2012 Chesapeake Bayhawks
Dixon Totals Seven Points, but Bayhawks Fall 15-13 to Outlaws
Mundorf, Schwarzman lead comeback as Denver captures regular season title
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Midfielder Kyle Dixon scored four goals and piled up seven points, but it was not enough as the Chesapeake Bayhawks fell to the Denver Outlaws, 15-13, before a crowd of 10,420 last night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Dixon fired in a pair of 2-point goals, increasing his Major League Lacrosse single-season record in that category to 14.
Attackman Brendan Mundorf totaled five points on three goals and two assists while goalie Jesse Schwartzman made 15 saves as Denver rallied from an early five-goal deficit to capture the third regular season championship in franchise history. Rookie attackman Mark Matthews had three goals and an assist for the Outlaws (11-3), who set a franchise record for victories and earned top seed for MLL Championship weekend.
“That’s a very talented offensive team and you have to cover them for 60 minutes,” Chesapeake head coach Dave Cottle said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t keep playing at the level we did during the first quarter for the rest of the game.”
Denver will face fourth-seeded Long Island (8-6) in the opening semifinal (1 p.m.) on Aug. 25th at Harvard Stadium in Boston. Chesapeake (10-4) receives the second seed and will take on No. 3 Boston (9-5) in the second semifinal (4 p.m.).
“It definitely feels good to get that number one seed and play in the early game,” said Mundorf, who was named Bud Light Player of the Game.
Attackmen Ben Rubeor and Drew Westervelt scored two goals apiece for Chesapeake, which missed a chance to set a franchise record for victories. Attackman John Grant Jr., joined midfielders Ben Hunt and Steven Brooks in totaling a goal and an assist for the Bayhawks, who were seeking their first regular season championship since 2005.
“It’s a little annoying and very frustrating,” Chesapeake goalie Kip Turner (11 saves) said of the missed opportunities. “On the other hand, it’s good for everyone to know on our team to know that we have to work even harder over the next two weeks in order to accomplish our ultimate goal.”
Dixon and Westervelt both scored two goals while Grant had a goal and an assist as Chesapeake raced to a 7-2 lead after one quarter. Dixon fired in a 2-pointer and also scored on a left-handed rocket while dodging down the alley. Attackman Ben Rubeor scored the team’s first goal, extending his streak of notching at least one point to 29 consecutive games. Grant wowed the crowd with a nifty behind-the-back goal.
However, the Outlaws came storming back in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7 on the strength of five unanswered goals. Attackman Chris Bocklet scored two goals while Matthews had a goal and an assist during the rally.
Chesapeake was short-handed on defense as starters Michael Evans, Brian Spallina and Dan Hostetler all sat out for various reasons. Barney Ehrmann and Tim Kaiser replaced Evans and Spallina on close defense while John Orsen and Mike Simon filled in for Hostetler and Ehrmann as long stick midfielders.
Dixon opened the third quarter scoring with his second 2-pointer of the night, connecting from beyond the arc at the 10:28 mark on a power play. That snapped a scoreless drought of more than 21 minutes for the Bayhawks.
Midfielder Peet Poillon answered in kind for Denver, unleashing an underhanded shot from just beyond the top of the circle to tie the score at nine. It went back-and-forth like that the rest of the way with the teams pretty much trading goals as the score was also tied at 10, 11, and 12 in the third period.
Denver finally seized control of the back-and-forth contest by scoring three straight goals to open the start the fourth quarter. Mundorf assisted Jordan McBride for a goal then scored himself in a shorthanded situation on a spectacular play. Mundorf snared a long clearing pass from Schwartzman then raced directly to the goal and scored while leaping into the crease and despite having two defenders draped all over him. Schwartzman received a rare assist for a goalkeeper on the goal, which was a major momentum changer.
Rubeor ended the 3-0 run with an unassisted goal to pull Chesapeake within 15-13, but the home team would get no closer as Denver succeeded in salting away the remainder of the clock.
Chesapeake face-off specialist Alex Smith played for the first time all season and wound up winning 9 of 18 draws. Smith started off 1-for-5 on face-offs, but captured 7 of 13 in the second half to show that he could help the team in the playoffs.
For the Bayhawks full schedule go to www.thebayhawks.com.
