Head Coach Dave Huntley’s Hamilton Nationals, currently 6-3 and in second place, will travel to take on Coach Tim Soudan’s 4-5 Rochester Rattlers. It will be the final regular season meeting between the two squads, as Hamilton took home the win in their last match up, 17-11.
Rochester is coming off a much-needed 13-10 win against the New York Lizards. Joel White finally got going, scoring two goals and grabbing three groundballs. Rookie Dave Lawson went off for five points alone with two goals and three assists. Kevin Leveille made a statement with five points of his own. Matt Striebel showed up to play with a goal, one two-point tally and two assists. Ned Crotty and Jordan MacIntosh each recorded three points. Not to say that Rochester finally found their system, but something definitely clicked. The Nationals will have to watch out for the sneaky Rattlers offense, including john Ranagan who tallied four goals the last time. John Galloway only made seven stops in cage. He will need to stand on his head against the pesky Hamilton offensive unit that will shoot from anywhere in the field. Mike Manley, John Lade and Tom Montelli will be busy with Hamilton’s attack unit and will have to stop them if they want to keep it close.
Hamilton added an offensive threat in Josh Amidon, acquired through a trade with Charlotte. He will give them a boost at the midfield. The Nationals did trade away faceoff man Matt Dolente to Long Island, but have Mike Poppleton to replace him. Poppleton took on Rochester’s John Ortolani in their last matchup and went almost even, with Ortolani winning by one draw.
Offensively, Hamilton brings firepower. Kevin Crowley is second in the league in points with 36 and has scored at least one point in 24 consecutive games. Joe Walters and Kevin Cunningham are one-two in total assists in the league, helping their team get to sixty percent with assisted goals. Brodie Merrill continues to be his dominant self on both sides of the ball, causing havoc on defense, mayhem in transition and offense. Brett Queener has been a stud in net for the Nationals, only letting in 12.12 goals a game while keeping a save percentage of .601. The defense has been sound with Merrill, Matt Lovejoy, rookie Tucker Durkin, MJ Kiekebelt and Sid Smith in front of Queener.
Sahlen’s Stadium will be rocking this Sunday as the two squads duke it out at 3pm. Fans can catch the game on CBS Sports Network as well.
