The Ohio Machine franchise has completed its first season in MLL play and that’s a victory in and of itself.
It will need to be because there weren’t too many on the field victories to go by due to a league worst 2-12 record.
The team allowed a league-high 204 goals against and were sixth in the league in goals for. Ohio was last in the league in ground balls and sixth in face-off winning percentage. Being in the bottom half of so many important statistical categories never bodes well.
It’s also not a good sign when a defender is your fifth leading scorer, ahead of every single listed midfielder on your roster.
In goal neither Stefan Schroder nor Brian Phipps definitively made the position his own, creating an inconsistent platoon.
Ohio also failed to ever put together a winning streak and was swept by fellow expansion side Charlotte Hounds, unable to have any bragging rights.
But there are some nice pieces to build on for the future.
First, that defenseman referenced to above is former Championship game MVP Kyle Hartzell. The long-pole played in all 14 games this season and was just as impressive on the offensive end as he was on the defensive end. Hartzell scored 11 goals, nine of which were two-pointers.
The attack was a very solid group. Chazz Woodson led the team in points, was an All-Star and was exciting to watch, winding up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 on multiple occasions.
After playing in only two games last season, Jimmy Connolly had a huge breakout season, scoring 27 goals in 13 games.
Connoly tied for second on the team in points with Connor Martin. Martin stepped up to play both attack and midfield for the Machine. He scored 10 goals in the team’s final five games.
Steele Stanwick enjoyed a very nice rookie season with 11 goals and 17 assists in nine games. He is already looking like one of the league’s top feeders and with more time to gel with teammates it will be exciting to see how he performs.
Other notable performers for the Machine were All-Star defenseman Greg Bice, midfielder Joe Cummings—who played in the final four games of the season and scored in all of them for a total of nine goals—and Brett Hughes, who played his final professional season and played an integral part in the development of the Machine and Ohio lacrosse in general.
The Machine is off the ground and running. Two wins obviously won’t cut it and there need to be more playmakers in the midfield. Overall however there are some nice pieces in place and there are plenty of assets to add more.
