The New York Lizards have struggled this year at putting the ball in the net. They have consistently struggled to put up the needed points to win games. The Lizards are sitting in sixth place at the moment with a record of 3-5. Their wins have come against the Boston Cannons, the Ohio Machine, and a big upset win over the Hamilton Nationals.
Unfortunately for the Lizards they haven’t been able to score more than 14 goals this season. Normally this would not be a point of concern for most teams but when you play in the MLL where every team is capable of scoring 15-20 goals a game, it starts to make a team worry about scoring. The Lizard’s leading scorer is Tommy Palasek with 18 points (14g, 4a). Palasek has been the only consistent threat for the Lizards going into the All- Star break.
Most offensive problems in lacrosse come from the clearing game. The Lizards have been having problems for most of the season when it comes to the clear. They rank as one of the lowest teams in clearing percentage. This correlates down to the offensive end of the field where the Lizards have the second worst shooting percentage and the number of shots are also second to last in the league.
The addition of Rob Pannell has given the asset less Lizards an real chance of turning this season around coming down the stretch. Pannell, in four games, has 16 points. He gives the Lizards the ability to have an all around great lacrosse player on the field and coupling him with Palasek and Mark Mathews, as the third attackmen, adds a legitimate attacking power.
The Lizards will need to improve through the clearing game and shot selection for the rest of the season. Also they will need to capitalize on the offensive chances they gain from Greg Gurenlian at the face- off x. He has the highest face-off winning percentage in the league and has a better percentage, by himself, than every other team.
There is hope in New York in the second half of the year. With a little tweaking and adjustments they could easily be a force to be reckoned with come the end of the season.
