There were a lot of great games in the MLL this season, especially during MLL Championship Weekend. Now that the season has crowned the Chesapeake Bayhawks with their second straight MLL title and fifth in franchise history, let’s take a look back at the Top 10 MLL games of this past season.
1. Denver Outlaws vs Charlotte Hounds 8/24
The first semifinal game of the 2013 MLL Championship Weekend was anything but a sure thing. It was also the truest form of David (Outlaws) vs Goliath (Hounds) and carried some historical significance with it as well. Despite what everyone predicted, the Hounds slung their metaphorical rock as hard as they could and took down the undefeated Outlaws 17-14.
Besides the fact that the Hounds, a bunch of rookies, defeated the unbeaten Outlaws and stopped their quest for a perfect season, the Hounds looked like the top seeded team. They jumped out to a 8-2 lead after the first quarter, aided by two point goals from rookie Mike Sawyer and veteran Matt Danowski. The Outlaws tried making a run and got to as close as 14-12 in the fourth quarter but the lead the Hounds built up proved to be insurmountable, even for the mighty Outlaws offense.
2. Denver Outlaws vs Hamilton Nationals 8/10
This game is part of the Top 10 more because of historical significance than the actual game itself. The Denver Outlaws came into the game looking to complete the first undefeated season in MLL history. The Outlaws did just that by beating the Nationals 18-12 in the last regular season game and remain undefeated. Chris Bocklet and Drew Snider each had five points in the win, while rookie Eric Law showed he could handle the offensive duties by recording seven points on the afternoon.
3. Denver Outlaws vs Hamilton Nationals 6/8
In an early season matchup between the two teams, we got a glimpse of how special this Denver Outlaws team could, and eventually, would be this season. The Outlaws seemed unstoppable as they won 22-9. They showcased their dominant offense that would feature one 50-point scorer (Chris Bocklet), three 40-point scorers (Drew Snider, Brendan Mundorf, Jeremy Sieverts) and two 30-point scorers (Terry Kimener and Eric Law) to go along with a stout defense that would feature both the Defensive Player of the Year in Lee Zink and the Goalie of the Year in Jesse Schwartzman.
4. Boston Cannons vs Chesapeake Bayhawks 7/18
This game was an instant classic as it featured fantastic action, the biggest names in the MLL, old and new, and of course, an overtime thriller. The Cannons came into the game on a hot streak after a slow start to the season and the Bayhawks were in a battle for the title of the second best team in the league.
After a slow first quarter, the second quarter featured much more scoring and the half ended with the Cannons up 6-3. The third quarter then saw the two team trade scoring runs with the Bayhawks going up 8-6 and then the Cannons ending the quarter with a three goal run to go up 9-8 after three quarters. The fourth quarter was one of the more mild ones of the season as the Cannons were up 12-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Then Drew Westervelt scored with a couple of minutes left to cut the lead to one. The big play came with five seconds left as Casey Powell, who was making his season debut, scored to tie the game at 12 and send it to overtime.
In overtime Hunt assisted Westervelt on a powerplay to give the Bayhawks a 13-12 win and the Cannons first loss in four games.
5. Hamilton Nationals vs Chesapeake Bayhawks 6/1
Little did we know that this would be a preview of one of the semifinal games from MLL Championship Weekend. However, this game featured a great early season matchup between the two squads. The Nationals beat the Bayhawks 12-11 in overtime as Jordan Hall scored 1:55 in overtime to win the game.
The game also gave fans a preview of how good both teams were, especially on offense. The Nationals were already featuring the future league MVP in Kevin Crowley and the league leader in assists in Joe Walters. However, in this game, Stephen Keogh and Kevin Cunningham had five points each for the Nationals and Matt Mackrides had four points for the Bayhawks.
Finally, the game was close throughout with neither team earning more than a two goal lead.
6. Boston Cannons vs Chesapeake Bayhawks 5/18
In an early season matchup between two teams who were thought to compete for an MLL Championship, the game did not disappoint with both teams never having a lead larger than one goal. It was a great back and forth contest between the two and ended with the Cannons earning their first victory of the season four weeks in. The first quarter ended with the Cannons up 4-3 and then the second quarter saw both teams score four goals. The third quarter saw Chesapeake outscore the Cannons 5-4 to knot things up at 12 before both teams scored two goals each in the fourth quarter.
Then Ryan Boyle scored the game-winner in the overtime period to help the Cannons to their first win, which proved vital as they would start the season 1-5 before winning four games in a row.
7. Denver Outlaws vs Chesapeake Bayhawks 7/27
A late season matchup between the two teams with possibly the best chance of winning the MLL Championship was a great game. Also the Bayhawks were probably the best team in the MLL to challenge the Outlaws and stop them from accomplishing an unbeaten season. The Outlaws, however, proved their metal in a close game and beat the Bayhawks 14-12 and showed that they could win close games as well as the blowout ones that they had become accustomed to winning.
8. Charlotte Hounds vs Chesapeake Bayhawks 6/22
Raise your hand if you thought this game was going to be a preview of the MLL Championship game. Put them down because you are all lying. In an early season matchup between the two teams, the Hounds prevailed in overtime 16-15 thanks to a Ryan Young goal with 1:24 having gone by the extra session. The Hounds were led by Danowski’s huge seven point effort, four of which came on two point goals. This game proved the Hounds could play with the league’s best despite their youth on the team.
9. Hamilton Nationals vs Charlotte Hounds 5/17
The game wasn’t close the entire team as both teams outscored each other by three goals in each of the first three quarters of the game. But that is what makes it so entertaining. The game was back and forth with lots of action and scoring, which is what the fans love. Both teams went on huge runs and you couldn’t keep your eyes off the field in fear of missing the next goal. Hamilton ended up winning in overtime 16-15 as Matthew Dolente, the unlikeliest of players, won the faceoff and won the game seven seconds in. Talk about excitement and an unexpected result. Who would’ve thought would be the hero Dolente, especially on a team of as many offensive weapons as the Nationals had this season.
10. Boston Cannons vs Charlotte Hounds 7/6
Charlotte played in three overtime games and four of our Top 10 greatest games of the season, so maybe it wasn’t a stretch to see that this team would make it to the MLL Championship game. This game was also important as both teams were 4-5 at this point in the season and had potential playoff implications down the line. The game showed that significance as the Hounds went into yet another overtime contest, however, were on the losing end this time as newly acquired Stephen Berger scored the game-winner off a pass from Paul Rabil.
Boston looked like it was running away with the game in the first quarter as they went up 4-1 after the first. However, Charlotte stormed back outscoring the Cannons 6-5 in the following quarter. Charlotte would then outscore the Cannons 5-2 in the next quarter, followed by the Cannons winning the quarter 5-4 and force overtime.
The game featured back and forth action and huge scoring runs by both teams.
