For the second time this season the Charlotte Hounds walked off the field as winners, and for the second time it was against their expansion brothers the Ohio Machine. Thanks to great games from Boltus and Kaminski Charlotte finally got things rolling, and were able to defeat a Machine team that was starting to look very good coming into this weekend.
Like many of Charlotte and Ohio’s games it started out very close. The Hounds struck first with two quick goals in the first two minutes from Stephen Burger and Jovan Miller. However Ohio was able to tie things up about half way through the quarter thanks to a two point goal from defenseman Kyle Hartzell. 2-2 was the score after one quarter.
In the second the two teams continued to trade blows. In a sequence that had Ohio score three times and Charlotte score twice the two teams alternated goals for the beginning part of the quarter. However things began swinging Charlotte’s way as the quarter went along. Starting with a Jeremy Boltus goal the Hounds would go onto a four goal streak that would extend into the third quarter. Ohio knew they were in trouble now down by four, but they did not give up. Ohio went on their own run, with goals from Megill, Hartzell, Connolly, and Martin, to tie the game back up. Turri closed out the scoring in the quarter to put Charlotte back up by one, but their huge lead had disappeared.
The 4th was close as well, starting off with Ohio tying things back up thanks to a Kiel Matisz goal. Charlotte scored five of the next six goals to start to seal the deal, but once again Ohio returned with a push. Woodson, Hartzell, and Connolly each scored in the quarter but it was just short. The Machine fell to Charlotte by only one goal, 17 to 16.
Charlotte now moves to 2-6 on the season and has sole possession of 7th place. Â Despite the victory, they still struggled with face-offs winning only 11 of 32. Kaminski led all scorers with four goals and an assist. Boltus had four goals and Danowski had three on the night. Ghitelman, after recently being named an MLL All-Star, recorded the victory. Eric Lusby did not suit up for the Hounds.
Ohio sits at the very bottom of the league with a 1-6 record. Hartzell had three goals and two assists on the night to lead the Machine. Woodson, Connolly, and Matisz each had two goals a piece. In his second MLL game Steele Stanwick recorded one goal for Ohio. Phipps took the loss for the Machine.
