Second-year attackman tallied nine points in Hounds’ season opener
BOSTON, MA (April 25, 2016) — Major League Lacrosse today announced its weekly award winners for Week 1 of the 2016 season, naming Hounds attack and reigning Cascade Rookie of the Year Joey Sankey as Warrior Offensive Player of the Week. In addition to Sankey’s honor, the Ohio Machine’s Adam Fullerton earned Warrior Defensive Player of the Week accolades.
Sankey was one of the catalysts to the Hounds’ 15-12 season opening victory over the Boston Cannons on Saturday night, recording a total of nine points on six goals and three assists. With his performance, Sankey set a new Hounds single-game points record. The previous record of eight points was set by Ryan Young in 2013 and tied by Sankey in his MLL debut on May 23, 2015. Sankey went on to lead the Hounds in points (34) for 2015 despite playing in only nine games.
Saturday night, after a quiet first quarter that saw the Hounds down 4-1 to the Cannons, Sankey started to find his groove. He assisted on two goals to open the second before tallying his first of the night halfway through the quarter. Sankey then scored four goals in the third, including a go-ahead to put the Hounds up 10-9 with 1:27 left in the quarter. The advantage was pushed to two less than a minute later when Sankey found Colin Dunster open. It was a lead the Hounds would not relinquish.
Sankey recorded his sixth and final goal with 2:27 remaining in the game, essentially sealing the victory for the Hounds. It marked the first time since the Hounds joined the league in 2012 that the team has won a season opener.
The Hounds (1-0) next weekend will continue their home stand and welcome the Rochester Rattlers (0-1) to Charlotte on Saturday, April 30. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30pm ET at American Legion Memorial Stadium.