The Charlotte Hounds won the final game of their inaugural 2012 season Saturday night, beating the Rochester Rattlers 15-14 in front of a crowd of 6,034 at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. Matt Danowski was name Bud Light Player of the Game for his five point performance which included two 2-point goals.
The Rattlers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind goals from Rob Rotanz, Jordan MacIntosh and Roy Lang. But the Hounds got on the board as Eric Lusby, playing in just his second MLL game, found the back of the net after a skip pass from Justin Turri. Danowski would follow up with his first 2-point goal to tie the game at 3-3. It also was the 100th goal of Danowski’s MLL career. The run continued as Kyle Wimer scored to give the Hounds their first lead of the game at 4-3. The lead was extended to 5-3 as Lusby tallied his second of the game, but the Rattlers’ Kevin Drew was left open on the arc and ripped a 2-point shot to tie the game 5-5 at the end of the first.
The teams traded goals to start the second and Lang gave the Rattlers a 7-6 lead with 10:56 remaining in the half. However, back-to-back 2-pointers by Danowski and the long pole Ricky Pages would put the Hounds up 10-7 on the Rattlers. The Hounds extended that lead to 13-7 going into the half, with goals from Billy Bitter, Brian Carroll and Stephen Berger.
The Rattlers started the third with back-to-back goals, including the third of the night for Rotanz, to pull within 13-9 of the Hounds. Danowski then tallied his third of the night to put the Hounds up 14-9, but the Rattlers would end the quarter with another set of back-to-backs, including Rotanz’ fourth of the night, to bring the Hounds lead down to 14-11.
Momentum stayed with the Ratters briefly, as Matt Striebel ripped a 2-point goal on the man-up to pull the game within one for the Rattlers at 14-13. After some unsportsmanlike penalties got handed out for a heated moment between Joe Cinosky and Kevin Leveille, the Hounds responded with a goal from Wimer to regain the 15-13 advantage. Lang then scored his third of the night, but it wasn’t enough for the Rattlers, as the Hounds held on for the 15-14 win.
The victory wraps up a 5-9 inaugural season for the Charlotte expansion team, and also is the team’s second straight win. Tickets for the 2013 season, which begins in April and includes the MLL All-Star Game, are already on sale.
Boston Secures Playoff Spot With Come-From-Behind Victory
DELAWARE, Ohio - Attackman Ryan Boyle scored two goals and added a game-high four assists as the defending Major League Lacrosse champion Boston Cannons overcame a two-point half-time deficit to earn an 18-16 victory over the Ohio Machine at Selby Stadium on Saturday evening.
With the win, the Cannons secured the third seed in the 2012 MLL Championship Weekend presented by Warrior and will face the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the second semi-final at Harvard Stadium on Saturday, August 25 at approximately 4 p.m.
After the teams traded goals three times in the first 12 minutes of the game, the Cannons used back-to-back goals from attackman Matt Poskay and midfielder Mike Stone to claim a 5-4 lead just 35 seconds into the second quarter.
Rookie attackman Joe Cummings tied the game at 5-5 with an unassisted goal just under a minute later before the Cannons answered with three straight goals over a three-minute span to extend the advantage to 8-5.
The teams exchanged goals before the Machine put together a six-goal run to take a 13-9 lead with 8:02 remaining in the third quarter. Cummings and rookie attackman Steele Stanwick each scored twice during the run.
However, the Cannons answered by scoring six of the next seven goals to take a 16-14 lead with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter. Attackman Kevin Buchanan scored twice during the run while Boyle added a goal with an assist.
The Machine responded with back-to-back goals from attackmen Connor Martin and Jim Connolly to tie the game at 16-16, but Buchanan and Poskay tallied back-to-back goals to give Boston a two-point advantage it did not relinquish.
While Boyle led the Cannons with his six-point performance, Poskay added three goals with an assist. Buchanan and Stone each contributed three goals while midfielder John Ortolani won 22 of 36 face-offs with 10 ground balls.
Connolly and Cummings each scored three goals in a losing effort for Ohio while Martin contributed two goals with an assist.
Hamilton Ends Season on Positive Note With 18-8 Victory
HAMILTON, Ontario, Canada - Midfielder Rhys Duch scored five goals and added two assists as the Hamilton Nationals ended the season by earning an 18-8 Major League Lacrosse victory over the Long Island Lizards at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday evening.
