Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Week 7’s Warrior Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week and the Cascade Rookie of the Week today.
This week, Ben Hunt was awarded honors for his offensive efforts in helping the Chesapeake Bayhawks overcome the Boston Cannons, and Lee Zink was recognized for helping anchor the Denver Outlaws’ defensive shutdown of the New York Lizards. Rookie attackman Jordan Wolf proved his worth, playing in his first professional game, offensively contributing to almost half of the Rochester Rattlers’ points, despite their loss to the Ohio Machine.
Hunt netted a career-high six goals in Saturday’s game against the Cannons, and had an impressive two assists as well. The match was truly a battle as both sides accrued a total of 14.5 penalty minutes. Hunt rose to the challenge, capitalizing on Boston’s man-down misfortune twice, netting a powerplay goal and helping on an assist. Overall, he was an unstoppable force, scoring on six out of the seven shots he fired against Cannons goaltender Jordan Burke and his defense, who are tied for first in the League with goals allowed.
Zink and the Outlaws refused to lose two consecutive games after their 25-game winning streak was snapped last week by earning a 15-11 victory over the Lizards. Zink, who will don a red, white and blue Team USA jersey next week at the MLL All-Star Game, helped keep dangerous offensive firepower such as Jo-Jo Marasco and Ned Crotty—future national teammates—at bay. While the 10-year MLL veteran worked man-to-man defensive magic, he also helped lead the entire defensive team in covering, sliding, and smothering any attempts at passing, setting up plays, and shooting made by the Lizards.
Wolf’s MLL debut went off without a hitch. The rookie put away four goals of his own and assisted another, making the transition from the college into the professional world of lacrosse seem easy as he recorded the most amount of points on the team in the game. On the whole, although the Rattlers lost 13-18 to the Machine, Wolf had a successful first game, even seeing time on special teams and earning a power play goals.
Keep track of Wolf and the Rattlers on CBS Sports Network as they take on the Florida Launch next Friday, June 20, at 7:30 pm (ET). On Saturday, the Bayhawks will be hoping to carry their positive momentum into next week’s game against the Denver Outlaws, who are intent on rebuilding their undefeated title. Watch the teams clash June 21 at 7:00 pm (ET) on ESPN3.com and syndicated channels. And don’t forget to catch all the MLL All-Star action next Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 pm when Team MLL faces off against Team USA at Historic Harvard Stadium. Click HERE for tickets.
Warrior Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Kevin Buchanan (Boston)
Week 2 – Garrett Thul (Florida)
Week 3 – Casey Powell (Florida)
Week 4 – Casey Powell (Florida)
Week 5 – Marcus Holman (Ohio)
Week 6 – Kevin Leveille (Rochester)
Week 7 – Ben Hunt (Chesapeake)
Warrior Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Chad Wiedmaier (Ohio)
Week 2 – Mike Manley (Rochester)
Week 3 – Jesse Schwartzman (Denver)
Week 4 – Joe Fletcher (New York)
Week 5 – Mike Manley (Rochester)
Week 6 – Joe Cinosky (Florida)
Week 7 – Lee Zink (Denver)
Previous Cascade Rookies of the Week
Week 3 – John LoCascio (Rochester)
Week 4 – Kieran McArdle (Florida)
Week 5 – Tom Schreiber (Ohio)
Week 6 – Justin Ward (Charlotte)
Week 7 – Jordan Wolf (Rochester)
