When the Chesapeake Bayhawks brought in Drew Westervelt, John Grant Jr., Brian Spallina and Kip Turner in the off-season the moves created a championship-or-bust attitude to this team.
The Bayhawks could fulfill that destiny this weekend as they head to MLL Championship Weekend as the No. 2 seed.
Chesapeake, who also acquired veteran defender Nicky Polanco early in the season, has been one of the most consistent, well-rounded and successful teams in the league this season. The team tied a franchise record with 10 wins this season and was in first place for the majority of the summer.
Offensively the team was third in goals scored (174) but first in two-point goals scored with 28, 13 more than the next closest team.
Leading the way was midfielder Kyle Dixon (21g, 12a) who broke his own league record for two-point goals in a season (15) and finished fourth in the league in points. Eight other players scored more than 10 points this season and six other had 20 points or more. Midfielders Steven Brooks and Michael Kimmel tied for second on the team in points with 36. Westervelt added 22 goals and 11 assists and Grant Jr. supplied 20 goals and 11 assists.
The defense was extremely tough and physical. The group led the league in fewest goals allowed (142). Spallina and Polanco, longtime Long Island Lizards teammates, were the leaders of a very tough and physical defense. They were joined by Michael Evans, who quietly was one of the strongest, most consistent defenders in the league, and midfielder Matt Abbott, who even won a Defensive Player of the Week award.
The real improvement over last year was between the pipes. One season after being benched by Boston and then becoming available for the expansion draft, Turner showed he is still one of the best goalies in the league. He finished first in goals against average (10.51) and second in save percentage (.544). He came up big in numerous games, including the team’s 14-13 victory over the Cannons on June 23, where he made 17 saves and was named Defensive Player of the Week. He would win the award twice this season.
Also showing some skill in net for Chesapeake was back-up TC DiBartolo, who in just about 143 minutes of action went 2-0 on the season with a 10.07 goals against average and .564 save-percentage.
The one spot the team could have shown a let-down in was face-offs, with top specialist Alex Smith missing all but the regular season finale due to his recover from Tommy John surgery. But second-year pro Adam Rand took charge, going 185-345 (53.6-percent) and standing toe-to-toe with the league’s best.
Smith went 9-18 in his return.
All in all, this team is arguably the most well-round as well as deepest team at every position in the league. With the veteran leadership it should be no surprise at how well Chesapeake has played this season and that they have a very good chance to win the Steinfeld Cup.
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