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They say any team can beat any other team in Major League Lacrosse, on any given Saturday… or Friday.. or Sunday, you get the point!
Going into the game, the Charlotte Hounds were tied with the Florida Launch for last place and the New York Lizards sat alone, undefeated, for the top spot.
It’s the games like these that make you wonder if having a dominant face-off man is even necessary. Greg Gurenlian won the first take of the game, but the effort ended up resulting in a Mike Chanenchuk goal for Charlotte. As far as I can tell, Gurenlian took all 28 draws for the Lizards and won 20 of them (over 71%!) over MLL All-Star Brendan Fowler.
It looks it all means nothing if your offense pulls 10 less SOG than the visiting team, I feel bad for a guy working that hard if his team isn’t working for him.
Well, maybe Drew Adams was. Making 22 saves in a Major League Lacrosse game is no easy feat, it’s a bummer that an effort like that doesn’t result in a win. Browse the gallery for some of Drew’s acrobatic saves captured in time.
The special teams for the Lizards were on point, it was the Rabil-less offense that couldn’t find a hero to save the game. Matt Gibson was the only NY attackman to tally a hat trick on Saturday. For the most part, the guys that should have scored, scored, but not in great numbers and not when the team needed it, aka the 1 goal fourth quarter.
You know who did make big plays when opportunity came knocking? Pierce Bassett and the Charlotte Hounds, that’s who!
Kevin Cunningham and Joey Sankey tightened up their backpacks and took the team with them. Sankey punched in 2 goals and earned 2 more assists to bring the Tar Heel grad to a silly 22 points in the only 4 games he’s played.
Cunningham had a huge night solidifying the Hounds victory and his hat-trick by scoring the final goal of the game with a little over 3 minutes remaining.
You want to know something else mighty exciting about this game? Two words: Coach fight!
Yep, Joe Spallina and Mike Cerino attempted to drop their metaphorical gloves, simultaneously being pulled apart by their squads as flags joined streams of water in the sky.
The on-field fireworks set the tone for an exciting outing as Breast Cancer Awareness night packed over 6k fans into Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium as the Lizards dawned pink-themed jerseys to support Susan G. Komen of Greater New York City.
I encourage you to place a bid on these unique uniforms, available for auction this week only!
Gallery
Community Links
- Hounds Snap Losing Streak, End Lizards’ Bid For Undefeated Season – (MLL.com)
- Lizards Suffer Setback as They Drop First of the Season Against Charlotte – (NYLizards.com)
Photo Credit: Jeff Melnik
