What an amazing Memorial Day Weekend of college (and also MLL!) lacrosse! Don’t sleep on Major League Lacrosse, especially now that the college season is done and in the books!
MLL Stock Report is a week by week look at several of the stand out units, players, and moments in Major League Lacrosse, as well as a few things that stood out in the negative.
Grades are given like stocks are traded, with ratings on a scale of +/- 10. For example, the lack of up-to-date MLL video on YouTube would be a -10 right now.
I’m putting the spotlight on the things that stood out throughout the weekend’s match ups as well as giving you some bets for the upcoming weekend. It’s all for fun. I like betting, I’m just not a big gambler. There’s a difference!
Also, here’s a video of Scott Ratliff dropping SEVEN points, with a long pole:
Memorial Day Weekend MLL Stock Report
+10.0 God Bless America: I’m biased as can be and I don’t care. I am putting US Army Captain Jeremy Boltus and his 4 goals at the top of the list. It was Memorial Day weekend after all and we can never do enough to thank our soldiers. Plus he earned it!
+8.8 Law Degree: I tweeted it out during the game and it’s a great question but how many more points per game does Eric Law get when he is on the field with John Grant Jr vs without? Law’s innate ability to find the openings in defenses or to catch his man ball watching is special. He beat up a Boston defense that was clearly missing Chad Wiedmaier. It was also that Law never really had to shoot to score 5 goals that was so impressive. Most of his shots were dunks.
+6.5 Not So Fast: I commented two weeks ago that Jack Kelly would come in and take the Outlaws goalie job without a fight if he chooses to play this season. That was before Ryan Laplante had the game he needed badly against Boston. He wasn’t forced to make too many difficult saves but he made all the easy ones and it was more than enough to lock up the win.
+6.4 Fit for a King: When Rochester drafted Jesse King last year, I moaned and groaned and was flat pissed. I figured he would never suit up for an MLL team and that it was a total waste of a pick on a team loaded with midfielders. Fast forward a season where Rochester gave away as many midfielders as they could and King was now suiting up and very much needed. He did a ton of damage to the Bayhawks defense without having the ball in his stick very much. He is a perfect complement to play alongside the Jordan’s (Wolf and Macintosh). Rochester looked like a tough team in this game.
+4.5 All Effort: While his LaxHub snap chat was kind of a dud, I will say Matt Bocklett played absolutely amazing in this game. He was tough on the wing, strong on defense and just went all out all game long. He stood out a number of times in this game. On the other side of the field, Boston didn’t win the game but it wasn’t because of Josh Hawkins or Brent Adams. Adams was instant offense and sparked transition and Hawkins will be in Thomas Kelly’s nightmares from what he did to him after every faceoff all game long.
+2.0 More Bias: Tim Barber got his first MLL goal. It wasn’t overly flashy but the Cuse product looked good in… orange.
-1.1 Rubix Cube: Watching Chesapeake one week and they look like world beaters who veterans will carry them back to championship contention. The next week they look a step to slow and almost bored. They played good in this game but they were missing that spark, that youthful energy that is going to be needed long term.
-3.0 Slow Bleed: Boston should be 0-3 in their last three games. They got a miracle win against the Rattlers to prevent it. The offense doesn’t have a deep threat and at times looks one dimensional but the problems are on defense. If you saw the sports science video with Drew Adams you got to see what goalies go through. Tyler Fiorito was left out to dry by his defense in this game. They were slow to react and didn’t go with authority when they did slide. Still the biggest culprit is below.
-8.8 School Yard Bully: Michael Pellegrino, Rule #1 you don’t slide off Drew Snider. Rule #2 You NEVER slide off Drew Snider. The announcers were in shock that Snider was quiet in the first half, then he got Pellegrino on him. He wasn’t called for any penalties but the Ref’s missed the late hit in the back he had on Eric Law. Pellegrino wants to be a tough guy badass (Jawing with John Grant Jr = bad idea) but his play is hurting his team. By quick count he was directly/indirectly beaten for 6 maybe 7 goals in this game.
Week 7 MLL Stock Locks
Ohio draws 2 this week as they play Thursday and Saturday. First heading to Rochester before getting the Launch at home. Both teams they face have greatly improved talent wise since the start of the season but Ohio is still king. They should take both on the weekend. Ohio -1.5 vs Rochester, -3.5 vs Florida
New York is going to flex its muscles on Denver. Denver had a great game against Boston but still does not have the horses to keep up with New York. New York -4.5
Atlanta, who will welcome in some stunners this weekend, heads up to Boston to play a Cannons team that needs a win badly. The trouble is Atlanta is last year’s Boston team while Boston is trying to be last year’s team. The atmosphere in the Cannons locker room has changed. This game hinges on Davey Emala, He is going to need at least 4 points for Boston to get the win and they will have to keep Scott Ratliff off the board. Blaze -1.5
This weekend we will find out who is real and who got to look good for a few weeks as the Hounds play the Bayhawks. With the season still young it’s early to call anything a must win but to make the playoffs in the MLL you need to win the games that you should win. If either of these teams is a playoff team, this is a needed win. Charlotte welcomes in a lot of new firepower and should find a way to have the rookie of the week. Hounds -2.5
Get ready for a continually wild ride with Major League Lacrosse. It’s nothing if not enjoyable!
