This past weekend the MLL returned to action after a week break due to the FIL Championships. While the FIL Championships started to wind down, teams around the league started to gear up for the last quarter of the season. With many of their players playing for various teams, several rookies made their debuts or stepped up for their teams in big ways. Here is the week in review for every rookie in the MLL.
Florida Launch
Kieran McArdle continues to impress for the Launch as he scored five goals and handed out an assist in the team’s loss to the Denver Outlaws this past weekend. He has 33 points on the season in nine games played. Joe Meurer and Matt Harris continue to find themselves in the defensive rotation for the Launch and they have eight and 14 ground balls on the season respectively. Finally, former Colgate defenseman Bobby Lawrence made his MLL debut and scopped up seven ground balls in the loss.
Rochester Rattlers
Mark Cockerton scored five goals this past week on his way to being named Offensive Player of the Week for the Rochester Rattlers. His five goals were huge as the Rattlers improved to 8-3 after a 10-7 win over the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Ty Thompson scored one goal and had an assist as well as he made in MLL debut.
Ohio Machine
Former Syracuse attackman Derek Maltz made his MLL debut over the weekend and had a great debut. He netted four goals for the Ohio Machine in their 13-12 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hounds. His performance earned him the Cascade Rookie of the Week honors for Week 11. Meanwhile, Tom Schreiber continued to produce for the Machine and had his best game yet in a Machine uniform as he scored one goals and handed out three assists. If that wasn’t enough, he also had the game winning goal in overtime for the Machine.
New York Lizards
Brandon Mangan got a little more playing time this weekend against the Cannons and notched his second goal of the year. He now has three points on the season for the Lizards. Joe Fletcher continues to be a ground ball machine as he had seven ground balls in the victory and has 25 on the season. Lastly, Alex Zomerfeld made his MLL Debut and had two ground balls in the victory.
Denver Outlaws
Colin Dunster added an assist in Denver’s 13-10 win over the Florida Launch last weekend. He now has two points in three games so far this season for the Outlaws. Meanwhile, Brett Hiken scored his first MLL goal in the win and had two ground balls for the Outlaws. He was also 4-6 on faceoffs this past weekend and is 11-20 on the season while giving Anthony Kelly a breather.
Boston Cannons
Rob Emery helped the Cannons push the Lizards to the brink of a loss this past weekend as he had a goal and an assist. Jack Reilly made his MLL debut on defense and had a ground ball in the loss. Scott McWilliams continues to get time at defense and had two ground balls for the Cannons. Meanwhile, Shane Sturgis made his MLL debut with Reilly and he notched his first MLL point as he got an assist.
Charlotte Hounds
Justin Ward moved into sole possession of first place on the team in points as he had three this past weekend. That gives him 26 on the season in only seven games played. Mike Chanenchuk and Thomas DeNapoli each scored a goal in the loss. Chanenchuk has eight goals and five assists while DeNapoli has six goals and two assists on the season. Pat Laconi, Michael Ehrhardt and Henry Lobb continue to make contributions on defense. Ehrhardt has 14 ground balls on the season whil Lobb has eight.
Chesapeake Bayhawks
Brandon Benn played in his second game for Chesapeake but was held scoreless in the team’s loss. Meanwhile, Brian Cooper played his third game of the season but did not record a significant statistic ofr the Bayhawks. Finally, Mark McNeill made his MLL debut at the midfield position and he had four ground balls for the Bayhawks in the losing effort.
