Justin Ivey, MLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome
Saturday night was the first meeting this season between the visiting New York Lizards (5-6) and the home team Charlotte Hounds (5-6). Both teams came in with their chances of a playoff berth intact, but New York needed the win to join the mass of ties that will have to break at some point in the remaining season for seeding. Behind a strong night from Drew Adams (17 saves) and Rob Pannell (4G, 1A), New York would jump on the Hounds early and never really allow them to get back in the game, stealing a win on the road. Final Score: New York 14—Charlotte 11.
In the first minutes of the game, both defenses made it look like it was going to be a difficult night for goals, not allowing easy passes and playing tight defense. Rob Pannell would break the scoreless game 4:14 in. His dodge from behind the net did not draw a slide, and he took advantage. Stopping and curling to the middle, he chose the bottom left corner to put New York up 1-0. Just over two minutes later, recently acquired Will Manny (2G) picked up a juicy rebound hanging on the side of the crease, and quickly came up high on the low Charlie Cipriano (12 saves) to extend the lead to two goals. The Hounds would finally get on the scoreboard 9:44 in. Kevin Crowley (2G, 1A) backed his way towards the net, keeping his head up. Looking across he found an open Matt Rambo (3G) for the quick stick. New York answered immediately. Off the ensuing faceoff, Pannell got the ball to settle on the side well behind the net. Jeffrey Reh (1G) cut to the middle, got a step on his defender and caught the beautiful feed for an easy one on one with net minder. The goal came just 17 seconds after the Hounds. Not to be outdone, Hounds face-off man Brendan Fowler (1G) quickly won the next battle, flipping the win to a long pole, who fed it back to him. A beautiful face dodge and he found himself with a one on one for the easy goal. Three goals in 35 seconds. With under a minute and a half remaining in the quarter, Kevin Cooper (1G), a late June addition for the Hounds from Chesapeake, found himself behind the net with a short stick matchup. A quick dodge to the crease, an inside roll, and he used his height to reach over his defender and score the equalizer with 1:06 remaining. The first quarter would end tied at 3.
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New York came out in the second quarter with a run to change the momentum of the game. In the first 5:15 they would find the net four times, without Charlotte ever really getting a good look on the other side. Manny got the first just 13 seconds in, on the assist from Joe Walters (1G, 1A). Paul Rabil (2G) scored next with his plant foot just inside the two-point line for his 23rd goal on the season. Pannell scored the next two on two beautiful plays. Catching a pass from Manny at the X behind the net, he bull dodged his way to the middle, and flipped back a no look underhand shot. His next goal, completing the hat-trick, came after he caught a pass on the side of the crease, perfectly timed an in-place spin to avoid the crashing defender, and fired underhand. A tie game at the end of the first quickly changed to a 7-3 lead for New York. Rambo’s effort to get the Hounds back into the game quickly came to fruition. First, he drew a 30 second holding penalty heading towards the net, and on the power play, he picked up a very difficult loose ball in traffic, made his way through it and scored the man advantage goal to temporarily break the New York momentum. Jacob Richard (1G) would get the four-goal advantage back scoring with 4:55 left. That would be the last goal of the second quarter. The score at halftime: New York 8—Charlotte 4.
New York has never won a third quarter on the season, and for Charlotte to get back into the game, they would need to capitalize on that trend. They would score first making the score 8-5. Ryan Brown (1G) would catch a cross crease pass from Joey Sankey (1G, 1A) scoring just 34 seconds into the half. Greg Gurenlian (2G), who went 19-29 on face-offs throughout the night, would win the next face-off, barrel in and score himself just eight seconds after the Hounds goal. They scored the next goal too, extending their lead. Joe LoCascio (1G, 1A) came off a high screen and from just a few feet inside the two-point line fired a sidearm cannon. John Haus (1G, 1A) got one back for the Hounds, dodging from up top to the middle finishing with a left hand shot to the top right corner. Just two minutes into the third, and both teams scored two goals. The flurry continued with Rabil getting his second of the game. Catching the ball on the side of the net, he threw a fake and with his defender motionless, ran by and scored the easy one on one. With 11:15 remaining in the third, the score would stand at 11-6 in favor of the Lizards. Over eight minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed. Charlotte scored two in a row to end the drought. Mike Chanenchuk (1G) dodging down the side, was pushed from behind actually increasing his speed. His bounce shot easily found the net. Rambo got the second to complete his hat trick diving from behind the net immediately after catching a pass. Gurenlian, who scored the first New York goal of the third off the face-off would do it again after the Rambo goal. This one was acrobatic as he one hand shoveled the ball into the net while twisting in the air after a hard hit. The third quarter ended with New York leading Charlotte 12-8.
Joe Walters opened the scoring in the fourth, putting the Lizards up 13-8, 4:42 in. Charlotte couldn’t find a good opportunity for the first 10 minutes of the quarter. Getting desperate, finally a play came to fruition. Michael Ehrhardt (1A) threw a behind the back pass with his long pole to Brett Schmidt (1A), who threw a behind the back pass with his long pole to Crowley, who fired a shot sidearm to the top shelf. On the next possession, Sankey ran across the field behind the net and around a pick. Curling upwards he threw a low sidearm and got the Hounds back to within three. A penalty stopped their late game momentum, and Pannell made them pay, scoring on the power-play to give the Lizards a 14-10 lead with 2:13 left. With 1:34 remaining Crowley would get his second cutting and catching a beautiful feed from Haus, but it was too little too late. The New York Lizards defeated the Charlotte Hounds 14-11.
GAME NOTES:
The Hounds and Lizards are now tied for the final playoff spot with both teams at 5-6.
Paul Rabil is only one point shy of tying Casey Powell for second place on the all-time points list.
UP NEXT:
The Lizards host the Boston Cannons on Thursday, July 20 at 7:00 PM. It will be the Lizards third game in seven days.
The Hounds travel to play the Florida Launch on Saturday, July 22 at 7:00 PM.
Justin Ivey, MLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome