As teams begin to separate themselves in the MLL standings, check out some of the standouts from this past weekend with our three stars.
3) Brian Phipps (Ohio) – 21 saves, 12 goals allowed
Brian Phipps continued his stellar season on Saturday, making 21 saves and tallying a .636 save percentage in a big win at Boston to move into a second-place tie (with the Cannons) in the Major League Lacrosse standings. Phipps almost single-handedly kept the Machine in the game early on, making nine saves while allowing just four goals in the first quarter as Ohio trailed 4-1 after 15 minutes of play. From there, the Machine turned things around with an 8-0 second quarter which saw Phipps stop all six shots sent his way. From there, Ohio cruised to the 19-12 victory. For the season, the Maryland alum is second in the MLL in goals against average (12.36) and fourth in save percentage (.564).
2) Rob Pannell (New York) – 5 goals, 2 assists
Rob Pannell led an impressive New York Lizards attack on Thursday night, tallying seven points in an 18-15 win over Denver. Three of his points came in the third quarter as the Lizards began to pull away and erase any doubt, turning a 10-5 halftime lead into a 15-8 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. For the season, the Cornell product leads Major League Lacrosse in scoring with 61 points behind 35 goals and 26 assists.
1) Lyle Thompson (Florida) – 6 goals, 2 assists
For the second straight week, Lyle Thompson is the #1 star of the weekend. Not only did he match his previous week’s point total of eight points, but he also scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give his Launch a third-straight victory and keep Florida alive for a postseason berth. Thompson tallied two points in each of the first three quarters, one in the fourth and the overtime game-winner. After a somewhat slow start in his MLL career, Thompson now has 20 points over his last three games behind 15 goals and five assists, upping his season total to 29 points via 18 goals and 11 assists.
