Lacrosse fans anxiously waited for Matt Rambo, the 2017 Tewaaraton Award winner and third overall pick in the 2017 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft, to make his professional debut and the recent Maryland alumnus did not disappoint.
Rambo picked up two assists — his first points in MLL — to help the Charlotte Hounds beat the Chesapeake Bayhawks in Annapolis 15-14 on Saturday. The victory was the Hounds’ first one-goal win of the season, losing three games by a point previously this season. It was also the first team the team ever went on the road and defeated the Bayhawks.
Charlotte’s starting attack featured Rambo, 2015 MLL Cascade Rookie of the Year Joey Sankey, and Ryan Brown, the MLL leader in points after Week 9.
Brown scored three goals against Chesapeake, while Sankey scored two goals and added an assist.
“It’s a faster game. It’s fun,” Rambo told Maryland Sports Insider after the game. “Sankey’s great. I played with him back in Philly a bunch. Ryan Brown shoots the ball pretty hard. All the middies did their job drawing slides and finishing when they had to. I thought it was a great job on offense.”
Colin Heacock, Rambo’s teammate on the NCAA championship-winning Terrapins, also made his pro debut, playing for the Bayhawks. He scored two goals.
“It was a lot of fun getting out here and running around, facing a couple of my old teammates like Rambo,” he told MSI. “I have a lot of great players playing alongside of me. … When you’re dodging, there’s a bunch of guys moving off-ball, so you just keep your head up and know they’re going to be open.”
Boston takes out Denver
After Denver held opponents to single-digit scoring three times in its first four games of Denver’s season, the Outlaws allowed 16 goals for the second time in three games, both resulting in the team’s two losses this season.
The Boston Cannons defeated the Outlaws 16-9 on Saturday, resulting in a series split for the 2017 season.
The Boston attack combined for 12 goals and five assists. Kylor Bellistri led all players with eight points (four goals, four assists), while Davey Emala scored a game-high five goals. Will Manny scored two goals and added one assist.
What may be even more impressive, however, is the effort the Boston defense had.
Goalie Tyler Fiorito was named the Player of the Game with 20 saves. Eight of those came in the fourth quarter, when Fiorito, Brodie Merrill, Mitch Belisle and company held the Outlaws scoreless.
In the game against Denver two weeks prior, Bellistri didn’t play and Manny and Emala combined for four goals and two assists. Boston lost that contest 19-13 after a seven-goal fourth quarter sealed the victory for Denver.
“Denver, we let it get away from us in that fourth quarter a little bit, but it was a battle for three and a half quarters,” Boston head coach Sean Quirk told Lax Sports Network earlier in the week. “Everyone knows to beat a team twice in this league is tough to do, so I think our guys are excited for the challenge this week.”
Lizards reach milestones in win
The New York Lizards had a number of reasons to be happy Saturday night, beginning with a come-from-behind 13-12 victory over their New York reptilian brothers, the Rochester Rattlers. Midfielder Dave Lawson scored the game-winning goal with 51 seconds remaining. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, and the victory came with several milestone performances.
Lizards midfielder Paul Rabil scored one goal and added two assists. Not only did his goal come in the fourth quarter and tie the game at 10, but it was the 500th point in Rabil’s MLL career. He joined MLL legends John Grant Jr. (541) and Casey Powell (527) as the only players in league history with at least 500 points.
Additionally, Joe Walters scored four points and added two assists for a season (and Lizards) high of six points.
Faceoff specialist Greg Gurenlian was beaten on the night by Rochester’s Drew Simoneau, who won 12 of 17, but the man they call “Beast” did earn his 2,000th faceoff victory, which includes playoffs.
Noteworthy
Boston’s Joe Nardella won 16 of 29 faceoffs while one of his wings, Matt Landis, picked up a game-high seven ground balls. … Sergio Perkovic, the second overall pick in the 2017 MLL collegiate draft, scored Boston’s first goal of the game, which was also the first of his professional career. … Eric Law scored three goals and added one assist for the Denver Outlaws. … Randy Staats returned for the Atlanta Blaze after the completion of the NLL season, scoring four goals and tallying four assists. Fellow Atlanta attackman Kevin Rice scored three goals and assisted on two others. … Launch midfielder Connor Buczek scored three goals and had one assist. … Florida goalie Austin Kaut made 18 saves against 34 shots on goal. … Chesapeake attackman Matt Danowski scored a game-high five points behind four goals and one assist. … Jordan Wolf scored three goals and provided two assists in Rochester’s loss to New York.
Player of the Week
Kieran McArdle, A, Florida Launch
McArdle scored seven goals and added one assist in the Florida Launch’s 19-16 victory over the Atlanta Blaze. Down 15-14 heading into the fourth quarter, McArdle scored three of the team’s five goals in the final period.
“Those guys were finding me off-ball,” he said in a post-game interview on the team’s website, “so I was just trying to find a spot, get in a good shooting lane, and they found me and made it easy on me.”