Week 2 of the MLL season is in the books, and we are starting to learn a little bit more about each team. I am still not making any conclusions about anyone just yet, but teams like Ohio and Denver are picking up where they left off last season.
So let’s take a look at last week’s game, some news from the week and a short peek into this weekend’s games.
Rochester 10, Florida 12
Rochester’s first game did not have the same type of rust I saw on other teams from a week ago. Where they did struggle was in their chemistry on offense. They relied almost exclusively on dodging to create shots. A far cry from the heavy ball movement Rattlers we’re used to seeing. According to Joe Keegan from MoneyBallLacrosse.com, the Rattlers shot just 15% of the catch last week, compared to 37.2% a year ago. On top of that, their 15% is dead last in the league.
Bright spots for them were Drew Simoneau going 20-26 at the X. The Launch did lose FOGO Will Gural part of the way through, but he was only 5-17 on his own. On Defense the Rattlers were OK, but they need their trio of Galloway, White, and Manley back sooner rather than later.
For the Launch, not enough can be said about Chazz Woodson. Apparently since John Grant Jr. retired, Mr. Woodson has decided that the MLL still needs a #24 in the weekly highlight reel and then he is the man for the job. Each time he touches the ball, something spectacular is ready to happen.
Boston 10, Atlanta 13
In Adam Ghitleman’s first game with the Blaze, he played well early on and helped secure the team’s first win of the season. This was also the first test for the Blaze to see how they performed without Kevin Rice, as he is out for a few weeks.
Atlanta still had a high assist percentage, but they were pretty evenly distributed. They definitely are not better without Rice, but they can still make the plays needed to win.
For Boston, this was not an ideal outcome. After Will Manny’s heroics last week, he was held to just a single goal and assist. In fact, most of the Cannons’ attack was held to very limited production. The only players on the team who had more than a goal were Joe LoCascio and Alex Zomerfeld, which are usually not who you would pick as Cannons leading scorers. Without Max Seibald in the lineup though, somebody needed to step up. They just did not step up quite high enough.
Ohio 15, Charlotte 12
The Machine moved to 2-0 with the win over the Hounds, but it did not look good early. Until about five minutes left in the first quarter, it felt like Ohio and never even touched the ball. Charlotte was truly dominant early on. Once the Machine found the back of the net, it turned into a game. They went on a run to end the quarter and then it was back and forth for the rest of the time.
Charlotte is looking like a team to be reckoned with. They have nearly their entire roster, and will only improve with the draft in a few weeks. Ohio on the other hand, will make significant improvements through the draft, NLL season ending, and when the injury big goes away. Right now, the Machine are looking good to stay on top of the league for a while.
Denver 13, New York 7
Even though New York scored first, this game tuned into all Denver very quickly. Somewhat reminiscent of their semifinal game from a year ago, Denver took advantage of every lapse new York had. There were a few times where Denver would make an easy dodge and there would be absolutely no slide to the middle of the field. Denver is good enough as it is, plays like that just make it too easy.
Denver scoring 13 did not surprise me, though. New York only scoring 7 is what did. Denver’s defense is in slight rebuilding mode after some retirements, but New York offense is lethal. Everybody out there can make plays, but it just was not happening. Rabil went 0/10, Kyle Hartzel and Greg Gurenlian accounted for 1/3 of their goals scored, and they were blanked for the entire third quarter. That is not a recipe for success.
The Draft!
The front office announced the details for the collegiate draft. We have known that it would be during the NCAA Championship weekend, but date, time, and location were unknown. Well, now we know!
The draft is going to be held on Sunday, at 1:00 in Toby Keith’s Bar and Grill at Patriot place. Sunday morning draft in a bar? It sounds strange, but these places are a pretty good size, have a built in stage, and is still set right next to all the NCAA festivities. It has the potential to really build a fun atmosphere for fans.
Another thing to note for the draft is that they are going to have two additional rounds of picks, for a total of 10. My initial thought is that ten rounds makes more sense when you have not been watching them play for a full season, meaning you need to take more risk, but either way, I do like it.
Teams are not obligated to put drafted players on the field, but it will allow them to gain rights to a few more names to guard against injury and bolster their practice squads.
NLL Players Coming Back
Now that the NLL regular season has wrapped up, there are three teams worth of players that can join their NLL teams. Now, for the qualifiers: not all of these players will join their teams and there is no set timeline for most. Some are nursing injuries and will take a few weeks off. Dhane Smith did this for Rochester last year, and is likely going to do it again this summer. In other cases, the MLL coaches might like what they see with their current group, so there might not be a rush on the team side. Either way, these guys are available:
Blaze: Grame Hossack
This will be big for the Blaze. He was one of the best close defenders in the league last year. The caused turnover machine is a major presence on the field for Atlanta. They’re not struggling right now, but any boost helps.
Lizards: Curtis Dickson
Indications are there that Dickson wants to play for New York and New York wants him. Hopefully we see him on the field sooner rather than later. As one of the few players in the world who can be considered “unguardable” more often than not, he could bump this offense up to a new level. Dickson, Walters, Rabil, and Pannell. Those are all superstars with game takeover ability. And that doesn’t even bring into account the “supporting” cast of other all-pros available.
Outlaws: Wes Berg
Berg is a big time player for Denver, and was very involved in their championship a year ago. The scored three goals in the title game, two in their semifinal against New York, and is the purest finisher on the team.
Rattlers: Blaze Riorden, Dhane Smith
Blaze will be able to join as a backup keeper right away and was even listed as an Attack on the Rattlers Roster. This may become a nice little loophole for the Rattlers. With the limited roster size, having a backup goalie who does more than just stand on the sideline can pay big dividends for keeping your other players fresh. Dhane has an ankle injury from the end of the season that leaves him a little up in the air, but Coach Sudan is excited for having him back for another season.
This Weekend
There are just three games on tap for this weekend. On Saturday, the Bayhawks go up to Boston for the Cannons’ home opener. Both teams are coming off a loss, while Chesapeake had a bye week to let theirs stew a little bit more. Rochester then goes off to Ohio to help open the Machine’s new facility. This is something everyone in the league should be excited about. It’s the MLL’s first lacrosse-specific stadium, people!
On Sunday, Charlotte goes off to Denver for the first game in the Mile High city. These teams met in the season opener just two weeks ago. Memories are fresh and rosters have not changed much. Hopefully with less rust, this should be a great game from start to finish.
