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mll week 5
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MLL Week 5 – The Stock Report

Welcome to the Stock Report for MLL Week 5! 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.

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!

MLL Week 5 Stock Report

+9.5 Records Broken: I am still waiting on official confirmation but I have no doubt that Scott Ratliff’s 7 points is the record in a game for a long pole. Not only did he drop a hat trick but 2 of those goals were 2 pointers. He made beating Florida look easy, but more on that later.

+9.2 Chirps: What Rob Pannell did to the Hounds can’t be underscored. The only thing better than watching him drop 8 goals was The Beast Tweeting about it after.

+8.8 Protect This House: Graeme Hossack was a beast for Atlanta. He owned the matchup with Lyle Thompson and forced an otherworldly 6 turnovers in the game. That is true Beast mode.

+8.0 Holmes on Holmes: He got a player of the game a few weeks ago for holding Kieran McArdle scoreless but Steve Holmes has been a monster all season. With New York missing Joe Fletcher all Holmes did was match feet with Joey Sankey. Sure, Sankey made a few plays but Holmes’ play kept the win in New York’s pocket.

+6.6 A Good Vet: Joe Walters, Drew Westervelt, Brendan Mundorf, and Matt Danowski combined for 23 points against the Outlaws. That’s 4 more than the Outlaws scored. The ability these guys have to complement each other is bar none. They all have spots they love to shoot from and are deadly when given time, it’s amazing how they are able to get to those spots so easy when working together.

+6.3 All For ONE: Ohio looked like a complete team this weekend but I’m giving credit to the defense. They shut down Boston’s 6 on 6 offense and dictated all the shots Boston took. Scotty Rodgers had what might have been his best game as a pro behind them also. It was a huge, and  dominating, performance.

+4.3 Swagger: The Hounds didn’t win against New York but they played with an attitude and aggression they have not shown in a few seasons. In past years they would have folded when New York went on a 6 goal run instead they came out of the half and dominated New York for the first 10 minutes of the 3rd. With Sankey, Kevin Cunningham and Stephen Keogh playing so well what will Charlotte do with them once Ryan Brown and Dylan Donahue join the team? It’s a good problem to have.

+4.0 Wash, Rinse, and Repeat: The Blaze attack unit is playing as well as anyone in the league right now. This week Josh Dionne looked more comfortable than he has in an MLL uniform to date. He fits in well with Kevin Rice and Randy Staats as a complimentary scorer, and when your third attackman is nabbing a hat trick, things are going well. Atlanta has looked energized the last two weeks and they now welcome a lot of talented rookies.

-1.1 Wet Powder: The Cannons faced their toughest test of the season to date and it wasn’t pretty. They got knocked off their game at both ends of the field, and this was despite winning big at the faceoff X. I would bank on it being an aberration and not the norm for this team going forward.

-6.6 Mile High Problems: Denver will get help from rookies very soon and it couldn’t come soon enough. They don’t know who to play in goal, they are a mess sliding and recovering on defense and the offense has little to no spark aside from Drew Snider and Jeremy Sieverts.

-10.0 A-fib: it is very tough to make trips to Boca and be 0-5. The Launch appeared to be going through the motions more than attempting to win this week. It’s tough because the Launch has the parts, they are better than they have played on both ends but they need to figure it out because it’s not looking good right now. I hate to put them here again because the run they had at the end of last season was fun.

Week 6 MLL Locks

Only two games this weekend as Memorial day is more known for College lacrosse.

This weekend we see some bounce back. Look for the Rattlers to get their first win as they are finally at home for the first time this season. If Rochester is going to win a big game will be needed from Jordan Macintosh (3+ points) and Jessie King (2-3 points), as the Rattlers midfield has been without bite the first 3 games.

Denver will be better. If Boston wasn’t coming off a bad loss I would even take the Outlaws as the shocking upset in this. Still a trip out to Denver is never an easy one and I desperately want to see some closer standing. Screw it Denver is the pick.