In just their second year of existence, the Charlotte Hounds clinched a playoff spot after a 14-11 defeat of the Hamilton Nationals at home in Charlotte, NC. The Hounds needed a win over the Nationals and a Boston loss to clinch a spot in Philadelphia for the MLL Championship Weekend – and that’s just what they got. The Ohio Machine won just their second game of the year in a stunning 16-12 victory over the Cannons. The victory over the Nationals moved Charlotte to 7-6 overall and Boston’ loss dropped the Cannons to 5-8 and out of playoff contention. Matt Danowski led the way for Charlotte with a seven point performance on six goals (one two-pointer).
Not only was it a great night for the Hounds, but also for the Duke men’s lacrosse team – former Blue Devils combined for 9 of the 13 goals scored. In addition to Danowski dropping six, Hounds rookie Jake Tripuka added a hat-trick in the final home game of the season. Former Maryland Terrapin Ryan Young added three more goals for Charlotte and rookie Matt White also scored one. In his first game with the team this season, face-off guru Geoff Snider won 8 of 17 face-offs and incumbent starter Tim Fallon won 5 of 8. Goalie Adam Ghitelman had one of his strongest nights in cage of the year and several of them were key in the fourth quarter. Ghitelman saved 13 of 21 shots on goal (62%), with seven coming in the fourth quarter. The Hounds defense made it fairly easy on Ghitelman after allowing seven goals in the first quarter – causing turnovers, forcing bad shots and playing close D made it very hard on the Hamilton shooters.
The Hamilton offense has been deadly all season, but hit a blank against the Charlotte defense. Scoring leader Kevin Crowley had a hat-trick (including a two-pointer) but fan favorite Joe Walters only scored one goal (but did add two assists). Rookie sensation Garrett Thul continued his hot streak with a two-pointer early in the game, but couldn’t amass any points after that. Face-off man Mike Poppleton struggled against the Hounds specialists, winning just under 50% of his face-offs (12 of 25). In goal for Hamilton, All-Star Brett Queener did everything in his power to lead his team to victory, but fell short. Queener had a good night in goal, saving 17 of the 30 shots on goal but just couldn’t get his offense to back up his play.
Next week is the final week of the 2013 MLL regular season, and the last time teams will play before Championship Weekend. The Charlotte Hounds will finish the season away against the Chesapeake Bayhawks (should the Hounds win, they’ll move to the third seed) and the Hamilton Nationals will finish up at home against the undefeated Denver Outlaws. MLL Championship Weekend is the 24 and 25 of August in Philadelphia, PA.
