BayHawks Set for Home-And-Home Weekend Series with Lizards
August 2, 2019 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Chesapeake Bayhawks News Release
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Of all the professional sports, the National Hockey League is best known for creating the home-and-home schedule format. That term references the situation when two teams, usually division rivals, play each other on back-to-back nights in both cities.
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) has introduced the home-and-home concept this season and the Chesapeake Bayhawks will get a taste of what it's like this weekend. The Bayhawks will host the New York Lizards on Saturday night at 8:00 PM EST at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and then turn around to travel to Long Island to play their longtime rival on Sunday evening at 5:00 PM EST inside James M. Shuart Stadium.
"[The travel and rest are] same for both teams, so there's no sense wasting time worrying about it," Chesapeake Head Coach Dave Cottle said.
Cottle did acknowledge there are certain considerations and special arrangements that go into preparing for a home-and-home weekend. He said Chesapeake will ask his whole roster to be available for both games in the unfortunate event of injury. Additional attention is also given to meal planning, travel and recovery.
"We'll make sure the players have plenty of fluids and will have ice baths available on Saturday night for recovery," mentioned Cottle. "Fortunately, our players are young and resilient. I think they'll be able to handle playing two games in two days."
The Chesapeake coaching staff is quite familiar with the New York personnel and playing style so game-planning should not be a problem. However, Cottle, his offensive coordinator Tom Mariano and defensive coordinator Bob Shillinglaw must be flexible.
"Obviously, we'll find out whether the changes we make for Saturday game are successful or not. We may need to make additional changes going into Sunday's game, so we better have something else in the bag," the head coach said.
The Bayhawks will make adjustments to the game in the wake of their 14-10 loss to the Lizards on July 20th. Cottle felt Chesapeake allowed too many six-on-six goals and struggled to defend New York's talented attack unit led by reigning Major League Lacrosse Most Valuable Player Rob Pannell and his partner on attack, Dylan Molloy.
"Credit goes to New York because they put us in a lot of big-little situations and scored four goals as a result. There were some schematic things they took advantage of," Cottle said. "I thought Warren Jeffrey did a good job on Malloy and Zac Prattson was solid one-on-one. We just did not play the picks very well."
Cottle entered that July 20th contest concerned about Chesapeake's play on faceoffs and between the lines. He moved three-time All-Star Jesse Bernhardt to long stick midfield for the game which made a big difference.
"Having Jesse play pole definitely worked. He gave us great play coming off the wing (for faceoffs) and in the middle of the field," Cottle said. "However, not having Jesse on close defense is noticeable because he's so good off the ball in terms of communicating and helping. I think we need to have Jesse play both up top and down low over the course of each game."
Chesapeake will welcome back Brendan Bomberry, Isaiah Davis-Allen, and Steele Stanwick - three MLL All-Stars who were unavailable on the 20th.
Getting Stanwick back as the offensive quarterback will the team's output and Cottle will continue to emphasize the need for both ball and player movement. MVP-frontrunner Lyle Thompson was limited to a season-low three points (2G, 1A) against the Lizards and his matched-up defender Ben Randall. Having Stanwick draw defensive attention can only free up Thompson.
"We need to do a better job of moving off the ball whenever Lyle is dodging," Cottle said. "Lyle draws double- and triple-teams and if guys just move to open spots, he will find them."
Offensive midfielder, Shane Simpson, is expected to make his Bayhawks and MLL debuts this weekend. Simpson was a key member of UNC-Chapel Hill's 2016 NCAA DI National Championship team and helped the NLL's Calgary Roughnecks capture their first league title in a decade.
"We needed a right-hander with speed and Shane Simpson fits the bill," Cottle said.
Simpson will join a crop of first-year Canadian players - like John Wagner, Andrew Kew, Colton Watkinson, and Brendan Bomberry - who are expected to make an offensive impact on the field.
Chesapeake (4-3) enters the two-game weekend in sole possession of third place in the Major League Lacrosse, standing behind Denver (6-2) and Boston (5-3). It is not too early to begin thinking about playoff positioning with the Bayhawks looking to stay ahead of the Atlanta Blaze (5-4) and Lizards (3-5).
The Chesapeake Bayhawks take on the New York Lizards on Saturday, August 3rd in Annapolis at 8:00 PM EST for Super Powers Night. The Bayhawks will be celebrating adaptive athletes throughout the game and a portion of ticket sales will be donated to organizations that benefit those involved in adaptive sports. Tickets for this game are available at thebayhawks.com/tickets or can be purchased through the Chesapeake Bayhawks Ticket Office by calling 866-99-HAWKS or emailing sales@thebayhawks.com. The Lexus Tailgate Zone will open at 5:30 PM and feature a live DJ, photo booth, games for kids and complimentary Bud Light for ticket holders 21 and older.
Chesapeake then turns around to go to Long Island for their game against the Lizards on Sunday, August 4th at 5:00 PM EST.
The games on August 3rd and 4th will both be broadcast live on MyTV Baltimore and Lacrosse Sports Network (LSN).
Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 2, 2019
- BayHawks Set for Home-And-Home Weekend Series with Lizards - Chesapeake Bayhawks
- Denver Outlaws to Take on Boston Cannons in Matchup of League's Top Teams on Saturday at Broncos Stadium at Mile High - Denver Outlaws
- MLL Week 9 Preview - MLL
- Silverbacks Stadium Hosts Rattlers Matchup - Atlanta Blaze
- MLL Week 9 Preview: Boston at Denver - MLL
- MLL Week 9 Preview: Lizards vs. BayHawks Times Two - MLL
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