As the playoff races heat up with only four games to go for each team, some rookies will start to become ‘X’ factors for their respective squads. The rookies should be acclimated by now and know their respective roles on the team. While players like the Ohio Machine’s Logan Schuss and New York Lizard’s Rob Pannell are putting up numbers for bad teams, players like the Denver Outlaws Eric Law, Rochester Rattlers John Ranagan and Boston Cannons Will Manny will be relied upon to give their teams a boost as the postseason draws near.
Rochester Rattlers
Midfielder John Ranagan continues to be a one dimensional player for the Rattlers, albeit, a dangerous one. He continued to use his athleticism and size in the Rattlers loss to the Outlaws as he had a couple of nice dodges to his left hand which resulted in him finding the back of the net twice. Meanwhile, the Rattlers got another great game out of Dave Lawson. He had an impressive day for the Rattlers as he scored three goals, two of which came in heavy traffic.
Boston Cannons
Offensively, Will Manny and Cameron Flint continue to see their roles in the offense grow. However, in the overtime loss to the Chesapeake Bayhawks both players were relatively quiet. Flint had one assist while Manny scored a goal and also had an assist. Both players were coming off five point performances last week. Manny has been more consistent in terms of putting up larger numbers while Flint has recorded one or two points a game.
Defensively, Scott Ratliff continues to be a key cog on the close defense for the Cannons. He had two ground balls on the night and held his own against one of the league’s better offenses.
Charlottte Hounds
Jake Tripucka and Mike Sawyer impressed this past week. Both players recorded a goal and an assist in their 12-9 win over the New York Lizards. Tripucka assisted Sawyer, who showed off his 114 mph cannon, and beat Drew Adams from a step in front of the two point mark. Sawyer also assisted Pete Poillon on a two pointer. Tripucka made an impressive play for his lone goal on the afternoon by using his strength and athleticism to beat the defender, get into the heart of the defense and finish low on Adams.
Defensively, or should I say, offensively Mason Poli continues to be one of the more threatening LSM’s in the transition game. Poli had a goal and two assists on the afternoon and has nine points on the season. He caught a pass in an unsettled situation and ripped one past Adams from about eight yards, while also scooping up a ground ball in the middle of the field and passing it off to Eric Lusby who converted for a goal.
New York Lizards
Fresh off an impressive all-star game performance where he scored three goals and had an assist, Rob Pannell was at it again. Pannell recorded five points for the fourth time in the last five games, giving him 29 points on the season. He seems to have welcomed the addition of Cornell teammate Steve Mock as he found him for a couple of goals.
Since coming over in the blockbuster trade that sent Stephen Berger to Boston, Mock has scored four goals in two games for the Lizards. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see him be so one dimensional as he had 60 goals and seven assists this past season for Cornell. Against the Hounds he had a nifty finish in close as he beat his defender down the right alley and converted for the goal.
Chesapeake Bayhawks
The Bayhawks rookie class is small and defensive minded. LSM Jesse Burnhardt and SSDM Dom Sebastiani continue to see a good amount of playing time and are providing good defense for the Bayhawks. Both players are highly disciplined as they have one and a half minutes of total penalty time so far this season.
Hamilton Nationals
Dillon Ward made his second career start and was impressive in the cage for the Nationals. He stopped 17 of 28 shots, good for a 60 percent save percentage on the night. Ward seems to be proving himself as a nice backup option to all-star Brett Queener. Look for Ward to appear in one or two more games as the Nationals look to keep Queener fresh as they are a lock to make the playoffs.
Defenseman Tucker Durkin continues to play a pivotal role on the Nationals defense. In the 13-11 win over the Ohio Machine, Durkin had three ground balls. He sealed the game for the Nationals as he made a timely check on the Machine’s Steele Stanwick, who would’ve had a one-on-one opportunity with Ward without the heroics of Durkin.
Mike Poppleton will continue to be the man at the faceoff ‘X’ for the Nationals. On the season he is 71-159 and did his part to help the Nationals to their eighth win of the year.
Ohio Machine
Nothing has been going right for the Ohio Machine this season as they have an abysmal record of 1-10. The lone bright spots for the Machine have been the play of Logan Schuss and Marcus Holman. Schuss had three goals and an assist for the second consecutive week and has 14 points in his last three games. After missing last week’s game, Holman had three points for the Machine, including a two pointer for the Machine.
Defensively, Dominique Alexander and Jake Bernhardt continue to see a healthy amount of playing time as defensive midfielders for the Machine.
Denver Outlaws
Eric Law continues to shine for the Outlaws and is one of a few rookies making his presence felt on a veteran laden team. His numbers this past week, along with the rest of the offense, were uncharacteristically low. While the Outlaws came out with the win over the Rochester Rattlers, the offense only mustered 11 goals.
Law himself, had two points on the day, scoring on a tight feed in on the crease, and handing out an assist. He will continue to be a key contributor on the team as he has 25 points on the season and will continue to go head-to-head with New York Lizards attackman Rob Pannell.
Defensively, Brian Megill continues to add athleticism and toughness to the long stick middie unit. In his first game since July 6, he had three ground balls.