Despite the loss, the Lizards earned the fourth seed in the 2012 MLL Championship Weekend presented by Warrior and will face top-seeded Denver in the first semi-final on Saturday, August 25 at 1 p.m. at Harvard Stadium.
After rookie attackman Tommy Palasek gave Long Island a quick 1-0 lead in the first 80 seconds of the opening quarter, the Nationals tallied six unanswered goals, including a two-point goal from midfielder Donny Moss, to take a commanding 7-1 lead with 11:01 left in the second quarter.
With 7:58 remaining in the first half, midfielder Stephen Peyser scored an unassisted goal to trim the deficit to 7-2 before the Nationals added three consecutive goals, upping their advantage to 10-2 with 3:50 left.
A pair of goals, including a two-point marker from Peyser, narrowed the Lizards' deficit to 10-5 at the intermission.
Led by a goal and an assist from Duch, the Nationals expanded their advantage to 13-5 by scoring three consecutive goals to begin the third quarter. However, the Lizards answered with a pair of goals, including a two-point marker from attackman Max Seibald, to close the gap to 13-8 with 14:36 remaining in regulation.
However, the Nationals put the game out of reach by scoring five goals in a row, including a goal and an assist from midfielder Joe Walters.
Duch, who was named as the Bud Light MLL Player of the Game, led the Nationals with his seven-point performance while Walters contributed a goal with four assists.
Peyser led the Lizards with two goals, including a two-point marker, in a losing effort.
Denver Rallies to Earn Championship Weekend's Top Seed
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Attackman Brendan Mundorf scored three goals and added two assists as the Denver Outlaws (11-3) secured the top seed for the 2012 Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend presented by Warrior after earning a 15-13 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks (10-4) in front of 10,420 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Outlaws, who set a team record by winning their 11th game, will face the Long Island Lizards in the first semi-final on Saturday, August 25 at 1 p.m. at Harvard Stadium. Meanwhile, the Bayhawks claimed the second seed for the postseason and will face the defending MLL champion Boston Cannons in the second semi-final at approximately 4 p.m.
The Bayhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game with a pair of goals, including a two-point marker from midfielder Kyle Dixon. After Mundorf closed the gap to 3-1, the Bayhawks added back-to-back markers from Dixon and attackman Drew Westervelt to increase their advantage to 5-1 with 9:05 left in the period.
Rookie attackman Mark Matthews closed the deficit to 5-2 by scoring off a Mundorf feed before the Bayhawks used a pair of goals from Westervelt and attackman John Grant, Jr. to expand their lead to 7-2 with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter.
However, the Outlaws put together an impressive five-goal effort in the second quarter to tie the score at 7-7. Rookie attackman Chris Bocklet scored two goals during the run while Matthews added his second goal of the first half.
The Bayhawks regained their lead with 10:27 remaining in the third quarter when Dixon scored his second two-point goal of the game, giving Chesapeake a 9-7 advantage. Dixon's goal also snapped a 21-minute scoring drought for the Bayhawks.
But, midfielder Peet Poillon tied the game for Denver just over three minutes later when he scored on a two-point goal. After Dixon scored his second goal of the quarter to give Chesapeake a 10-9 edge, the Outlaws took an 11-10 lead on back-to-back goals from Bocklet and Matthews.
The Bayhawks answered with a pair of goals from midfielders Steven Brooks and Ben Hunt to reclaim the one-point advantage at 12-11 with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter before midfielder Justin Pennington evened the score at 12-12 off an assist from attackman Terry Kimener with 35 seconds left.
Led by a goal and an assist from Mundorf, the Outlaws used three straight goals to build a 15-12 advantage in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
With 6:45 remaining, attackman Ben Rubeor narrowed the gap to 15-13 with an unassisted goal, but the Bayhawks were unable to get any closer.
While Mundorf earned Bud Light MLL Player of the Game honors for the Outlaws with his five-point performance, Matthews added three goals with an assist for the Outlaws, who were outshot by a 48-43 margin.
Dixon led the Bayhawks in a losing effort by scoring four goals, including a pair of two-point markers, with an assist. He finished the regular season with an MLL-record 15 two-point goals. Westervelt and Rubeor each scored twice for the Bayhawks.
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