Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Chesapeake Bayhawks
Lacrosse is Awesome
Chesapeake was the busiest team in the league prior to the trade deadline and our heads are still spinning trying to keep track of the new names on the roster.
The Chesapeake Bayhawks (6-4) hosted the New York Lizards (6-3) and their star-studded roster at Navy and Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD. The theme for this July 2nd game was Military Appreciation Night with a fireworks display following the game. The ‘Hawks sported new platinum Cascade R lids with the Bayhawks logo on the sides with an American flag inlay. The helmets are to be auctioned off to help raise money for Veterans’ charities. You can see the auction here, http://www.ebay.com/sch/chesbayhawks/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
A massive crowd turned out for the game and more than a few fans were cheering for the Lizards who were currently leading the league. The weather was warm and the sky was clear. It was a perfect night for lacrosse. Final Score: Bayhawks 17—Lizards 14.
The Bayhawks had a lot of new faces on the field but proved they were there to play some ball. The offense was led by midfielder, Joe Walters who racked up seven points for the night with three goals and four assists. The offense was strong with several other players getting north of three points with Myles Jones working well with Walters and earning himself two goals and two assists; and Brendan Mundorf playing like the Mundorf of old with three goals; as well as newly acquired Kevin Cooper tossing three balls in the net. The player pool handed Chesapeake Jay Carlson who came out of the gates strong contributing a goal and three assists as well as defenseman Mike Lowe who all but shut down the offensive threat of Rob Pannell.
“I couldn’t be happier for our team right now and I’m really proud of the guys. Two games in three days isn’t easy, but we fought hard against two really good teams and got two big wins,” Chesapeake Head Coach Brian Reese said. “I love the way we’re playing; and love the guys in the locker room right now. We’re playing with a tremendous amount of energy and competing hard, which is all you can ask for.”
Chesapeake midfielder Dan Burns summed up the new squad and their tactics by saying, “It’s that point in the season when the teams in the middle of the pack need to make a move. These two games this week were must wins in our mind. We’ve brought in a lot of new pieces and could have made excuses because of it, but we were determined to go unbeaten this week.”
The Chesapeake offense has caught fire scoring 33 goals in two games this past week. “So much of this is about team chemistry and people playing unselfishly. We’re sharing the ball and working well together. What we did this week was huge. It puts us right back in the hunt,” said Walters, who leads the team with 46 points.
The defense played lights out in the first half keeping the Lizards to only four goals against the Bayhawks’ 12. Veteran starter on defense, Mike Evans, was out due to a back injury and rookie Mike Lowe stepped up to cover Rob Pannell. “Michael Lowe, a young guy, had to guard one of the best guys in the world in Rob Pannell. It was not an easy match-up, but I thought Lowe did a tremendous job against him,” Reese said. Mike Lowe was a graduate of Towson University this year and helped the Towson squad take out defending NCAA Division I Champions, Denver, from the playoffs. Mike was tasked with shutting down Cannizzaro and did it in great fashion as you can see him strip the ball from Cannizzaro here in this Vine https://vine.co/v/i0qpt7lJpeb. Lowe’s tenacity kept Pannell to being more of a feeder than scorer this game and earned him defensive player of the game.
Callum Robinson, known to his team as the “Big Koala” showed that his defense can transition to offense as well as he picked off a pass, ran it back and ripped a two pointer at the end of the first half. He also had the task of welcoming back his former teammate, Drew Westervelt, and kept the star attackman to a low shot percentage. It was bittersweet to see him in a different uniform on the field, but the crowd let him know that he will always be in their hearts.
The second half had a frustrated Lizard team starting to get chippy as penalties riddled the second half as intensity and tempers went up. Even the coaches had to be separated after Greg Gurenlian took a faceoff for the Lizards and ran it down for his own goal which had him receive a stick check. The pocket proved to be too deep and the goal was taken away as “The Beast” had to serve a one minute non-releasable.
The Lizards scraped back to within three goals in the fourth quarter before Walters sizzled a shot in the cage, ending their drive. The Bayhawks kept the ball outside to burn off the clock and seal the victory. It was a great finish to a great night as both teams walked around the sidelines greeting each other and signing autographs as the booms and flashes of bright colors lit up the sky from the fireworks.
Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Chesapeake Bayhawks
Lacrosse is Awesome