By: Tim Yilmaz, Beat Writer New York Lizards
Lacrosse is Awesome
The New York Lizards (3-1) coming off their first loss of the season to Ohio, returned home on My 21 to face the unbeaten Charlotte Hounds (3-1). Coach Joe Spallina returned to the sidelines after missing the last two games due to his Stony Brook Lady Seawolves being in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In spite of the gloomy weather, Shuart Stadium was filled to the brim with fans as the crowd totaled north of 5,100 people. Final: Lizards 21—Hounds 18.
The opening minutes of the game were filled with scrappy play and quick strike offensive attacks by both the Lizards and Hounds. The Lizards came out on fire to start the game as Tommy Palasek tallied a quick goal on the Lizards first possession. Rob Pannell quickly followed suit on the Lizards next possession as he made a nifty move from X to wrap around the left side of the goal and dump it in the net giving the Lizards a 2-0 lead. The Hounds would quickly kindle the Lizards’ fire as both John and Will Haus found the back of the net in the early going. In spite of the Hounds offensive firepower, (R) Pannell would strike again two possessions later as he found a lane across the center of the restraining box and beat Hounds goalie Charlie Cipriano, to the bottom left corner of the net. With less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Hounds would tie the score at three as Joseph Sankey assisted Joe McCallion for his first goal of the season. Paul Rabil would quickly change that as he came streaking down the left side on the Lizards next possession and accumulated his seventh goal of the season to give the Lizards a 4-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
At the 11:40 mark of the second quarter the Hounds would tie the game again as (W) Haus found Sankey for his 10th goal of the season. The Lizards and Hounds continued to seesaw as they exchanged back-to-back goals until game was knotted at six. However, on the next two Lizards possessions (R) Pannell continued his dominant day as he scored his fourth and fifth goals of the game, one of them being a behind the back on the crease, giving the Lizards an 8-6 lead. The Lizards would not stop there though as they scored four more consecutive goals against the Hounds. (R) Pannell tallied his sixth of the game (sock-trick) stretching their lead to 12-6. The Hounds tallied one more goal before halftime as Sankey assisted Stephen Keogh. Score the end of the first half: Lizards 12—Hounds 7.
The Hounds came out on fire in the third quarter as they scored four unanswered goals making the score 12-11. The Lizards did not help their own cause by taking some bad penalties and giving the Hounds more mojo. The Hounds would capitalize when McCallion beat Lizards goalie Drew Adams, to the top left corner of the net. The Hounds continued their dominant third quarter as Keogh found the back of the net giving the Hounds a 13-12 advantage. However, the Lizards fought back, scoring four straight goals of their own as Palasek assisted Dave Lawson on a back door cut and scored on the next Lizards possession. Pannell also notched his seventh goal of the game on a nice move from behind giving the Lizards a three-goal lead at the end of the third quarter. Score: Lizards 16—Hounds 13.
The Lizards took their momentum into the fourth quarter as (R) Pannell and Matt Gibson scored back-to-back goals giving the Lizards an 18-14 advantage. Rabil would also join the scoring party towards the latter end of the quarter by collecting his second goal of the game giving the Lizards a 20-15 lead. The Hounds rally in the final minutes would fall short as Mike Channenchuk scored a two-point goal making the final score 21-18 in favor of the Lizards.
The game was very exciting as both teams exchanged leads several times; nevertheless, rookie James Pannell notched his first goal of his MLL career only seconds after stepping onto the field in the second; older brother Rob also had a momentous night with eight goals and the Coca-Cola Player of the Game honors; Greg “The Beast” Gurenlian went 23-40 on face-offs and collected his 1,588th face off win, breaking Anthony Kelly’s record of 1,587 for the most face-off wins of all time in the MLL.
The Lizards return to action on June 3 to face the Denver Outlaws (1-3) at Sports Authority Field in the Mile-High City. Faceoff is at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Tim Yilmaz, Beat Writer New York Lizards
Lacrosse is Awesome