via MLL press release   MAJOR LEAGUE LACROSSE ANNOUNCE WEEK 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS MLL release their Week 12 accolades: “Coca-Cola Players of the Game”, “Warrior Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week” and “FOAthlete of the Week, Presented by The Faceoff Academy” and “Cascade Lacrosse Rookie of the Week”   BOSTON (July 7th, 2015) – Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league completed Week 12 of its 2015 season this past weekend.  The New York Lizards secured a spot in the playoffs and two other teams, the Chesapeake Bayhawks and the Denver Outlaws, experienced record-level crowds in their home stadiums. The New York Lizards got back into the win column after winning a road game in Chesapeake last Thursday night. The Lizards beat the Bayhawks 15-13 in their 100th franchise victory and secured a spot in the 2015 MLL Playoffs. New York’s Paul Rabil scored six points in his first game back since the All-Star break, including a two-pointer. Rob Pannell had a high scoring evening with five points against Chesapeake, two goals and three assists. Pannell is currently the League’s leading scorer, with 54 points in 11 games. Drew Adams got hot in the second quarter and made 20 saves on 33 shots on goal in the game, giving him a save average of 61 percent. Adams currently leads the league in wins and goals against average. The Chesapeake Bayhawks move to sixth place in the league after the loss to New York. Despite the loss, the Bayhawks had the largest audience in franchise history, with 11,882 fans in the stands. Joe Walters, midfielder for the Chesapeake Bayhawks, had a season high seven-point game versus New York.  

 

The Charlotte Hounds ended their two-game win streak this past weekend when they fell to the Florida Launch, 19-9.  The Launch gained the lead after their second goal of the night and kept that lead for the rest of the game. Kieran McArdle scored a power play goal at the end of the second quarter, sending his team into the half ahead by four goals.  In a low scoring game for the Hounds, only two players had more than two points; Mike Chanenchuk scored four goals and Mike Sawyer scored a goal and an assist. Ben Rubeor and Matt Danowksi accomplished five points each in the loss, which moved Danowski to the top of his team’s leaderboard, at 33 points on the season.  Lyle Thompson, rookie attackman for the Launch, had a big night scoring seven goals and one assist, combining for eight points versus the Hounds.  Four other players for the Launch had a plus-three evening, Kieran McArdle (4 goals, 1 assist), Casey Powell (2 goals, 2 assists), Connor Buczek (1 goal, 1 two-point goal, 1 assist) and Steven Brooks (3 goals).  Starting goaltender for Florida, Brett Queener, missed the game with an injury and Austin Kaut played in his place.  Kaut’s 18 saves against Charlotte  helped to solidify the win for his team.

  The Rochester Rattlers came out on top in their rematch with the Ohio Machine on Saturday, winning 16-15.  They are now tied with the Machine for third place in the league. Although the Machine held the lead for the first three quarters of the game, the Rattlers took the momentum in the fourth. Mark Matthews lead the Rattlers in scoring with five points and rookie attackmanKevin Rice had four points. Rookie for the Machine, Jimmy Bitter, had six goals to mark a career high in just his fourth MLL game.  Ohio’s Tom Schreiber brought the Machine within one when he scored a two-point goal seconds before the end of the game, leaving the Machine just shy of the win. There was a League-record crowd at Sports Authority Field in Denver on Saturday for the Outlaws 22-9 loss to the Boston Cannons.  The Cannons are now the only team to have a winning record against the Outlaws in Mile High City, and this game marked the fourth “Mile High Fourth of July” that Boston has won. Ryan Tucker, son of Cannons head coach John Tucker, had six points in the game, scoring three two-point goals in the third game of his rookie season. Cannons attackman, Davey Emala, also scored six goals in the win against Denver.  Denver had more ground balls, face-off wins and almost the same number of shots on goal as Boston, but couldn’t come up with the win.  Drew Snider and John Grant Jr. scored six of the team’s 9 goals on the evening. Denver will travel to the New York Lizards on Thursday night for their last away game during the regular season.   Coca-Cola Players of the Game Coca-Cola, as a multi-year and proud sponsor of MLL, will feature a weekly honor titled the “Coca-Cola Players of the Game”, where one player from each match-up will be deemed the most valuable player of the game. Here are the Week 12 MLL “Coca-Cola Players of the Game”: Drew Adams of the New York Lizards Lyle Thompson of the Florida Launch MIke Poppleton of the Rochester Rattlers Davey Emala of the Boston Cannons   Warrior Lacrosse Offensive & Defensive Player of the Week Warrior Lacrosse, a leading lacrosse brand for equipment, footwear and apparel, will continue to sponsor both an offensive player of the week and defensive player of the week. These awards are two separate awards that honor the best offensive and defensive MLL performances from the week. Here are the Week 12 MLL “Warrior Offensive Player of the Week” and “Warrior Defensive Player of the Week”: Warrior Offensive Player of the Week: Lyle Thompson of the Florida Launch     Warrior Defensive Player of the Week: Drew Adams of New York Lizards   FOAthlete of the Week, Presented by The Faceoff Academy The Faceoff Academy specializes in the most elite level face-off coaching in the world. In showcasing the huge role face-off men play in lacrosse, The Faceoff Academy will present a weekly award titled the “FOAthlete of the Week, Presented by The Faceoff Academy”. The award will feature the best face-off performance of the week based on winning percentage at the “X”. Here is our Week 12 MLL “FOAthlete of the Week, Presented by The Faceoff Academy”: Greg Gurenlian, Midfielder of the New York Lizards 24-for-30 at the “X” With a 80% Face-off Win Percentage & 15 Groundballs against the Chesapeake Bayhawks   Rookie of the Week, Presented by Cascade Cascade Lacrosse has established itself as the leader in the lacrosse helmet and eye mask category. The relationship of Cascade Lacrosse and Major League Lacrosse is one that dates back to the league’s inception. Cascade Lacrosse is the proud sponsor of a weekly recognition of the week’s best rookie performance. Here is our Week 12 MLL “Cascade Rookie of the Week”: Ryan Tucker, Midfielder for the Boston Cannons 6 points vs. Denver Outlaws (3 two-point goals)  Week 13 Preview The New York Lizards (9-2) will play their last regular season home game this Thursday, July 10th, at 7:30pm EST against the Denver Outlaws (5-6).  The Florida Launch (3-8) and Charlotte Hounds (3-8) will hold a rematch in Charlotte on Saturday, July 11th, at 3:30pm EST. Boston (7-4) will host their last regular season home game versus the Ohio Machine (6-5) on Saturday, July 11th at 6pm EST.  The final game of the weekend will be played on Sunday July 12th, at 1pm ESTin Rochester between the Rattlers (6-5) and the Chesapeake Bayhawks (5-6). About Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded by Jake Steinfeld and is headquartered in Boston. Major League Lacrosse commenced play in June 2001 and has embarked on its fifteenth season. MLL has continued to lead the sport of lacrosse into the mainstream of competitive team sports. The league is made up of eight teams: The Boston Cannons, Charlotte Hounds, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Denver Outlaws, Florida Launch, New York Lizards, Ohio Machine and Rochester Rattlers.   Follow us on… Twitter: @MLL_Lacrosse Instagram: @MajorLeagueLax Facebook: Facebook.com/MajorLeagueLacrosse Snapchat: MajorLeagueLax Youtube: Youtube.com/MajorLeagueLax   Click HERE for more information about Major League Lacrosse Click HERE for tickets to the 2015 MLL Championship Game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, GA on August 8th.