It is very rare for an expansion team in any sport to make a sudden impact, but the Charlotte Hounds are doing just that.In Major League Baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the league in 1998 and won the 2001 World Series. However, their counterpart the Tampa Bay Rays did not even make the playoffs for ten years. The Diamondbacks were the rare case in this situation.
The Houston Texans joined the National Football League in 2002 and did not make the playoffs until 2012. Now the Charlotte Hounds, who joined Major League Lacrosse in 2012, might very well be a 2013 playoff team.
With a win and a Boston Cannons loss the Hounds will clinch their first playoff seeding in franchise history. This is very impressive for a team that went 4-10 last season despite some big names on their roster.
“We’re a very young team, and we’re continuing to develop over the course of the year,” said coach Mike Cerino on the MLL conference call this week. “To be in August and playing meaningful lacrosse has been exciting for this team and this organization.”
The reason the Hounds need a win and a Cannons loss is because the Cannons own the tiebreaker with two wins over Charlotte. With two wins Charlotte can get in, but just one win and the Cannons can sneak up on them in the standings.
It will be a tough road for the Hounds who face the second seeded Hamilton Nationals this week and the third seeded Chesapeake Bayhawks the next, who will both have something to play for. Even if they don’t make it, the Hounds accomplishment for a second year franchise are fairly impressive.
