Well that was fun. The MLL All-Star game provided a few hours of quality lacrosse entertainment on Saturday evening. I, for one, prefer this type of game as opposed to the Team USA vs MLL that takes place during FIL years. There is too much on the line in those games and they’re not as fun and free-flowing. But Houston got it dialed in really nicely.
Let’s revisit the items I pointed out before the game to see how accurate my prognostications were, then we’ll consider a few other items.
- The Beast – Pretty much everyone went about .500 at the faceoff X in this game. The Beast still won the most during the game with 12, but all told things were pretty even.
- Defensive scoring – Scott Ratliff stepped up in this category, including a doorstep goal with multiple stick fakes that he put past Jesse Schwartzman in the first half. Ratliff finished the game with two goals for the winning Gladiators.
- Jesse Schwartzman – Again, this is an All-Star Game where the teams were picked the day before and very little defense is played. Schwartzman got shellacked for 13 in the first half, including a 9 goal second quarter. However, his replacement for the Cowboys, Drew Adams of the league leading New York Lizards, got torched for 14, including a 9 goal fourth quarter. No need to panic in Denver. Yet.
- Number of Goals – There certainly was no shortage on Saturday night. The Gladiators finished 4 goals shy of tying the ASG record. The final was 27-15, so the teams combined for 39 goals (there were 3 two-pointers in the game).
- ASG MVP – CP22 seemed content to let the young bucks do most of the work, and Jeremy Boltus earned MVP honors behind a 6 goal performance. Marcus Holman was another leading contender, as well as Tyler Fiorito, who played an amazing second quarter for the Gladiators.
A few other things that stuck out during the game.
- B. J. O’Hara’s goal challenge. With the 3rd quarter winding down Kieran McArdle hurtled himself toward the net, but the goal was called off. No harm no foul in an ASG, right? O’Hara cares not for these plebian concerns. He challenged the call and won. Just the fact that he did so in an ASG is awesome.
- Scott Ratliff’s sell-out trail check. At one point Ratliff went vertical, leaping into the air and actually dislodged the ball from his opponent’s stick. The Gladiators picked up the ball and potted one going the other way. Just a masterful sequence that fit right into the ASG gestalt.
- Half time festivities. I really liked that MLL got the local kids involved with the halftime skills competition. If you’ve ever been to a college or pro game where they let a U8 or similar team play a bit at half time, you know how awesome that is. Always high on the entertainment factor. Pairing kids with the pros was a great way to connect the players with the fans. Conspicuously missing was the fastest shot competition for the pros, but after the controversy last year that’s not too surprising. Honestly, halftime had become quite banal so it’s good to switch things up, especially with something that encourages growth in the sport.
- Team Names – I don’t have an issue with Gladiators. But Cowboys? In Houston? Even the uniforms had elements of the Dallas Cowboys color palette. Surely there was a better team name for the occasion? I’m not a fan of equating sports with military combat, so I don’t like “Warriors” or things of that ilk, but “Titans” or “Dominators” or something, anything other than Cowboys would have been better. Consider this nit picked.
