This weekend’s Championship weekend features a plethora of talent from this year’s draft class. Ironically, the two lowest seeds, the Hamilton Nationals and Charlotte Hounds are the team’s that boast the most talent from this year’s rookies. Meanwhile, the Denver Outlaws and Chesapeake Bayhawks have very few rookies making an impact on their team. In the first matchup the Hounds feature seven rookies headlined by Mike Sawyer and Mason Poli as they faceoff with shooting extraordinaire Eric Law and the Denver Outlaws. In the second semifinal game, the Nationals, headlined by former Johns Hopkins standouts Tucker Durkin and Mike Poppleton look to withstand the second seeded Chesapeake Bayhawks featuring Jesse Bernhardt. So which rookies will prove to be instrumental to their team’s success this weekend? Look below to find out.
Denver Outlaws vs Charlotte Hounds
The first matchup of championship weekend features two teams with very different paths to championship weekend. The Denver Outlaws flourished this season thanks to veteran leadership and a sprinkling of rookies to tag along for the ride. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hounds were on the complete end of the spectrum, as they had a few veterans and a host of contributors from this year’s draft class. This game will feature no shortage rookies on the field come Saturday.
Lost in the powerful offense that is the Denver Outlaws has been the play of rookie attackman Eric Law. Law has seamlessly blended in to the offense and provided yet another weapon for the Outlaws. Even though the New York Lizards’ Rob Pannell and Ohio Machine’s Logan Schuss were more important to their teams, Law was the best rookie for this team. He has the ability to run the offense or become a complementary piece to the likes of the league’s Most Improved Player in Drew Snider and the league’s top point man in Chris Bocklet. However, Law was no slouch as he ranked fifth on the team in points with 34 and did so in just nine games. He also had six games of four or more points, including three five point efforts and one seven point effort to end the season. Be prepared to hear Law’s name plenty as he has proved to be an integral piece to this Outlaw offense.
Defensively, Brian Megill has been a steady force in the defensive midfield at the long pole position and provides this team with the speed and athleticism to create transition from the defensive side of the field. He also has a nose for the ball as he scooped up 26 ground balls on the season. Lastly, Robert Ferguson returns to help the Outlaws on defense. After playing in the first couple of games of the season, he did not appear until the last two games of the season. At 5’9” and 210 pounds he is small but strong enough to not be backed down. He also has a good nose for the ball as he had 14 ground balls in the four games played and will likely spell Megill if needed.
Meanwhile, for the Charlotte Hounds, the youth movement is one of the reasons why the Hounds are at championship weekend. This squad features seven rookies who all have made impacts on this team. The midfield is one of this team’s strengths both offensively and defensively. Mike Sawyer and Jake Tripucka lead the group as they recorded 20 and 11 points respectively. Sawyer has a cannon of a shot that defenses have to respect, while Tripucka can take advantage of short stick defensive midfielders with his blend of size and athleticism. John Haus has emerged as a valuable contributor as well as he has shown the ability to both score and distribute.
Defensively, Josh Hawkins and Mason Poli have emerged as a great LSM-SSDM combo. Hawkins is athletic enough to stick with anyone and has the ability to provide some offensive punch if not picked up in transition, as evidenced by his two goals in the last week of the season. Poli, on the other hand, has been just as deadly offensively as he is as a defender. He has 11 points on the season, tops in the league for all defensemen, and just as many as fellow rookie attackman Matt White. Both players will be ones to keep an eye on especially with the Outlaws offense being up tempo. If they can turn stops into transition goals, the Hounds may be able to push the Outlaws to the unlikeliest of upsets.
Chesapeake Bayhawks vs Hamilton Nationals
While the second game of Championship Weekend won’t feature as many rookies as the first matchup of the day, there will be no shortage of rookies who will be contributing to the game’s outcome.
The Nationals have one of the top rookies from this year’s class in defenseman Tucker Durkin, who finished third in the league for Cascade Rookie of the Year honors. Durkin has established himself as one of the top defensemen in the league and a reason why the Nationals are as good as they are. He will have the tough task of keeping Drew Westervelt in check. If he can limit Westervelt to less than two points, the Nationals have a great chance of advancing to Sunday’s championship game.
In the midfield, Garret Thul and Mike Poppleton have been key contributors for the Nationals. Thul, when he has played, has provided a long range threat for the Nationals. Teaming up with MVP candidate Kevin Crowley really strikes fear in the hearts of the defense as both have three two-point goals this season. The two of them will keep the Bayhawks defense honest and open up dodging opportunities for attackmen Kevin Cunningham, Stephen Keogh and Cody Jamieson.
Poppleton, on the other hand, will have the upper hand in controlling the faceoff ‘X’ as he comes into the semifinal game with a higher faceoff percentage than Bayhawks faceoff man Adam Rand. Poppleton has also been a big reason for why the Nationals have turned things around as former faceoff man and current Bayhawk ,Matt Dolente, failed to be effective at the ‘X’ for the Nationals.
Meanwhile, the Bayhawks bring the fewest rookies to Championship Weekend. LSM Jesse Bernhardt has been asked to do anything and everything for the Bayhawks this season. He is versatile enough to play both pole and down low and was rewarded with Cascade Rookie of the Week honors back in Week 13 for his efforts in the Bayhawks win over the Rochester Rattlers. He will be an important part of helping the Bayhawks contain Kevin Crowley, Joe Walters and Co.
The only other rookie to see significant time is SSDM Dom Sebastiani who has provided hustle and grit to the defensive midfield unit and does many of the things that don’t appear in the boxscore. He may have a hard time keeping either Crowley or Walters in check as he will likely draw one of the two with Bernhardt defending one of them with the long pole.
