotte to drop the Hounds to 1-3 as well and played much better defense and had their offense control the majority of the possession time. This was not the Bayhawk team that the Machine ran over last week. Despite the Bayhawks dominance, they were never able to put the Hounds completely away until the fourth quarter. Dave Cottle continues to prove his coaching ability by getting the most out of his roster. The Bayhawks are 3-1 and in second place and looking good as their draft picks and indoor players start reporting. Charlotte is like Boston, a scrappy team that no one should ever underestimate. Once the Hounds find some offensive continuity they will separate from the bottom of the MLL standings. The majority of Charlotte’s midfield scoring continues to come from their defensive middies. The Hounds continue to struggle in regular offensive sets. Garrett Thul cannot graduate Ranger School soon enough and as well as having draft picks join to help kick start the offense.
Rochester outscored Denver and gained a small measure of revenge from last year’s finals loss to the Outlaws. In addition to payback, the Rattlers have secured a one game lead over the Outlaws as well as third place in league standings. In addition to the return of Manly and White on defense last week , Ortolani and the recently traded Mike Poppleton played well enough against Denver to keep the face off percentage around fifty percent. In close games possessions often dictate winners and losers. There was nothing fancy about the game as the Rattlers offense scored more points than the Outlaws and their defense was able to hold Denver’s offense on key possessions. This game was a microcosm of the MLL season as Rochester is closer to being full strength as Denver has many key players still with the Mammoth. The next meeting between these two will be just as entertaining and there will be more on the line as the season unfolds.
The clear cut leaders are New York and Chesapeake holding the one and two slots. New York keeps finding different offensive stars every week as they continue to spread the ball that Gurenlian continues to provide with record breaking regularity. The Bayhawks continue to find ways to win games and not beat themselves and have positioned themselves well as their players finish indoor and college commitments. Rochester and Denver are separated by one game decided this past weekend. The third and fourth spots are the most volatile as the rest of the league is tied at 1-3. The next couple of weeks will feature some tightly contested games as Florida, Ohio, Charlotte and Boston all seek traction to build on their success and balance out their teams and address the weak spots and make the run at one of the top four spots. Year fifteen of the MLL is shaping up to be a specially tight one at this point for everyone except for New York.
