“Week two” of the 2018 Major League Lacrosse season is in the books! Here’s a complete breakdown of each MLL Week Two game for those of you who weren’t able to watch in person.
MLL Week Two Highlights
Coca-Cola Players of the Game
MLL Week Two Game Recaps
Charlotte 13, Dallas 12
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 27) – The Hounds staved off a fourth-quarter comeback from the Rattlers and improved to 2-0 with a 13-12 win over Dallas on Friday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Trailing 13-9 with 13 minutes left in regulation, the Rattlers received one goal from Jordan Wolf and two from Ty Thompson in the closing minutes, but the comeback ran out of time.
The teams were deadlocked at seven goals apiece at the half, but Charlotte pulled ahead with a four-goal run late in the third quarter and into the fourth.
The Hounds have started the season with two straight wins for the second time in the last three seasons.
Players Who Impressed:
- Playing in the first MLL game of his career, Dylan Maltz had four goals for the Hounds
- Matt Rambo had a career-high seven points with two goals and five assists
- Charlie Cipriano was named the Coca-Cola MVP with 21 saves
- Ty Thompson scored a team-high five goals, including three in the first quarter
- Jordan Wolf had six points (4 goals, 2 assists).
Chesapeake 14, Florida 11
BOCA RATON, Fla. (April 28) – The Chesapeake Bayhawks scored the last four goals of the game to seal their first win of 2018, a 14-11 victory over the Florida Launch on Saturday at FAU Stadium.
Both teams combined for just seven goals in the first half, but the Bayhawks then scored the first four goals of the third quarter.
Goals from Tim Barber, Sergio Salcido, Ryan Drenner and Nick Mariano cut Chesapeake’s lead to one in the fourth quarter, but the Bayhawks responded with four goals in the final frame to seal the win.
Players Who Impressed:
- Rookie Stephen Kelly won 20 of 26 faceoffs (77%) for the Bayhawks
- Colin Heacock (2 goals, assist) and Matt Abbott (2 goals, assist) each had a team-high three points
- In his first game of the season, Ryan Tucker had two goals for Chesapeake
- Ryan Drenner matched his career high with three goals
- Sergio Salcido (2 goals) had his second straight multi-goal performance for the Launch
- Austin Kaut made 18 saves on 32 shots on goal in the loss
Atlanta 19, Boston 12
KENNESAW, Ga. (April 28) – The Atlanta Blaze earned their first win of the 2018 season by besting the Boston Cannons, 19-12, on Saturday night at Fifth Third Bank Stadium during MLL Week Two.
Atlanta had five multi-goal scorers: Matt Gibson led all scorers with four goals, Deemer Class and Tommy Palasek both had three goals, while Dylan Donahue and Kevin Rice each scored twice.
The Blaze outscored the Cannons in each of the first three quarters, holding a 17-10 advantage heading into the fourth.
For the Cannons, it was their eighth straight loss dating back to last season.
Players Who Impressed:
- Kevin Rice earned the Coca-Cola player of the game with two goals and five assists
- In his first start with the Blaze, Chris Madalon made 17 saves on 28 shots on net to earn the win
- Scott Ratliff (2 goals, assist) scored his first two-point goal of the season, the 10th 2-pointer of his career.
- Sergio Perkovic had a career-high four goals
- James Pannell had three goals in his first game against his former team
Ohio 25, New York 13
COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 29) – In their first game of the season, the defending champion Ohio Machine cruised to a 25-13 victory over the New York Lizards on Sunday afternoon at Fortress Obetz Field.
Marcus Holman broke the MLL record for goals in a single game with 11. The previous record of 10 goals was set by former Machine player John Grant, Jr. on Aug. 8, 2016.
The Lizards led 3-2 midway through the first quarter, but Ohio then scored six of the next seven goals and never trailed the rest of the way.
Jake Bernhardt, Ryan Ambler, Connor Cannizzaro, Kyle Harrison, Pat Harbeson and Pat Young all scored multiple goals for the Machine.
Players Who Impressed:
- Marcus Holman was named the Coca-Cola MVP, finishing with 12 points (11 goals, 1 assist). He fell two points shy of John Grant, Jr. and Mark Millon for the MLL record for points in a single game (14)
- Tom Schreiber had six assists for Ohio
- Ryan Ambler had a career-high four points (3 goals, assist) and matched his career high in goals
- Will Manny scored four goals for the second straight game this season
- Brian Carcaterra appeared at goalie for New York, his first MLL game since 2002
Denver 15, Dallas 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 29) – The Denver Outlaws lost a 15-14 overtime contest to the Dallas Rattlers (2-1) after briefly overcoming a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter on Sunday in Frisco, Texas, during MLL Week Two.
Attackman Matt Kavanagh led the Outlaws with five goals and attackman Eric Law added four of his own. Rookie attackman Cam Milligan added two goals in his MLL debut.
Law’s first goal marked his 200th career point as he became just the fourth player in Outlaws history to reach the milestone. Playing in his 57th career game, he is the second fastest to hit the 200-point mark (Brendan Mundorf, 56 games).
Denver trailed 11-8 after the third quarter but opened the fourth with a 6-2 scoring run to take a one-goal lead. Dallas scored with three minutes left in regulation to force overtime, and attackman Ty Thompson scored the Rattlers’ game-winning goal 3:39 in to the sudden-death period.
The Outlaws (0-2) will be back in action when they host the New York Lizards (1-1) in their home-opener on Friday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m. MDT.
