Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Chesapeake Bayhawks
Lacrosse is Awesome
The weather couldn’t have been any better for the capital of Maryland last Saturday as the Chesapeake Bayhawks squared off with the Atlanta Blaze. With a local tournament in the Annapolis area, the stands were flooded with young boys sporting their club’s jersey and their exuberance helped electrify Navy and Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as they cheered for their favorite players.
Veteran pro, 2011 Tewaaraton winner and 2012 Jack Turnbull Award winner Steele Stanwick cranked out four goals against Atlanta to become the Coca Cola Player of the Game in the 9-6 win over the Atlanta Blaze. The attack worked well together with Matt Danowski getting a season high five points with one goal and four assists as well but, the Blaze defense did a great job of keeping Josh Byrnes to only one goal which was the final goal of the game to seal the victory.
Atlanta dominated the stats with 26 shots on goal while Chesapeake ripped 21. The Blaze swallowed up 24 ground balls against the ‘Hawks 17. The faceoff X proved no different with Atlanta going 10-19. So looking at the numbers, how could the Bayhawks have won against a team with offensive power houses like Kevin Rice and Matt Gibson? Niko Amato….
Amato stepped up to fill the void between the pipes when Brian Phipps was sidelined due to an injury after only two starts this season. Niko had a career-high 20 saves as he and the defense smothered the Blaze.
“Going into the game, I wasn’t sure if we could handle their quickness. I felt like we were bigger and stronger, but they were faster and quicker,” said Chesapeake Head Coach Dave Cottle. “It’s hard to hold a team to six goals in this league so obviously Niko and the defense were outstanding.”
Close defenseman, Jesse Bernhardt said “Niko works his tail off during the week to get ready for game day, so it’s no surprise to me how well he’s been playing. That type of game is my standard for Niko.” Bernhardt also stated, “I’d like to think that our defense is good. I don’t know about always holding teams to six goals, but tonight we really limited their chances” Bernhardt said. “I think we did a good job with some one-on-one matchups and forced them into some shots that Niko was able to see.”
Defenseman and current leader of penalty minutes this season for the Bayhawks, Garrett Epple also received praise for keeping Kevin Rice to only one goal and one assist for the evening.
Stanwick chalked up the first goal of the game with an assist from Danowski but Atlanta answered back with the next three goals. Deemer Class fed by Christian Cuccinello struck first of the three-goal run ending the first quarter followed by Scott Ratliff and Cuccinello both unassisted in the second. Stanwick and Danowski met up again to start the Bayhawks turn to run up a few goals with Danowski getting an assist from Byrnes to make it tied at 3-3. The attack struck again to end the half with Stanwick finding the back of the net with a little help from Colin Heacock.
Chesapeake points leader Myles Jones got the first goal of the third quarter, unassisted as he swam his way for a nice goal which happened to be his only goal of the contest and his only shot putting him at 100% for the night. The Blaze stopped the bleeding when they capitalized off of a Bayhawks penalty with Sergio Salcido finding Rice to make the score 4-5. Class finished the third quarter with an assist from Cuccinello tying the game going into the final quarter.
The gloves were coming off the final quarter as intensity ramped up as well as tempers. A few shoving matches and punches had flags getting some air time as Atlanta was getting frustrated by the solid Bayhawks defense and the boys of Chesapeake weren’t backing down. Class finished the offensive drive for Atlanta with Rice getting his only assist of the game 4:37 off a power play.
Rookie faceoff specialist Stephen Kelly went into overdrive in the fourth and answered back for the Blaze as he snatched the faceoff and took the ball to the goal himself balancing up the score at 6-6. Chesapeake exploded the remainder of the game popping off the remainder of the score card. Rookie midfielder Ian MacKay got a solo goal at the half way mark in the fourth. The Bayhawks attack finished off the game and sealed the victory with Danowski feeding both Stanwick and then Byrnes.
The Bayhawks get a break this week and play again at home for the annual Hometown Hero (which yours truly was honored last year) and Military Appreciation Night celebration on Monday, July 2nd as they take on the Boston Cannons at 6pm. Immediately following, there will be an on-field post-game concert from Nashville stars Love & Theft and the Bayhawks fire off their own cannons for a firework show.
Lance Crafton, Beat Writer Chesapeake Bayhawks
Lacrosse is Awesome