Hounds Ground Hawks 13-12
Charlotte, NC
July 8, 2012
By: Euan McCreath
The Chesapeake Bayhawks opened the second half of their season on the road in Charlotte before more than five thousand Major League Lacrosse fans Saturday night against the Charlotte Hounds.
The Bayhawks entered the game with a 7-1 record while the Charlotte Hounds tallied just 2 wins in 8 games. However, the Hounds did win their last game before the All-Star break so they were hoping to build on that little bit of momentum. The Hounds gave their hometown crowd at American Legion Memorial Stadium something to cheer about early jumping out to a 2-0 lead. However the Bayhawks would respond with three unanswered in a back and forth battle that saw multiple lead changes. The Hounds took a 6-5 lead into halftime, however it was the Bayhawks who took over defensively in the third shutting out the Hound offense while tallying four goals of their own in building a 9 to 6 lead entering the fourth. That’s when the Matt Danowski show started.
The Charlotte Hound attacker simply took over the game with three minutes left to go and his team down 12-10. He scored three unassisted goals the final one a two-pointer with 30 seconds left to carry his team to victory in thrilling fashion. Matt shared these thoughts with me after the game, “If you can’t get amped to play in front of this crowd you have to check your pulse. This win tells us that we can compete with the best team in the league. We’ve won two in a row now and we just need to keep it going.” Danowski tallied 6 points in the win and was named Player of the Game.
Bayhawks Head Coach Dave Cottle wasn’t thrilled with his teams performance, “It wasn’t one of our better games but having said that we we’re still in position to win the game at the end. Give them credit they played a great game. We have a lot of areas that we need to improve on and hopefully we will learn from this loss.”
“I don’t think we played well tonight, there were a ton of mistakes that came back to bite us. This loss lights a fire in me and we all are disappointed. The Hounds came out with a lot of intensity tonight and. we just didn’t execute, commented Bayhawks attacker Drew Westervelt.
The Bayhawks look to get back to their winning ways as their four game road trip continues as they head up to Rochester to take on the Rattlers while the Hounds head to Denver starting a four game road trip of their own to take on the Outlaws.
Charlotte, NC
July 8, 2012
By: Euan McCreath
The Chesapeake Bayhawks opened the second half of their season on the road in Charlotte before more than five thousand Major League Lacrosse fans Saturday night against the Charlotte Hounds.
The Bayhawks entered the game with a 7-1 record while the Charlotte Hounds tallied just 2 wins in 8 games. However, the Hounds did win their last game before the All-Star break so they were hoping to build on that little bit of momentum. The Hounds gave their hometown crowd at American Legion Memorial Stadium something to cheer about early jumping out to a 2-0 lead. However the Bayhawks would respond with three unanswered in a back and forth battle that saw multiple lead changes. The Hounds took a 6-5 lead into halftime, however it was the Bayhawks who took over defensively in the third shutting out the Hound offense while tallying four goals of their own in building a 9 to 6 lead entering the fourth. That’s when the Matt Danowski show started.
The Charlotte Hound attacker simply took over the game with three minutes left to go and his team down 12-10. He scored three unassisted goals the final one a two-pointer with 30 seconds left to carry his team to victory in thrilling fashion. Matt shared these thoughts with me after the game, “If you can’t get amped to play in front of this crowd you have to check your pulse. This win tells us that we can compete with the best team in the league. We’ve won two in a row now and we just need to keep it going.” Danowski tallied 6 points in the win and was named Player of the Game.
Bayhawks Head Coach Dave Cottle wasn’t thrilled with his teams performance, “It wasn’t one of our better games but having said that we we’re still in position to win the game at the end. Give them credit they played a great game. We have a lot of areas that we need to improve on and hopefully we will learn from this loss.”
“I don’t think we played well tonight, there were a ton of mistakes that came back to bite us. This loss lights a fire in me and we all are disappointed. The Hounds came out with a lot of intensity tonight and. we just didn’t execute, commented Bayhawks attacker Drew Westervelt.
The Bayhawks look to get back to their winning ways as their four game road trip continues as they head up to Rochester to take on the Rattlers while the Hounds head to Denver starting a four game road trip of their own to take on the Outlaws.
| head_coach_dave_cottle after the game |
| bayhawk_attacker_drew_westervelt.mp3 |
| hound_steven_berger.mp3 |
| matt_danowski_charlotte_hound.mp3 |
