thanks to Megan Danner of the Launch for this press release   What: Game #10 Who: New York Lizards (8-1) at Florida Launch (1-8) When: Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm Where: FAU Stadium How: TV: www.espn3.com (Live)   Game #10 Preview The Florida Launch continues its three-game home stand this week as the MLL’s top team, the New York Lizards, comes to FAU Stadium on Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm. The Launch looks to capitalize on a Lizards team that is coming off its first loss of the season. Launch vs. Lizards Series In three games versus each other so far, the Launch are 1-2 versus the Lizards with the W coming in the only home match for the Launch back in 2014. The two squads met up earlier this month, with the Launch unable to keep up with the Lizards in the fourth quarter en route to an 18-11 defeat. A balanced Launch attack had Kieran McArdle and Casey Powell score two goals and an assist for three points while Lyle Thompson had one goal with two assists for three points in his first contest versus New York. In the inaugural match between the Lizards and Launch, played at FAU Stadium, the home side won a low scoring affair 11-8 before surrendering a franchise high 20 goal game in the rematch at New York’s home turf. Game #9 Recap For the second-consecutive season the Launch played its best offensive game of the season when the Boston Cannons came to FAU Stadium. Despite losing the match, the Launch put up the most goals this season (18), the second most assists this season (7), the most points this season (25) and the most groundballs this season (38). The Launch also saw the most face-offs won off the best percentage in Launch history with 28 won off 40 attempts for 70%. Casey Powell led the offense in the loss with four goals and two assists for six points followed by Kieran McArdle with five goals and Lyle Thompson who had two goals, one being the penultimate goal that tied the game with 99 seconds to play, and two assists for a career-high four points.   Coach’s Corner  

  New Faces: “Each of these players is going to bring something different to our roster. We’re just trying to make ourselves better to compete for the rest of the year and in the future and I think these players can help with that.” Jovi Nation to Florida: “We needed a player who could work both ways for us and do a little more than just play offense or just play defense. We need guys who can be less one dimensional and Jovan will definitely do that for us. He is a tough two-way middie who will be able to get the job done for us.”  

  Transitioning Lyle: “Biggest thing for him in his transition is to understand the difference between the NCAA and MLL. He has realized now that he is going up against an All-American defenseman every game which wasn’t the case in the NCAA. He has been progressing well and has been figuring it out as he goes. He has a tremendous IQ for the game allowing him to not only make spectacular plays but understand what is happening on the field all around him.” Rookie Frazier: “He is playing really well for us and starting to show us what he’s got. He is getting comfortable in the transitions and working on the wings to get possession for us. He has a bright future in the MLL.”  

  Battle at the X: “Mattes is a competitor and knows what he needs to do this weekend against New York and Gurenlian. Possession is key to winning games in this league and if we can stay as close to even with New York at the X, we’ll have a chance to beat them in this game.”  

  Lao-Gosney Squared: “The Lao-Gosneys have had impressive seasons so far for us. They both are playing hard and being major competitors for us this year. Roman has definitely started to shine through and has been making plays for us with his shiftiness and quickness. He is there with whatever we need and ready for whatever we ask of him. Both brothers are and that’s why they are having good seasons.”     Launch Together X Marks the Spot: Despite the loss to the Cannons last week, the Launch dominated the face-offs as Christopher Mattes won a Launch record 76 percent of his skirmishes at midfield. With a pair of wins from Tom Croonquist, the Launch hit another record of 28 face-offs won and a team record 70% win rate. With the dominate performance, Mattes was named FOA Athlete of the Week for Week 10 by the MLL. King of the Mountain: Earlier this season Kieran McArdle’s aggressive offensive play helped him surpass Casey Powell as the Launch’s all-time points leader, but over the past couple weeks Powell has been chipping his way back to the top. McArdle currently has 89 career points while Powell has 86 since joining the Launch last season.  

  Five 5’s: In Florida Launch history there has only been six times that a player has scored five goals, with Kieran McArdle being responsible for five of them. His most recent five goal outing was the second of the season and second time he did while the Cannons were the visiting team.   Noteworthy Players   #1 PT Ricci (D) – Along with helping the Launch scoop up a season-high 38 groundballs with a team-high seven, PT Ricci topped his previous total of 35 with 37. Ricci has improved his stats all across the field as in 12 games last season he had one goal off five shots with an assist for two points. In nine games this season, he has two goals off three shots with an assist for three goals.  

  #6 Kieran McArdle (A) – With five goals versus the Cannons, McArdle is back atop the goal scoring leaderboard. His 29 is two more than second place, Jordan Wolf from Rochester and three more than Rob Pannell of the visiting New York Lizards. #7 Jovan Miller (M) – Syracuse midfielder Jovan Miller joins the Launch after being traded for earlier this week from Ohio. Miller has played this season for Chesapeake and Ohio where he has started in eight games, scoring two goals and tallying six assists for eight total points. This is Miller’s fourth MLL season. #20 Roman Lao-Gosney (M) – After three games without scoring a goal, Roman Lao-Gosney found his offensive rhythm with his second career hat trick. R. Lao-Gosney, part of the original Launch brother duo with Cameron Lao-Gosney, has his best offensive games in front of the Launch fans at FAU Stadium with nine of his 11 points coming in home games.  

  #22 Casey Powell (A) – Casey Powell had a strong outing against the Cannons this past weekend where he scored four goals and tallied two assists to lead the Launch with six points. Powell has now scored 43 goals and 43 assists with the Florida Launch over the past two seasons. Powell is only 14 points away from scoring 100 points in a Launch jersey. Powell still sits atop the MLL all-time points leaderboard with 554.  

  Up Next: The Launch concludes the three-game home stand with a visit from the Charlotte Hounds on Friday, July 3 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available to purchase by clicking here. After its home stand the Launch hit the road for two games in Charlotte and Denver before closing out the 2015 season at home against the Rochester Rattlers on Saturday, July 25 at 7 p.m.