After eight weeks of action and the All-Star break there is finally a shakeup in the standings. Denver, who held the number one spot for most of the season, is now in a three-way tie for first place. Boston, Denver and Chesapeake all sport 6-3 records. The Boston Cannons are in the number one spot due to head-to-head wins and points differential.
Boston traveled to Denver and opened fire on the Outlaws with a full broadside as the visitors took a 7-4 lead in the first quarter. The smoke settled in the second quarter as the Cannons scored one goal while holding the defending champions scoreless. Denver held the top spot in the standings for most of this season and they showed why as they fired back in the third quarter and outscored Boston 5-4 and closed the gap 12-9. Both teams went toe-to-toe in the fourth quarter, but Denver failed to overcome Boston’s early barrage and the Cannons won by a score of 16-13. Will Sands led Boston in scoring with six points (3G/3A) while Ryan Lee led Denver with six points (5G/1A). The win moved Boston over Denver; the team they spent the majority of the season behind. The Cannons are for real this season and not just a turn-around wonder. Next up for Boston, they take on Atlanta while Denver visits a Chesapeake team looking to jump over the defending champs and make their own run at the title.
Dallas continued their winning streak with Sean “The Same Old Sean” Sconone in goal (It’s the same old Sean, just as wide as he is long, making saves all day long). Dallas came out hot as they scored six goals in the first and took a 6-4 lead after one quarter. Atlanta fired back with six goals of their own and took a 10-8 lead at halftime. The Rattlers stung the Blaze with another six goals in the third quarter and retook the lead 14-12. Atlanta and Dallas battled in the fourth as each team scored two goals, but the Blaze failed to cut into the Rattlers lead and Dallas won 16-14. Bryce Wasserman led Dallas with seven points (5G/2A) while Bryan Cole led Atlanta with five points (4G/1A). Dallas next takes on fifth place New York while Atlanta hosts the new number one, Boston.
The final games of the weekend saw Chesapeake dismantle New York in a home-and-home series by scores of 11-9 and 24-7. (Check out Saturday’s recap here) In Sunday’s game, the Bayhawks opened strong taking a 7-4 lead after the first quarter and kept their momentum rolling as they increased their lead 13-6 at halftime. Another six-goal quarter increased the Bayhawk lead to 19-7. New York failed to score in the fourth quarter while Chesapeake scored five goals to finish the game. Steele Stanwick led Chesapeake with five points (3G/2A) and New York had four players score two points each (Rob Pannell two assists, Dylan Molloy 1G/1A, Justin Reh 1G/1A and Nick Aponte 2G). Chesapeake takes on Denver with an opportunity to break the three-way tie for first place as the loser moves down in the rankings. New York meets a Dallas squad on a winning streak and looking to move out of last place.
