Rookies continue to make their mark around the MLL, highlighted by the continued stellar play of Lyle Thompson as the two-time Tewaaraton Award winner leads Florida’s recent surge.
The weekend began with New York’s 18-15 win over Denver last Thursday. Colgate alum Ryan Walsh scored twice, both in the second quarter, as the Lizards opened a 10-5 lead at the half. On the other side were several rookies for the Outlaws. Former Fairfield standout Mike Bocklet, playing in his first MLL season, scored three goals to reach 23 goals and eight assists through 10 games this season. Erik Adamson from University of Denver scored a goal while David Dickson (Bucknell) and Jeremy Noble (Denver) saw action as well.
Thompson matched his eight points from July 3 against Charlotte by tallying eight more points (six goals, two assists) at Charlotte last Saturday. One of the goals came 1:34 into overtime to give the Launch their third straight victory. The Albany product is up to 29 points behind 18 goals and 11 assists, including 23 points over his last four games. Rookies Connor Buczek of Cornell and Casey Ikeda of Maryland dished two assists apiece while Ikeda also scooped two groundballs. Rookie Mark DiFrangia out of St. John’s also saw action, as did Pat Frazier of Loyola. For Charlotte, star rookie out of UNC Joey Sankey scored a goal while Will Haus of Duke dished an assist.
Ohio broke out offensively for a 19-12 win at Boston last Saturday. North Carolina product Jimmy Bitter tallied two goals and one assist. Matt Bertrams of Albany scooped a groundball. Adelphi alum Greg Puskuldjian, playing in his first MLL season, was stellar at the faceoff X, winning 21-of-29 with 19 groundballs while also dishing an assist. Meanwhile, for Boston, Wells Stanwick of Johns Hopkins dished an assist while Ryan Tucker of Virginia scooped three groundballs for the Cannons.
Rochester wrapped up the MLL weekend with a 14-13 win over Chesapeake. Kevin Rice (Syracuse) tallied his first-career hat trick, including the game-winning goal with just 1:48 remaining. Syracuse teammate Randy Staats also scored twice while rookie Mike Poppleton of Johns Hopkins won 19-of-31 faceoffs with four groundballs. Patrick Harbeson of Virginia scored a goal for Chesapeake while Chris Hipps (Duke) played as well. It was an all-rookie matchup at the faceoff X as Maryland alum Charlie Raffa won 9-of-21.
