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Winners and Losers: MLL Week 9

The MLL got a weekend in the spotlight all to itself with the PLL in a bye week and it did not disappoint. Coming out of the MLL All-Star break the top teams are sitting in comfortable spots, but teams like the Dallas Rattlers and Chesapeake Bayhawks are making things a lot more interesting as they won some key games this past weekend. There were crazy goals, big hits, questionable calls and interesting new uniforms that made for another exciting weekend of pro lacrosse. Let’s see who came out of the weekend as winners and who had a weekend to forget in this edition of Winners and Losers.

Winners and Losers

Winners

Chesapeake Bayhawks

The Bayhawks took advantage of their back-to-back games against the New York Lizards by winning both games in convincing fashion and catapulting themselves into the three way tie for first place. They, along with the Boston Cannons and Denver Outlaws, all sit at 6-3. Chesapeake was led by Colin Heacock who poured in ten goals in two games. The Bayhawks also got big contributions from Lyle Thompson, Steele Stanwick, Nick Mariano, and the entire defense. The first game was pretty close, but the Bayhawks really turned it on in the second game winning by a final score of 24-7. Some of the Bayhawks celebrated by dousing Steele Stanwick after his five-point performance.

Bryce Wasserman

The Dallas Rattlers have started a win streak as they have now rattled off two wins in a row. In their first win it was their goalie and defense that came up big, but in their second win against the Atlanta Blaze, it was Bryce Wasserman who helped them secure the win with a whopping five goals and two assists. Wasserman has finally started to emerge as the offensive threat he needs to be for this Rattlers team. He struggled early on this season, but in his last two games he is really starting to rack up the points.

Faceoff Specialists

Chesapeake’s Kevin Massa and Atlanta’s Alex Woodall both put on spectacular performances at the faceoff-X for their teams this past weekend. Massa won 38-of-55 (69 percent) of the faceoffs that he took in two games while scooping up 16 groundballs and even adding a goal. Woodall won an incredible 26-of-33 (79 percent) of faceoffs he took to finish in his game, while also scoring a goal and breaking a few franchise records at the same time.

Honorable Mentions

Nick Marrocco

The Boston Cannons traveled to Denver in a huge match up of the two top MLL teams. The Cannons came out hot and played an excellent game against a very good Outlaws team. Cannons’ goalie Nick Marrocco’s 16 saves were a huge reason Boston escaped Mile High Stadium with a win.

CJ Costabile’s Rusty Gate

There are some plays that just make your jaw drop and CJ Costabile’s perfect rusty gate check is one of them.

Losers

Atlanta Blaze’s Yellow Jerseys?

I put the question mark on this because I can’t figure out if I love or hate the Atlanta Blaze’s new yellow jerseys that they wore against the Dallas Rattlers. Go and look at the main picture for this article if you haven’t seen them. I like them because they are flashy and remind me of the classic yellow jerseys college teams like Hofstra or Towson wear. However, they also remind me of the yellow jerseys a soccer referee wears which is the exact opposite of cool. Maybe they just need a better matching helmet to go with it? They also ended up losing to the Dallas Rattlers in the first game they wore them so that may also be another sign that these are just not a good look for the Blaze. Do you love or hate the jerseys? Should they be in the winners or losers section? Comment below.

Zach Currier’s Called-Off Goal

Down 8-4 before halftime of the Boston Cannons and Denver Outlaws game, Zach Currier dodged toward the net and took flight to score an amazing diving goal. It would have been a huge momentum boost for the Outlaws as they went in to the locker room, but it was waved off because Currier made contact with Cannons’ goalie Nick Marrocco. There have been a lot of diving goals so far this MLL season and I feel like a lot of the time the players make some contact with the goalie and the goals are still allowed. Currier seemingly barely even brushed Marrocco, but it was called off. It was a tough break for Currier and the Outlaws as that goal could have changed the tide of the game.

Who were your winners and losers of MLL Week 9?