Week two of the Major League Lacrosse regular season proved to be even more action packed than week one. The amount of goals scored made it seem like a pinball machine was going off in the background. Dallas kicked off the weekend and played two games and neither failed to disappoint. The league single-game goal scoring record was broken as well. Without any further delay, let us dive into the action.
Dallas 12 @ Charlotte 13
The Charlotte Hounds proved they are for real this season as they hosted the Dallas Rattlers and won on home turf. After Matt Rambo scored the first goal, Charlotte endured a three-goal run by Dallas’ Ty Thompson but tied up the score 3-3 at the end of the first. The back-and-forth game continued into the second quarter with the score was tied 7-7. The Hounds earned a two-goal lead at the end of the third quarter and led 11-9. The Hounds weathered a late Rattlers comeback in the fourth to earn a one-goal victory.
Blaze Riordan made 16 saves for the Rattlers as John Galloway had coaching commitments. Charlie Cipriano made 20 saves for the Hounds. Michael Ehrhardt won defensive player of the week honours for his play during the game, especially causing a turnover that allowed the Hounds to run out the clock and beat the Rattlers. Jordan Wolf led Dallas with six points while Thompson had five goals. Matt Rambo led Charlotte with five points. Drew Simoneau won the face off battle for Dallas as he went 18-28 at the X.
Up Next: Dallas travels to Boston and Charlotte hosts Chesapeake, then travels to Ohio, and faces the defending champions.
Chesapeake 14 @ Florida 11
The Chesapeake Bayhawks traveled down to Florida and looked ripe for a loss to the Launch as they found themselves down 2-1 at the end of the first quarter. The Bayhawks then scored three goals in the second to take a 4-3 lead at halftime. The offense came alive in the third and scored six goals to take a 10-6 lead. Florida mounted a comeback in the fourth, but Chesapeake held on for the win.
Brian Phipps and Austin Kaut each made 13 saves in the game. Colin Heacock, Matt Abbott and Nick Aponte each scored three points each to lead the Bayhawks. Ryan Drenner and Steven Brooks each scored three points as well to lead the Launch. Stephen Kelly went 20-26 from the X to win the face off battle for Chesapeake.
Up Next: Chesapeake travels to Charlotte while Florida hosts Denver.
Boston 12 @ Atlanta 19
The 0-2 Boston Cannons looked to get their first win of the season, but ran into a motivated Atlanta Blaze team that outscored them in the first and second quarters to lead 12-8 at halftime. Atlanta scored five goals in the third quarter and held a 17-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. Atlanta held on in the fourth to secure the win.
Chris Madalon made 20 saves for the Blaze while Benny Pugh made 13 for the Cannons. Kevin Rice led Atlanta with seven points while Sergio Perkovic led Boston with four points. Tommy Hughes went 16-33 on face offs to give Boston a small victory in the battle at the X.
Up Next: Atlanta travels to New York while Boston hosts Dallas.
Denver 14 @ Dallas 15 OT
In their second game of the weekend, Dallas won an overtime game against their rivals from Denver, a team that has a knack of keeping the Rattlers out of the post season. The game proved so tight it stayed tied until the third quarter when Dallas took an 11-8 lead. Denver scored six goals in the fourth to force overtime. Ty Thompson scored off a Jordan Wolf assist to secure the win for Dallas.
John Galloway made 16 saves to Jack Kelly’s 13 to get the win for the Rattlers. Wolf again led the Rattlers in scoring with seven points including four goals, while Matt Kavanagh led the Outlaws with seven points and four goals. Eric Law also had four goals. Drew Simoneau won the face off battle for Dallas by going 17-32 at the X.
Up Next: Dallas travels to Boston while Denver hosts New York then travels to Florida.
New York 13 @ Ohio 25
New York traveled to Ohio, took on the Machine, and looked to take advantage of an early season start to take down the defending champions. At the end of the first, Ohio held a slim 5-4 lead and it appeared New York was poised to take them down. Unfortunately, the Lizards offense went dormant in the second and third quarters and the Machine pulled away behind a record-breaking performance by Marcus Holman. Ohio started the fourth quarter with a 20-9 lead and rode the advantage to a victory.
Kyle Bernlohr made 20 saves while Drew Adams and Brian Carcaterra combined for 12 saves. Marcus Holman set a single game goal scoring record and led the Machine with 11 goals. Tom Schreiber, who played for the Toronto Rock in Colorado the night before, added six assists. Holman, of course, won offensive player of the week honours for his performance. Rob Pannell led the Lizards with six points. New York had a much-improved face off performance with Brendan Fowler going 27-42 at the X.
Up Next: Ohio hosts Charlotte while New York travels to Denver and then hosts Atlanta.
