In another crucial weekend several MLL teams secured wins that positioned them for a run at the playoffs while others proved that they still had fight left in them.
New York avoided what many prognosticators dubbed a trap game against the Charlotte Hounds. The Lizards doubled up on the Hounds and looked to have the game in hand. Greg Gurenlian and Brendan Fowler fired the opening shots in what has been dubbed the Faceoff Academy Civil War. Gurenlian and New York won the war at the X but Fowler put up determined resistance. The Lizards rolled like a juggernaut through much of the game until a five minute game misconduct on rookie Mike Pellegrino allowed the hounds to rip off three two point goals to close the gap. New York continues to allow teams to stay in the game and showed some vulnerability.
Charlotte did not give up in the fourth quarter and hounded New York till the whistle blew. The Hounds found their offense too late to overcome the Lizard’s lead as New York had to bring Drew Adams back in the fourth to stop the onslaught. Lack of depth at defense was apparent as Brian Spallina went to the bench with an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. With the addition of their rookies, Charlotte is proving to be a team that no one should take lightly as they are slowly finding an offense. New York now wears a large target as the rest of the league seeks to close the gap on them.
Ohio has appeared to discover their offense as they again lit up the scoreboard, this time against a very talented Denver team. The Machine moved into a four way tie for second place as they outscored the Outlaws in a high scoring game.
Denver came out firing as their man up unit scorched the Machine’s man down unit, which is one of the best in the league, for four goals in the second quarter. What promised to be a close, high scoring game disappeared in the second half as Denver struggled to contain Ohio’s offense and appeared to struggle moving the ball on offense in the third quarter. The Machine owned the ball in the third and pulled away from the Outlaws as Denver could not find a rhythm. Ohio outscored Denver by four goals in the third and three goals in the fourth. Once the Machine had the lead Denver could not close the gap and the game slipped out of reach in the fourth quarter.
The loss now puts Denver in the log jam in second place. They are moving in the wrong direction during this time of year as the Machine continues to improve and churn out points.
Rochester travelled down to Baltimore and defeated the Bayhawks who addressed their faceoff issues with C.J. Costabile. The Bayhawks managed to go 14-30 at the X and keep the possession battle around 50 percent. Despite this improvement the Bayhawks did not have an answer for Jordan Wolf and the Rochester offense. Every time the Bayhawks looked poised to move ahead, Wolf went to the cage and scored, keeping the game out of Chesapeake’s grasp. Wolf proved he is playing at another level this season as the Chesapeake defense struggled to keep him contained. The best effort was displayed by veteran Kyle Sweeney during the second and third quarters who limited Wolf to one goal during that period.
The injury bug stung Chesapeake again as Ben Hunt and Matt Mackrides both did not dress for the game. The Bayhawks found their offense, but the indoor players showed some field rust as the fourth quarter belonged to the Rattlers. Rochester fielded their most complete team to date despite all star netminder John Galloway being unable to make the trip. Chesapeake is now four games back and facing Rochester again. They need to find an answer to Wolf if they expect a different result in the rematch.
Boston ground out a win against Florida as the Launch dressed their rookies and kept the game close in the first half. Even with the influx of talent the Launch struggled to score as the offense had trouble moving the ball. Florida—Kieran McArdle in particular—tied the game in the second quarter, but Boston responded by scoring three goals at the end of the quarter to pull ahead.
The Launch woes continued as Kevin Buchanan torched them for a two point goal when Brett Queener was out of the goal. Boston moved from preseason cellar pick to tied for second midway through the season and positioned nicely for a playoff run despite a long road trip away from Gillette stadium. Florida managed to close the gap in the fourth quarter but continue to be snake bit as a push call against Casey Powell went uncalled.
The talent on the Florida offense is undeniable but putting all that talent together into a cohesive offense still eludes the Launch. They are the most talented one win team in the league and yet they find themselves in the cellar with the Hounds.
At this point of the season, Florida and Charlotte are playing for pride and rebuilding for next season. New York wears a big target on their back as the jam behind them tries to sort itself out in the coming weeks. Ohio, Boston, and Rochester are peaking at the right time while Chesapeake and Denver need to address concerns and rebound from losses this weekend. Wins are even more important now and no one can fall victim to a trap game as Florida and Charlotte showed they have not given up on their seasons. I can’t wait to see how this plays out during the coming weeks.
