via press release   MLL release their Week 11 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 (June 30th, 2015) – Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league completed Week 11 of its 2015 season this past weekend. After this weekend’s games, three MLL teams are sitting at .500 and New York (8-2), Ohio (6-4) and Boston (6-4) sit atop the standings. The Florida Launch took down the top team in the league on Friday evening at FAU Stadium, winning the game 16-12. The two teams now stand opposite on the standings. New York’s record regressed to 8-2, as Florida’s record improved to 2-8.  Jo-Jo Marasco opened the game up with the first goal of the night for the Lizards and then continued to score three more goals before the night was finished but it was not enough to propel his team past the Launch.  Rookie player for the Launch, Connor Buczek, scored his second two-pointer in just his fourth MLL game, making him the all-time leading two-point scorer for the Florida Launch.  Kieran McArdle battled hard against the Lizards, finishing with five points on the night, (4 goals, 1 assist). Casey Powell scored five points in the game as well.  Rob Pannell and Ryan Walsh each had three-points in the loss.  Although the Lizards scored first in every quarter of the game, the Launch retaliated each time, twice with two-pointers, eventually winning their second game of the season. The Charlotte Hounds won their third game of the season Saturday night against the Denver Outlaws by a final score of 14-11. This was Charlotte’s second straight win.  Faceoff specialist,Brendan Fowler, gave the Hounds an offensive advantage, winning 20-of-26 faceoffs, which was a personal best for Fowler. Charlotte’s attackman, Kevin Cunningham, also had a great offensive performance where he scored four goals and three assists, putting him at seven points on the night. The Hounds held the Outlaws for 22 minutes between the second and third quarter and scored nine-straight goals to take a heavy lead.  The Outlaws proved they were still in it at the end of the fourth quarter, making five-straight goals, but it was not enough to beat the Hounds. All three Bocklet brothers put points on the board for Denver, but Chris and Michael each scored three points and Matt had an assist. John Grant Jr. had a hat-trick in the loss. The Ohio Machine have won five of their last six games, including this week’s game versus the Rochester Rattlers, which they won 17-12.  Marcus Holman, who lies three points behind Tom Schreiber in total points for the Machine this season, scored seven points in Sunday’sgame against the Rattlers (5 goals, 2 assists). Tom Schreiber also scored four points for his team.  The Machine were able to take a bit of an offensive advantage in the first half as Greg Puskuldjian went 11-of-17 on the faceoff, allowing Ohio to go into the half ahead six goals.  The scoring was spread out for Ohio on Sunday, with Jimmy Bitter, Steele Stanwick and Kyle Harrison, all scoring three or more points.  For the Rattlers, Jordan Wolf and Mark Matthewslead the scoring with four points each.  Jordan MacIntosh scored his fourth hat trick of the season in the loss. Ohio improved to 6-4 as Rochester now stands at .500 with a 5-5 record. In the last match-up of the weekend, the Boston Cannons hosted the Chesapeake Bayhawks at a rain drenched Gillette Stadium, winning 14-11, and thus improving to 6-4 on the season.  Midfielder Kevin Buchanan, scored five goals against Chesapeake, which lead the scoring for Boston. Scott Ratliff had a great game on defense and scored three points for his Cannons team as well.  Although Chesapeake was able to take the lead a few times in the game, Boston’s defense battled hard until the very end of the game. Chesapeake attackman Drew Westervelt,had a solid five points in the loss, and Joe Walters, Ben Rubeor and Matt Danowski also scored three-plus points. Chesapeake is now one of three MLL teams that stand at 5-5.   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 11 MLL “Coca-Cola Players of the Game”: Kieran McArdle of the Florida Launch Kevin Cunningham of the Charlotte Hounds Marcus Holman of the Ohio Machine Kevin Buchanan 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 11 MLL “Warrior Offensive Player of the Week” and “Warrior Defensive Player of the Week”: Warrior Offensive Player of the Week: Kevin Cunningham of the Charlotte Hounds Warrior Defensive Player of the Week: Scott Ratliff of Boston Cannons   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 11 MLL “FOAthlete of the Week, Presented by The Faceoff Academy”:      Brendan Fowler, Midfielder of the Charlotte Hounds 20-for-26 at the “X” With a 76% Face-off Win Percentage & 11 Groundballs and 1 assist against the Outlaws   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 11 MLL “Cascade Rookie of the Week”:      Connor Buczek, Midfielder for the Florida Launch 3 points vs. New York Lizards (3 goals, 1 two-pointer)  

  Week 12 Preview On Thursday, July 2nd at 7:30pm EST, the Chesapeake Bayhawks (5-5) will take on the New York Lizards (8-2) at home in the first of four Independence Day Weekend match-ups. Although the Charlotte Hounds (3-7) and Florida Launch (2-8) are at the bottom of the standings, they have both executed upsets of top teams in the league recently; they will compete in an exciting match-up against one another on Friday evening at 7:30pm EST in Florida.  The Rochester Rattlers (5-5) will visit the Ohio Machine (6-4) on July 4th at 4pm EST as they target a rematch of last week’s game and hope to improve past .500. The Boston Cannons (6-4) will make their way to the Denver Outlaws (5-5) to play the last game of the holiday weekend at 9pm EST. 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