As the MLL heads into the last week of the season, the Ohio Machine find themselves in fourth place and one win away from clinching a playoff berth. No I am not kidding, this is the same Machine team that had only two wins exactly one summer ago. How did this happen? What is going on in the MLL?
Simply put, the Machine have put together a four game winning streak while catching some breaks along the way. Just four short weeks ago, the Machine were 3-6 and essentially out of the equation for a playoff spot. As soon as the month of July hit, however, the Machine changed their fortunes. It hasn’t been easy as they have won their last four games by a combined total of six goals whic includes a thrilling 23-22 win over the second seeded Denver Outlaws two weeks ago! But a win is a win and they now find themselves one game away from putting together quite the turnaround season.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the key to the Machine’s four-game winning streak is its offensive prowess. Coming into 2014, we knew the offense would be much improved this year as the Machine actually had a midfield that was MLL worthy. After drafting Tommy Schreiber out of Princeton, getting Peter Baum to come to Ohio after the LXM-MLL merger and “winning” the rights to Kyle Harrison in the MLL player pool, the Machine’s offense has been downright scary this year.
In its last four games, the Machine have averaged 17.3 goals per game! Compare that to the first five games of the season where the Machine scored 12.0 goals a game on their way to a 2-3 record. Let’s dive a little deeper into the numbers, shall we? The midfield unit of Schreiber, Harrison and Baum have combined to score 29 points with some of those players missing a handful of games along the way. On attack, Stanwick, Holman and Schuss have compiled 41 points! Between the six of them, they have 70 points over the last four games!
The defense is of concern but it has come up big when it is needed. Brian Phipps hasn’t had the best season by any means in net but he has had 17 and 18 saves against the Hounds and Rattlers respectively.
Finally, what has helped the Machine into the fourth playoff spot is the fact that the Cannons have dipped to a game under .500 as the last week of the season rolls around. The Cannons have limped down the stretch of the MLL season as they are 2-3 in their last five games played. Add to the fact, that Boston’s best player, Paul Rabi,l is done for the season with a broken foot and the Machine may have a playoff spot locked up.
Ohio has been a delightful story throughout this 2014 season. After a miserable 2013 year in which they won two games, there has to be something special going on as they are one game from a playoff berth. Is it the LeBron James effect? I mean every sports team in the state of Ohio has some sort of excitement around it with james coming back ot hte Cavaliers and Johnny Manziel and his antics arriving in Cleveland. Either way, the state of Ohio and MLL fans around the league should get used to the saying Oil Up because it is an exciting time to be a fan of the Machine.
