Going into the fourth quarter of the matchup between the Charlotte Hounds and New York Lizards, it wasn’t looking good for Charlotte. Their only lead of the game was the first goal of the game; since then, they’d been playing catch-up. But the relentless Hounds didn’t give up then. Despite a rough night at the face-off X the Hounds (2-3) got a lot of help from their young gun offensive players which led to the eventual 14-12 defeat of the Lizards (2-3).
Led by youngster Eric Lusby (3g, 1a) and newcomer Peet Poillon (2g, 2a), the Charlotte offense looked more balanced than they have all year. Without midfielder Jovan Miller, head coach Mike Cerino had to make some changes to the offense. He had attackman Matt Danowski (2g, 0a) at the midfield line which is certainly not his usual “home”. Danowski was a big key to bringing home the W, as both of his goals came in the fourth quarter when the Hounds defense shut out the Lizards offense. Rookie Mike Sawyer (2g, 0a) also hit both of his goals in the fourth. Newcomer Ryan Young (3g, 0a) notched a hat-trick and continued his offensive explosion. Young has really come on strong in his first season with the Hounds and has been a huge help in many of their games (including a franchise record seven goals at home against the Rattlers). Going up against “The Beast” aka Greg Gurenlian is never easy, and Tim Fallon struggled as much as most others against him. Fallon won just 10 of 29 face-offs, which usually spells disaster for a team but fortunately Charlotte was able to force several turnovers to create their own possessions. Goalie Adam Ghitelman had a decent night in goal – stopping 10 of 21 shots on goal for a percentage of 48%.
In his MLL debut, Lizards draftee and Tewaaraton winner Rob Pannell looked as if he didn’t miss a step transitioning from college to pro – Pannell had a hat-trick and added an assist. His four points tied with Stephen Peyser (3g, 1 2-point) for highest on the team. The Lizards team looked as if they had booked themselves a W going into the fourth quarter but got shut out by an aggressive Hounds defense. Face-off specialist Gurenlian (65%) also added three points (2g, 1a) for New York, who slipped into a tie for fourth-place in the MLL standings with Charlotte. Defending Rookie of the Year Matt Gibson was held to just one goal, as was newcomer Mark Matthews. Both players were phenomenal last year and look to rebound next week when the Lizards play host to the (3-1) Bayhawks. Goalie Drew Adams struggled in goal against the Hounds, stopping just nine of 23 shots on goal (39%). Adams is usually one of the top goalies in the league, but faltered against the young Hounds offense.
Both teams will be in action next week as the Charlotte Hounds will host the (0-4) Ohio Machine and will look to continue their dominance over the fellow expansion team. For New York, they will host a tougher team; the (3-1) Chesapeake Bayhawks.
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