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Paul Rabil played his first Major League Lacrosse game on June 6, 2008, against the now-defunct New Jersey Pride. The Boston Cannons defeated New Jersey, 17-8, and Rabil scored an unassisted goal in the game.

Over 10 years to the date later, Rabil broke the record for most career points in Major League Lacrosse, scoring an unassisted goal against the Florida Launch, a franchise that didn’t exist when he entered the league.

The Lizards lost the game, 20-18, but Rabil scored five goals and added one assist.

The record-breaking score came in the first quarter, getting the Lizards on the board and ending a four-goal run by the Launch to start the game. Rabil cut from the top right to the crease, receiving a pass from Rob Pannell that took him behind the cage. Covered by Jarrod Neumann, he swept to his right, back upfield. Neumann and the newly-acquired Michael Noone had a miscommunication at goal-line extended, giving Rabil time and room for an uncontested shot. His low shot off his back foot beat Austin Kaut, giving him 542 career points and passing John Grant Jr.

“I felt good coming around the corner. I had a good pick from Rob and closed my eyes and shot,” Rabil said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “I don’t want to sound crass, but it’s an amazing accomplishment just because I get to be in the same breath as [John Grant Jr. and Casey Powell], even the Ryan Boyles of this world, guys that play in this league 10 years and longer. Records get broken. This one isn’t going to last, but I’m happy to be here while I am. It’s a good testament to what this league has become and what we can do as players.”

Rabil now has 547 points for his career, averaging about 4.2 points per game.

Kelly Pulls Double Duty

On Thursday, Thomas Kelly, a 2017 MLL All-Star, helped the Denver Outlaws win their third consecutive game by going 15-for-27 from the faceoff X and winning five ground balls. One day later, he was traded.

The Denver Outlaws traded Kelly to the New York Lizards in exchange for a 2019 MLL first-round collegiate draft pick and a twelfth-round supplemental draft pick. The trade comes after the Lizards sent a 2018 second-round collegiate draft pick and midfielder Jacob Richard to Charlotte for faceoff specialist Brendan Fowler. Fowler was only winning .479 percent of his faceoffs while the Lizards, currently out of the playoff hunt, sit fifth in the league in faceoff winning percentage (.486).

“I have known Tommy a long time since he was my high school student,” Lizards head coach and general manager Joe Spallina said in a press release on the team’s website. “It has been incredible to watch him grow into one of the premier faceoff athletes in the league. He is a Long Island kid and will be a great addition to our team and our locker room.”

A native of Rocky Point, New York, and a high school state champion, Kelly returned home in time to suit up for the Lizards in their loss against the Launch Saturday night. Kelly went 18-29 while Fowler went 4-13.

Ohio Doesn’t Like Rain Delays

The Ohio Machine were beating the Denver Outlaws 9-3 in the second quarter prior to a 90-minute weather delay in the 2016 MLL Championship Game. Ohio ended up losing that game, 19-18.

Saturday night, in a regular season contest against the Chesapeake Bayhawks, Ohio scored the last two goals of the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead in halftime, but the game was held up for over two-hour before resuming the third quarter.

Once again, Ohio lost the game, this time by a score of 15-12.

The loss was the team’s second in Week 8 and fourth in a row. Ohio is now 2-5 and in eighth place in the standings.

Noteworthy

Prior to Florida’s game against New York, the Launch traded former first-round pick Sergio Salcido to the Atlanta Blaze for a fifth-round collegiate draft selection. He played in six games for the Launch this season, scoring nine goals. … Kieran McArdle scored four goals and added three assists in Florida’s victory. … Rob Pannell scored three goals and tallied seven assists for a total of 10 points. … Kylor Bellistri scored four goals and added two assists in Denver’s victory over Ohio. … Denver goaltender Jack Kelly made 12 saves on 16 shots. … In his Machine debut, Dave Emala score three of the team’s six goals against Denver. … First-round draft pick Justin Guterding had one goal and one assist against Denver in his professional debut, and he followed that up with three goals and two assists against the Chesapeake Bayhawks. … Josh Byrne had four goals and three assists for the Bayhawks, and Ian MacKay had four goals. … Chesapeake’s Niko Amatao made 19 saves on 31 shots. … Michael Erhardt had three goals (including one two-pointer) and had one assist in Charlotte’s 19-13 victory over Atlanta. … Mike Chanenchuk (one goal, three assists), Ryan Brown (four goals), and Matt Rambo (two goals, two assists) each had four points for Charlotte. … Atlanta’s Kevin Rice had a game-high eight points on four goals and four assists. … Joe Nardella won 19 of 35 faceoffs for Atlanta, as well as scoring a goal and adding an assist. … The Rattlers remained the only team undefeated at home, beating the Cannons 22-11. … Jordan Wolf (two goals, three assists) and Ty Thompson (five goals) each had five points for Dallas. … Zed Williams led the Cannons with three goals and one assist. It was the third consecutive week he had at least three points.

Player of the Week

Dylan Molloy, A, Florida

While Rabil set the scoring record and continued to add on to his already impressive stats, Molloy was the goal scorer of the night. The second-year attackman scored seven goals and added one assist. His three goals to start the game put the Launch up early, giving them a lead they would never lose, and his goal in the fourth quarter stopped a three-goal run from the Lizards to start the final period as they attempted a comeback.

Molloy is probably more satisfied with the victory than he is with his points total.

“If I end up having a lot of points, it’s great,” he said earlier in the week, “but I’m just hoping to get to the championship game, which is a challenge in itself.”