A pair of 1-3 teams are set to square off Saturday night at Selby Stadium in Delaware, OH, as the Ohio Machine and the Charlotte Hounds are both coming off of losses in their games last week.
Ohio was dealt their loss at the hands of the Florida Launch in Boca Raton last Saturday by a 15-12 final score.
The Machine were led once again by Peter Baum and Jimmy Dailey who had hat tricks. Marcus Holman had two goals and an assist and Steele Stanwick had three assists as well.
Baum now has 12 goals to go along with four helpers for a team leading 16 points. Tom Schreiber, who had a goal and an assist in the loss, is second on the team in points with nine goals and four assists. Stanwick has been a facilitator this season, as the former Virginia Cavalier has a goal and leads the Machine with seven assists.
Ohio’s Brian Phipps made seven saves, four of which came in the first quarter. This season, Phipps has played every minute, has a .500 save percentage and a 12.75 goals against average.
Faceoffs were dead even in the game, as Eric O’Brien went 4-11 and Greg Puskuldjian went 11-19 for Ohio.
Brian Farrell, Brian Karalunas, Jackson Place, Steven Waldeck and Dana Wilber comprise the defensive unit for the Machine.
Farrell has a goal and two assists this season.
On the flip side, Charlotte fell 14-10 to Chesapeake on Mother’s Day.
Michael Ehrhardt and Josh Dionne led the way scoring wise with two goals apiece. Jake Tripucka had a goal and two assists on the day.
Tripucka leads the team in points with five goals and five assists. Former Maryland Terrapin John Haus leads the team in goals with seven to go along with an assist.
Between the pipes, Pierce Bassett made 11 saves on 25 shots. Like Phipps, he has also played every second of Charlotte’s games this season. He has a .546 save percentage to go along with a 12.03 goals against average.
Faceoffs were far from the problem on Sunday. Brendan Fowler outdueled Chesapeake’s Stephen Robarge, winning 19 of 27 faceoffs.
Fowler is one of the best in the league, winning 61.9 percent of his draws this year.
Joe Cinosky, Ehrhardt, Ryan Flanagan, Henry Lobb and Brett Schmidt make up the core defense for the Hounds.
Charlotte has been one of the better defensive teams in the league. The 12.3 goals per game they are giving up is second lowest in Major League Lacrosse. But the Hounds have also struggled offensively, scoring a league low 10.5 goals through their four games.
Ohio’s special teams play has been tops in the league on both sides of the ball. They have a 30.77 conversion rate with a man up and have killed off all seven penalties they have committed this season.
Charlotte’s 71.43 killing rate is second worst in MLL.
Game time is set for 7 pm and can be seen on ESPN3.
