It was a week of upsets this past weekend in Major League Lacrosse. The Atlanta Blaze, New York Lizards and Dallas Rattlers all defeated higher-ranked opponents. Read our MLL Week 8 recap.
MLL Week 8 Recap
Atlanta Blaze – 15, Boston Cannons – 12
Talk about fireworks and offensive explosions. This game saw over 100 combined shots, with scores from over 16 different players on both teams and two Atlanta Blaze records being broken.
Will Sands led the Cannons in scoring with five points on the day, with Challen Rogers chipping in three of his own. The Blaze were led by Randy Staats’ two goals and six assists.
Staats’ six assists was one of two Atlanta Blaze records broken, as Staats set a record for most Blaze assists in a game. Randy Staats is four assists away from breaking the Blaze single-season record for assists. Shayne Jackson helped out with four goals and one assist of his own.
Alex Woodall, the former Towson-standout who was drafted by the now-defunct Ohio Machine in this year’s MLL Draft and who was later added by the Blaze, has tied the single-season record for ground balls at 78. It is a mark that he is sure to pass by the end of the season.
The Blaze would prove to be too much for the Cannons, as the final score read 15-12 for Atlanta.
New York Lizards – 14, Chesapeake Bayhawks – 10
The New York Lizards picked up their second-straight win against the Chesapeake Bayhawks, after this writer doubted the LIzards from having been at a 2-5 record previously, going against a top-team in the MLL. In fact, every single score prediction was wrong for this week. Just goes to show you can’t trust journalists. ;) ANYWAY, moving on…
Rob Pannell, Ryan Walsh and Justin Reh all scored hat tricks to help lift the Lizards over the Bayhawks. New York jumped out to a 10-4 lead at halftime, thanks to an explosive second quarter with scores by Nick Gollaso, Dylan Molloy, Kevin Crowley and Ben Randall.
Austin Kaut had 13 saves for the Lizards in the winning effort.
Lyle Thompson had two goals and an assist for the Bayhawks, who were also led by Colin Heacock with three goals for the game.
Each team will take a rest as the league gets ready for the 2019 MLL All-Star game.
Dallas Rattlers – 11, Denver Outlaws – 8
If there’s one thing that Dallas has been this season, it’s consistent. That being said, the Rattlers picked up their first win of the season and broke the streak that has lasted since last year’s MLL Championship game. In fact, this game was a rematch of said game, this time with a different result.
While the face of the league certainly has changed with a rearranging of talent across the league as some players left for the PLL, it was, undoubtedly, Dallas seeking for revenge this game.
This was the first home loss for the Outlaws, who are now 6-2 on the season, but still hold onto the No. 1 spot in the league heading into the All-Star break.
Rookie goalkeeper Sean Sconone had 20 saves on 28 shots on the day, which was certainly an incredible performance. Bryce Wasserman and Jack Curran each had three points to lead the Rattlers’ offense.
The Rattlers will look to take on the Blaze on August 3.
