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Winners and Losers: MLL and PLL Week 5

There were eight professional field lacrosse games (four MLL and three PLL) this past weekend, and with so much lacrosse to watch it’s a great time to be a lacrosse fan. We saw the last undefeated teams in both leagues lose games against the Whipsnakes, Cannons and Bayhawks. Picking winners and losers is getting harder every week with so many amazing and not so amazing performances happening in both leagues. Let’s take a look at who had a winning weekend and who had a weekend to forget. 

Winners and Losers: Week 5

Winners

The Kavanagh Brothers

No goalie or defense is safe in the MLL or the PLL from a Kavanagh brother ripping shots and dishing out assists. This past weekend both Matt and Brendan Kavanagh were putting up some serious points for their respective teams. Matt scored three goals and added three assists during the Redwoods win over the Whipsnakes, but was outdone by younger brother Brendan as he totaled ten points against the Denver Outlaws and nabbed two wins this past week. Brendan had four goals and one assist against the Dallas Rattlers on Thursday and three goals and two assists against the Boston Cannons on Saturday. I guess being a slick lefty attackmen just runs in the Kavanagh family. 

Players Making Gritty Plays

Forget the flashy goals and the fancy stick work we have seen so far this summer. Some of the most impressive plays so far have been from players who gladly make the unheralded gritty plays that ultimately win games. From the Redwoods’ Greg Gurenlian battling a hamstring injury, the Atlanta Blaze’s TJ Komizio causing turnovers and then threading bounce passes and of course the Whipsnakes’ Mark Glicini soaking a shot right in the back without his stick there were plenty of players ready to leave it all out on the field. With so many games coming down to one goal the biggest difference has been the these gritty plays. They’re out here being the real heroes and very deserving of a winners spot on Winners and Losers.

Brett Queener

The Chrome have yet to win a game, but the injection of goalie Brett Queener into their game against the Chaos helped them stage a comeback and take the game to overtime. Queener is one of the most electrifying goalies of all time. Long before Blaze Riorden was scoring goalie goals at Albany, Brett Queener was streaking down the field for some goalie on goalie crime. Queener came into the game after the Chrome went down 7-1 during the first quarter. The goals weren’t John Galloway’s fault, but the Chrome needed a boost of energy. Queener was all over the field stuffing shots on the doorstep, running the ball up on clears and winning chases to the endline to get the ball. We might see Brett Queener get the starting nod next week after his great performance.

Honorable Mentions

Kyle Harrison

Kyle Harrison hadn’t scored a PLL goal leading up to the Redwoods’ game against the Whipsnakes, but leave it K18 to get his first when it mattered most. K18 dodged down the alley and scored on a signature jump shot which would end up being the game winning goal proving that he is still as clutch as ever.

Denver Outlaws

The Denver Outlaws might be the hottest team in all of professional lacrosse as they rattled off two big wins this past weekend to move into first place in the MLL standings. The Outlaws have a great mix of players with veterans like John Grant Jr. and Dillon Ward, and dynamic rookies like Brendan Kavanagh and Zach Runberg, who scored the game winning goal against Boston. Not to mention second and third year players like Zach Currier, Max Adler, and Mikie Schlosser. Can they repeat as MLL Champions? 

Rob Pannell

Rob Pannell added to his already impressive amount of accolades by becoming the all-time leading scorer in New York Lizards history. Pannell scored his 388th point and helped lead the Lizards to their first win of the 2019 season

Losers 

Chrome LC and Dallas Rattlers

The Chrome and the Rattlers are the two winless teams remaining in the PLL and MLL respectively and you have to feel for them after both being so close to their first wins this past weekend. The Chrome looked like they would complete the comeback against the Chaos, but couldn’t get the ball to bounce their way at the end of regulation and in overtime. The Rattlers had leads on both the Denver Outlaws and the New York Lizards early on in their game against them, but just seemed to crumble as the game went on. Here’s hoping that both the Chrome and the Rattlers can finally get of the schnide this weekend. 

Poor Sportsmanship

The PLL has seen its fair share of scuffles so far this summer that have gotten a lot of attention and had to be resolved, but the MLL has also seen some excessive shoving and shouting matches that haven’t got as much attention. During the Boston Cannons and Denver Outlaws game this past weekend, some extracurriculars lead to some back and forth between the players and lead to players not shaking hands after the game. While we have seen much worse it is still no reason to act this way. Zach Currier gave a very candid account of what happened after the game. 

Who were your winners and losers of Week 5?