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Since debuting in Major League Lacrosse, former No. 1 pick Rob Pannell has been one of the top scorers in the league. Outside of his rookie season, he has finished in the top four in scoring each season, leading the team twice.

He has been recognized for his success, earning the 2013 MLL Rookie of the Year award and 2016 Offensive Player of the Year to go along with numerous All-Star game selections. He has never been named the league MVP, however.

The 2018 season could finally be his year, however, and his performance in New York’s 13-12 victory over the Dallas Rattlers helped him stand out.

Pannell was one of six Lizards (Pannell, Jake Bernhardt, Paul Rabil, Kevin Unterstein, Kyle Hartzell, and Joe Fletcher) to play in their first game returning from the FIL World Championship in Israel, while three more suited up for the Rattlers (John Galloway, Joel White, and Ned Crotty). Pannell led both teams with five points (three goals and two assists), extending his league lead to 69 points in 12 games.

“You get enough opportunities, you’re certainly going to capitalize on some,” Pannell said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network, while giving credit to Rattlers defender Matt Dunn. “Obviously, I’ve got some great players around me that are finishing my passes, as they have all season long.”

His play resulted in praise from Rabil, who scored off a Pannell assist in the first quarter.

“Big win tonight for the Zards. Playoff push is on. RP3 went off,” Rabil tweeted before announcing Pannell as the next guest on his podcast.

Chesapeake earns way back into playoffs

The week didn’t start off like planned for the Bayhawks coaches and players thanks to a 12-11 loss to the Atlanta Blaze, but Chesapeake bounced back quickly with a 13-11 victory over the Denver Outlaws, becoming the second team to clinch a playoff berth and a home playoff game.

“We’ve played like this in every game, except for the last two,” Bayhawks coach Dave Cottle said in a release on the team’s website. “Tonight, we were flying around defensively, and we were tough. And we played unselfishly on offense. We had a real sense of urgency.” 

First-quarter, two-point goals from Jeremy Sieverts and Ryan Tucker put the team up 6-1 in the first quarter, and two goals from Josh Byrne in the third quarter pushed the team up 11-4 going into the final quarter.

That’s where the Bayhawks ran into trouble.

Denver went on a 5-1 run to start the period, capped off by a Romar Dennis two-pointer, to close the gap to three goals. Chesapeake made plays when it needed to, however, winning the ensuing faceoff and the team’s leading scorer, Colin Heacock, scored his only goal of the game to push the lead back to four, enough to hold Denver off and win the game.

Chesapeake returns to the league playoffs for the first time since 2013, when it won the second of its back-to-back championships.

“It’s obviously an amazing feeling,” Byrne said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network. “This group has worked so hard over this entire season, and to finally make it to the playoffs is a great feeling.”

Marrocco’s big day for Boston

Five different goalies have seen action for the Cannons in the 2018 season, and rookie Nick Marrocco, making his second start of the season, had a huge game playing in front of his hometown fans over the weekend. Marrocco made 21 saves on 27 shots on goal, helping Boston upset the Charlotte Hounds, 14-7, and potentially spoil Charlotte’s chances at a spot in the playoffs.

“I do know that it’s really nice having Nick Marrocco in the same jersey as me,” Cannons faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste, who played against Marrocco in Big East competition in college,  said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network. “Going against him this past year and previous years in college, he’s always impressed me and impressed our squad when we were going against him. He came up big for us tonight. Huge. When he gets hot, it’s almost impossible to score on him.”

Marrocco, an undrafted goalie out of Georgetown, is a Duxbury, Mass. native. The seven goals were the fewest Boston allowed through 13 games in the 2018 season.

Noteworthy

Lyle Thompson made his return to MLL action, playing in both of Chesapeake’s Week 14 games. Thompson scored a hat trick in the team’s loss to Atlanta and added a goal and an assist against the Outlaws. … Josh Byrne had three points in both of Chesapeake’s Week 14 games. … Zach Currier (one goal, two assists), Romar Dennis (two goals, one two-point goal), and Eric Law (three goals) each had three points for Denver). … Drew Adams made 12 saves on 24 shots on goal, including a third quarter save on Cody Radziewicz which led to a Kyle Hartzell goal on the other end. … Ty Thompson scored four goals to lead the Rattlers. … Dallas faceoff specialist Drew Simoneau won 15 of 28 face-offs and scored a goal. … Dallas attackman Ned Crotty, playing in his 100th MLL game, scored a goal and added an assist. … Atlanta rookie Christian Cuccinello scored five points (two goals, three assists) in the Blaze victory against Chesapeake, and he added another four points (three goals, one assist) in the team’s victory against Florida. … Connor Kelly totaled seven points between Atlanta’s two Week 14 games. … Kieran McArdle scored four goals and added two assists in Florida’s 13-12 victory over the Ohio Machine, and he followed that up with three goals and one assist against the Blaze. … Dylan Molloy totaled nine points in Florida’s two Week 14 games. … Ohio face-off specialist Greg Puskuldjian won 17 of 29 face-offs. … In his second MLL game, Ohio attackman Bryce Wasserman scored three goals and added one assist. … Trevor Baptiste won 17 of 24 face-offs for the Cannons. … Shack Stanwick (one goal, three assists), James Pannell (three goals, one assist), and Kyle Jackson (three goals, one assist) each scored four points for the Cannons. … John Crawley led the Charlotte Hounds with two goals, both in the fourth quarter, including a two-pointer.

Player of the Week

Scott Ratliff, LSM, Atlanta Blaze

Several players made large contributions to Atlanta’s two-win week, putting them in position to earn a trip to the playoffs. Georgia-native Scott Ratliff came up big in both games.

In a one-goal win over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Thursday, Ratliff picked up seven ground balls and tallied an assist, while helping to keep the Bayhawks to 11 goals. He was named the MVP of the game. He followed that up with a two-goal, three-ground ball effort against the Florida Launch. His second goal was the final score of the game, an impressive backdoor cut across the crease.