WIth playoffs are on the horizon, the last few games of the MLL 2013 regular season will draw much more attention as wins and losses become crucial to the final seeding for championship weekend in Philadelphia. Denver will take on Chesapeake, Rattlers visit the Lizards, Hounds travel to Ohio and the Nationals host the Cannons.
Denver vs Chesapeake
The first place Outlaws are undefeated at 11-0 with the defending champion Bayhawks sitting 7-4. Last time these two teams met, Denver took home a 13-9 victory. There are a lot of players to watch heading into this game. Denver has a plethora of studs and talent taking the field in Jesse Schwartzman, Lee Zink, the Bocklet brothers, Drew Snider, Eric Law, Brendan Mundorf, Anthony Kelly and the list goes on. The Bocklet brothers lead their team in two categories. Chris has control over the points with 44 and Matt has scooped up the most ground balls with 63. Zink will probably draw Powell (if he decides to suit up), giving fans a fight for the ages. Snider and Jeremy Sieverts control the midfield with a combined 70 points, giving the Bayhawk d-mids and LSM’s something to worry about. Law and Mundorf work well together, including Bocklet, and make any close defense rethink what they’re going to do. Scwartzman leads the league in save percentage with .606, with 140 saves, 91 goals against, only two two pointers and a 9.26 goals against average. Him and Turner are one and two for MLL starting goalies, making this a game of which goalie can stand on their feet the longest.
Returning to the MLL last week and making an immediate impact for his squad was Casey Powell. The 37 year old picked up three goals and an assist, including the game tying goal to head into overtime. With Powell comes offensive powers John Grant Jr, Drew Westervelt, Matt Mackrides, Kyle Dixon, Ben Rubeor, Ben Hunt, Michael Kimmel, Steven Brooks, and young Kevin Cooper. Matt Abbott is one to watch with his speed, agility and transition skills. LSM’s Barney Ehrmann and rookie Jesse Bernhardt will have to be outstanding as they take on the powerful Outlaw midfield. Adam Rand will have his work cut out for him going up against big man Anthony Kelly at the face-off X. Nicky Polanco, Brian Spallina, and Michael Evans will be busy with Mundorf, Bocklet and Law. Kip Turner made 19 saves in their last meeting, making his job this time around that much more dire.
Rochester at New York
It’s the second battle of New York this season, with the sixth place Rattlers having the 1-0 edge over the seventh place Lizards. Ned Crotty and Rob Pannell are the two top attack men you will want to watch. These two make things happen. Pannell, a little more selfish than Crotty, can and will put up points, especially now with Cornell teammate Steve Mock in the picture. Crotty has the company of Kevin Leveille, who suffered a broken finger versus Hamilton but hasn’t let that stop him.
The midfield is where the Rattlers do most of their scoring with Matt Striebel, Jordan Macintosh, John Ranagan, Dave Lawson and Rob Rotanz, combining for 75 points. Striebel leads the middies with 22 points, including five two point goals and Macintosh takes the helm on the squad for goals (17), closely followed by rookie Ranagan (14). While Crotty nabs the top spot in points (27) and assists (15).
Pannell has recorded 29 points this season, with Tommy Palasek at 20. Midifelders Stephen Peyser and David Earl have helped out on offense, putting together 19 goals and 4 assists with Peysers one two point goal. Max Seibald has stepped in since his foot injury kept him out, putting in five goals, two assists and two two-pointers, tying Steve Waldek’s 2 two-point goals for most on the team. greg Gurenlian leads the team in ground balls with 76 and the league in face-offs with .615 percentage at the draw, going 174-278 so far this season. Powerplays are neither teams strengths as Roch has converted only 25 percent and NY turning over an 18.75 percent.
Defense will play a big factor in this game. Both teams have been struggling in that area, especially penalty killing as they sit in the last two spots with Rochester letting up 17 goals and New York at 21. Their penalty kill percentage is also low, with the Lizards at 58.82 and Rattlers sitting in last at 52.78. Goalies will play a huge role in this game in Drew Adams (NY) and John Galloway (ROCH). They are the number four and five goalies in the league with Galloway just one above Adams. Drew has let in 20 more goals than John, but has 17 more saves, and both have had seven two-pointers slip past them. Rochester is letting up 11.82 goals against, with New York allowing 12.34. LSM’s CJ Costabile (NY) and Joel White (ROCH) will have to contribute on both ends of the field. This will be a close game as it was in the first round and will come down to who’s defense can last the longest.
Charlotte @ Ohio
The Machine have only lost by one goal to the number one and two teams and have really shown that they can play. Eric O’Brien has stepped up tremendously at the face-off X, going 105-235. He will duke it out with Tim Fallow who has won 141-325 draws. Charlotte has weapons are all over the field, including their goalie, Adam Ghitelman, who has a goal and two assists. LSM Mason Poli can provide transitional and settled offense points as he has recorded five goals and four assists since joining the Hounds. Defense’s have no room to slack off with the amount of fire power the will be at both ends of the field. Loyola duo Mike Sawyer and Eric Lusby will wreak havoc, including Peet Poillon, Ryan Young and team leader Matt Danowski. Coach Davis’ squad won’t shy away with Steele Stanwick quarterbacking his team, along with Logan Schuss, Joe Cummings, Marcus Holman, Kiel Matisz and LSM Kyle Hartzell. Ohio has a chance to play spoiler here to the Hounds’ first playoff appearance, as Charlotte has to win out the rest of the season.
Hamilton vs Boston
This game has potential to be a dog fight. Boston is riding the fine line of a playoff birth, where as Hamilton is trying to keep themselves ahead of the pack. The big gun midfielders for the Nationals in Kevin Crowley and Joe Walters give defenses nightmares. Kevin Cunningham came out of no where this season and has put on a show at attack. Stephen Keogh and Cody Jamieson are starting to pick up the pace. Brodie Merrill is still dominant a the LSM position on both defense and offense and will give his opponent a hard time.
Boston’s offense has acquired new life. Paul Rabil leads the league with 43 points. Mike Stone is making his name known more and more. Matt Poskay is the power play finisher for Boston. Ryan Boyle is still quarterbacking his team, with help from Kevin Buchanan and rookie Will Manny. Cameron Flint has mad egis presence known, along with newly obtained Stephen Berger. Chris Eck has won 180-303 draws, which will be a game changer going up against Hamilton’s Mike Poppleton (71-159).
The Nationals are anchored down on defense by Merrill, Matt Lovejoy, Tucker Durkin, Sid Smith, Dana Wilber, MJ Kiekebelt and goaltender Brett Queener. Not to mention the Roy Lang keeps defenses on their toes with his ability to transition. On the other end of the field, Jordan burke is a top tier goaltender in the league and has Kyle Sweeney, PT Ricci, Scott Ratliff, Brian Ferrell, Matt Smalley, Brent Adams and Mitch Belisle in front of him. It’ll be a busy day for the defenses, especially with Hamilton’s number one power play squad and the Cannons second ranked penalty kill unit.
