Playoffs are right around the corner and there’s no doubt that the Hamilton Nationals are ready to fight. The Boston Cannons on the other hand, may have some catching up to do.
In Saturday night’s contest, the Nationals reached an early four-goal lead in the first quarter, providing themselves with a decent buffer zone. Kevin Crowley started off the run with an assist from Jeremy Thompson, followed by a coast-to-coast goal from Brett Queener with Josh Amidon on the assisting end. Kevin Cunningham recorded back-to-back points with an assist to Garrett Thul and then came up with a goal for himself thanks to LSM Brodie Merrill. Boston’s LSM Scott Ratliff stopped the bleeding, putting the ball in the back of the net with some help from fellow rookie attackman Will Manny. Ending the first quarter, Garrett Thul rocketed a two-pointer past Cannon’s goaltender Jordan Burke, with Cunningham grabbing his second assist of the night.
The two teams went toe to toe in the second quarter, starting off with Manny assisting on Mike Stone’s first goal. Hamilton went on a three goal run thanks to two unassisted goals by Jordan Hall and Thompson, along with a Merrill to Roy Lang connection. Boston quickly put on the brakes and turned the momentum into their favor, picking up three tallies themselves with Stone’s second goal of the quarter with help from Kevin Buchanan. Martin Bowes and rookie Cameron Flint each picked up their first goals of the game. Joe Walters closed out the first half with an unassisted goal to give his Nationals a commanding 9-5 lead heading into half time. Paul Rabil acquired only one shot in the first half that resulted in Queener’s goal.
It was another back and forth quarter, as the Cannons started off the scoring with a Buchanan goal, followed up by a Matt Poskay goal with help from Flint. Lang and Hall put a stop to that run quickly, scoring two minutes apart. Flint connected with Poskay once more, which was countered by Cunningham’s second goal in the contest.
Thul got things going in the fourth for the Nationals. Rabil finally got on the stat sheet, picking up a two-pointer. Cody Jamieson put his name in the books for his unassisted goal. Stone hooked up with Stephen Berger to bring the game within four, with Buchanan burying the final Cannon’s goal of the night just moments later. Thul, assisted by Walters and Jamieson, put in the final two goals and put the nail in the coffin on Boston’s hopes of a comeback. Garrett ended the night with six points and Cunningham picking up five to lead their Hamilton squad.
Mike Poppleton and Chris Eck went draw for draw, with Poppleton coming out on top, ending 16-31. Queener made 17 stops to Burke’s 22. There were only two penalties, both on Coach Huntley’s squad. Boston went 0-2 on their powerplays, but won the groundball battle 41-35.
With this win, Hamilton clinches a slot in the MLL Championship Weekend. Boston will have some damage control to do, as they drop to fifth place in the standings, one below Charlotte who defeated Ohio last night. The Cannons will duke it out with the Machine next weekend and desperately need the win, along with a Hounds loss at the hands of the Nationals.
