In just three days, the Lizards and Rattlers will battle not just to be known as New York’s superior team, but the entire MLL’s. The Lizards were the league’s best team in the regular season but New York barely squeaked by Boston in overtime last week to advance to the championship. In order to go from the regular season’s best team to MLL champions, the following three things must happen:
1. Greg Gurnelian’s domination
There’s not a single more important player for the Lizards than Gurenlian. He finished the year winning 280 out of 382 faceoffs, a 73.3 percentage, which is significantly more than the league’s average in the low 50s. Gurenlian’s dominance has allowed New York to play “make-it-take-it lacrosse,” head coach Joe Spallina said in the MLL coaches’ teleconference a few weeks ago. A big reason why the Lizards led the league in scoring is because of how often their offense had the ball. You can thank Gurenlian for that. And having the ball so much, meant the other team didn’t have it. The Lizards also had the fewest goals allowed all season. Yep, you can thank Gurenlian for that, too.
When New York beat Rochester 19-9 earlier this season, the Lizards had an 11-0 lead to start the game. You can thank Gurenlian once more. He went 23-of-26 at the X that game. While the FOGO position is often looked down upon, Gurenlian is the most important player for the Lizards, whether you like it or not.
2. The Paul Rabil and Rob Pannell dynamic duo
Rabil and Pannell form arguably the best offensive 1-2 punch in the entire league. They carried the Lizards to a league-high 206 goals in the regular season, eight more than second place. In two wins over Rochester, Rabil and Pannell combined for 12 goals and six assists. While the games were in April, Rabil and Pannell have continued to torch the league. In the semifinals, Rabil delivered the game-winning assist and he finished with two goals and two assists and Pannell had four points as well.
In his first season with New York, Rabil finished fifth in the MLL in points with 52. While Rabil steals the headlines, it was Pannell who led the league with 68 points. If these two perform on Saturday, it will be tough for Rochester to pull an upset.
3. Stopping Jordan Wolf
Wolf is one of the quickest attacks in the league. He’s totaled 37 goals and 24 assists this season and is third in the MLL with 61 points. While everyone loves goals, what separates Wolf is his ability to feed, especially against the Lizards. He had seven assists in the two games vs. New York in April. Though there may be different defensive matchups, one would have to assume the Lizards’ best defender, Joe Fletcher, would mark Wolf. Fletcher was just awarded with the league’s defensive player of the year. But whether or not Fletcher takes Wolf, fellow defenders Kyle Hartzell and Steve Holmes will have to have strong games because Wolf himself is dynamic, but he can also cause early slides and find open teammates. Thus, all Lizards defenders must bring their A-game.
In the regular season, Wolf totaled five or more points six times and the Rattlers won four of those games. But in games when Wolf had four points or less, Rochester won just 50 percent of the time. Based on that metric, New York has to limit Wolf to four or less points in order to increase its chances of victory.
