Hounds Sweep Season Series with Launch
July 22, 2016 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Charlotte Hounds News Release
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Charlotte Hounds on Friday night beat the Florida Launch 14-10 at American Legion Memorial Stadium, sweeping the season series and improving their overall record to 7-4. The game was held in Charlotte as makeup for the contest originally scheduled for Boca Raton, FL, on June 18 that got postponed due to lightning and severe storms in the area. Mike Chanenchuk was named Coca-Cola Player of the Game following a five-point performance. Meanwhile, the Launch was lead by Steve Pontrello with one goal and three assists.
"We had to win tonight, our back were really against the wall," said Hounds Head Coach Jim Stagnitta following the game. "People don't realize how good (the Launch) are because they're much better than their record and they have been. They've played people toughly and they're very, very talented offensively. We knew we were gonna have our hands full tonight. Honestly to hold them to 10 goals on the defensive side is terrific."
Solid faceoff play by Brendan Fowler in the first quarter helped the Hounds build an early 5-2 advantage. Kevin Cunningham and Chanenchuk scored two each, while Patrick Resch notched his first professional goal off a feed from Joey Sankey.
Florida struck first in the second quarter, as Pontrello scored on the run to cut the lead to two. But quality ball movement from the Hounds lead to back-to-back goals from Sankey and Ryan Brown. Less than two minutes later Pontrello found Owen Blye, and the former Hound made it a 7-4 game. Charlotte countered with two more goals, as John Haus found Chanenchuk for the early hat trick and Sankey fed Brown for his second of the night. The Launch mustered one more goal before the half, as Connor Buczek fired a bullet to pull within 9-5 the break.
The game's first penalty came early in the third, as Tucker Durkin of the Launch was called for slashing. Kevin Crowley capitalized on the man-up to extend the Hounds' lead to 10-5. But Ryan Flanagan was hit with a cross-checking penalty shortly after, and Lyle Thompson made a great individual effort to score seconds after the power-play expired. Four minutes later Steven Brooks scored with a quick fake then finish to trim the Hounds lead to 10-7. Chanenchuk responded with his fourth of the night to put the Hounds back in front by four to start the final quarter.
The Launch quickly pulled within two, as Thompson and Blye scored back-to-back making it 11-9. The teams traded goals before McArdle was called for cross checking, giving the Hounds their third extra-man opportunity of the night. Chanenchuk found Sankey to put the Hounds in front 13-10 with 7:23 remaining in the game. Crowley beat Launch goalie Austin Kaut low one minute later, and the final 6:33 of the game went scoreless as both men in net came up with quality saves.
Charlie Cipriano finished with 11 saves on 21 shots to Kaut's 14 saves on 28 shots. In addition, Fowler went 11-17 at the X and Kevin Massa 5-11.
"The ball movement was terrific," said Stagnitta. "Austin Kaut made some nice saves for them tonight but the ball moved and when the balls moves it's hard for goalies. We have some pretty good dodgers out at the midfield right now so you have to make a decision - either you're going to slide or they're going to get their hands free. When they slide, which they did today, we're able to whip the ball around. We found we were able to get a lot of good offense out of the invert and getting a short stick behind, and as soon as they slid we moved the ball and took advantage of it. That's the difference in our team right now - when we do that we're really good."
The Hounds face a quick turnaround, and will next host the Denver Outlaws (5-6) at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday, July 23. It will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season, as the Hounds will travel to Denver the following weekend. The Outlaws are coming off an 18-11 come-from-behind victory over the Atlanta Blaze on July 16. Faceoff between Denver and Charlotte on July 23 is scheduled for 7:30pm ET.
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Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 22, 2016
- Hounds Sweep Season Series with Launch - Charlotte Hounds
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