In the last game of the 2012 season for the two teams, the Charlotte Hounds ended all playoff hopes for the Rochester Rattlers and sent them home with a loss. Tonight, the Hounds (0-1) will travel to Rochester (0-1) for a rematch of that game. Last week Charlotte lost at home to the Denver Outlaws and Rochester put up a good fight, but ended up falling to the defending champion Chesapeake Bayhawks.
Matt Danowski led the Hounds with seven points in the losing effort, but will not be suiting up for Charlotte this weekend. With Danowski out, the Hounds will need to rely on a different offensive player to take control and dominate the Rattlers’ defense. Three players finished with three points last week to tie for second best on the team; Ryan Young (2g, 1a), Josh Amidon (2g, 1a) and Kyle Wimer (1g, 2a). The Hounds are still without face-off specialist Geoff Snider, so Tim Fallon will again be taking face-offs. Against the Outlaws, Fallon won 15 of 39 for a win percentage of 38%. Last week starting goalie Adam Ghitelman was inactive for the Hounds, but he will return today to get the start over Mark Manos. The Outlaws scored 20 goals on Manos, but he saved 15 shots for a 43% save rate.
Matt Striebel and Rob Rotanz led the way for Rochester last week in their loss against Chesapeake, with four points apiece. Striebel had (2) two-point goals while Rotanz scored two and added two assists. In his first MLL game in several years, Mark Millon added one goal and one assist for the Lizards; the Hounds shouldn’t sleep on him though, he’s definitely an MLL legend. Attackman Thomas Wood led his team with a hat-trick against the Bayhawks, and looks to have another this week. Perhaps the biggest key this week for Rochester is the addition of All-Star Ned Crotty; due to NLL commitments Crotty did not play last week for the Rattlers. Two goalies split time in cage last week; Joe Banno (14 saves, 74%) and Jason Lashomb (13 saves, 65%).
