As the calendar turns to July, the Major League Lacrosse playoff stretch is in full swing. Time is running out on the schedule, which makes each game’s importance more magnified. In Week 11, two teams earned huge victories Saturday that helped pull them within striking distance of the top four.

With Atlanta’s victory over Charlotte and New York’s victory over Ohio, the distance between fourth in the standings and seventh is a game and a half.

Joe Nardella dominated the faceoff X for Atlanta, winning 21 of 29 faceoffs and picking up 11 ground balls, while Kevin Rice (four goals) and Christian Cuccinello (three goals, one assist) totaled four points apiece to help lift the Blaze over the Hounds 16-10.

Atlanta’s victory ends a five-game losing streak and helps it split the season series with Charlotte, which has now lost three in a row and four of its last five games.

“These games are decided by one or two plays,” Rice said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “We’re looking at a 4-6 record, and we could easily have that record flipped. We know as a team that 8-6 will get you in the playoffs, and 7-7 won’t. Coming into tonight, we needed five in a row, and we’ve got one, so we’ve got four more to go here.”

New York had lost two of its previous three games, and the team struggled against Ohio, which came into the game on a six-game losing streak.

The Machine jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the first quarter and were still ahead 12-9 at the end of the third quarter. The Lizards weren’t done fighting, however, and they outscored the Machine 6-2 in the final frame to complete the come-from-behind victory. Joe Walters scored three of his four goals in the fourth quarter (he also had an assist for a total of five points on the night), while Paul Rabil (three goals, three assists, seven points) had a 2-point goal and assisted Walters’s final score, which tied the game at 15.

The Lizards are now a half-game behind Charlotte for the final spot in the playoffs with a game in hand.

“It was huge. We’re back to .500. It’s something we’ve been working on the past couple weeks and then we unfortunately have lost and had to fight back,” Lizards attackman Will Manny said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network. “Now we’re there, and now we have to get above .500 next week, but it’s huge for us. We’re trying to put a full game together. We haven’t done that yet all year, both sides of the ball and in between the lines, but we made stops when we needed to, and we put the ball in the net when we needed to as well.”

Teams making moves off the field

In addition to needing victories in games, multiple trades were made during the week that executives are hoping give their teams an advantage in the stretch run.

Hoping to fill the void left by Steve DeNapoli’s injury, the New York Lizards agreed to a deal with the Ohio Machine, acquiring Jake Bernhardt in exchange for Ryan Walsh and a 2019 second-round collegiate draft pick. Bernhardt, a member of Team USA, had nine goals and seven assists in nine games.

He made his debut for New York in the team’s Week 11 victory over his former team, Ohio, picking up three ground balls and causing one turnover.

After seven seasons with the Denver Outlaws, the team released veteran Jeremy Sieverts, who had eight goals and three assists in five games. The Boston Cannons scooped him up from the player pool but then traded him to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in exchange for Shack Stanwick and a fourth-round collegiate draft pick. Sieverts was originally drafted by the Bayhawks in 2010.

“He’s a good extra-man player. He’s a good six-on six offensive player. He’s been successful in the league. When we played against him, he’s always been tough to guard for us,” Bayhawks head coach Dave Cottle said on Lax Sports Network. “His parents still live in Maryland in Baltimore. Jeremy played for me in college his last two years when he transferred from Butler. He was a Bayhawk when he first got drafted. There’s some familiarity with that, and with the world games coming up, we needed an MLL-winning championship pedigree while some of these guys are away, too.”

Danowski propels Bayhawks

Entering Week 11, Bayhawks attackman Matt Danowski had only played in four of the team’s eight games and only had 10 points on four goals and six assists. After a five-point outing against the Blaze in the team’s previous game against the Blaze, Danowski continued his offensive outpour against the Boston Cannons.

Danowski had at least one point in each quarter, scoring three goals and adding four assists to help Chesapeake beat the Cannons 15-8 on Monday.

“Matt Danowski has been an incredible player in this league for a long time, and he deserves to finally be a member of Team USA,” Chesapeake head coach Dave Cottle said in a press release issued by the team. “Matt dominated the game on the offensive end with his scoring and passing tonight. He showed tremendous leadership in the second half to help put the game away.”

Twelve of Danowski’s 17 points in the 2018 season have been earned in his past two games. The Bayhawks will miss his production and leadership, however, as he leaves to play with Team USA in the FIL World Championship. He will miss Chesapeake’s next two games.

Noteworthy

Playing for his third team in 2018, Ryan Walsh made his Ohio Machine debut against the Lizards, five days after New York traded him. He picked up one ground ball. … Rookie Justin Guterding led the Machine with career highs in goals (four) and points (six). … Lizards goalie Drew Adams made 14 saves against Ohio. … Connor Kelly (three goals) and Sergio Salcido (two goals, one assist) each had three points for the Blaze. … Mike Chanenchuk, who drew up the game-winning play in the MLL All-Star Game, scored three goals (including one 2-pointer) and had one assist, making him part of half of Charlotte’s 10 scores. … Making his Boston Cannons debut, Shack Stanwick led the team with four points on two goals and two assists. … First overall draft pick Trevor Baptiste won 13 of his 24 faceoffs, picked up seven ground balls, and scored two goals. … Colin Heacock, the Bayhawks’ leading scorer, had three goals (including one 2-pointer) and one assist against the Cannons.

Player of the Week

Will Manny, A, New York Lizards

It was a week of epic comebacks for Manny, and his teams had him to thank for their victories. In the MLL All-Star game, Team USA was up 14-8 with seven minutes remaining in the game, but the MLL All-Stars made a furious comeback, tying the game and sending it to overtime, where Manny scored the game-winner. He was named the game’s MVP thanks to his three goals and one assist, and then said he would donate the $10,000 bonus check to the Give-and-Go Foundation, a charity founded by Adam Ghitelman and Scott Ratliff. Then, in the Lizards’ 15-14 victory over the defending champion Ohio Machine, Manny had four goals and one assist, including the game-winning goal, once again.