With July being a busy month including the FIL World Championships, the MLL took a bit of a
break during the middle of the month, but is slated to come back with a bang as teams look
forward to the end of the season and the playoff push. The Bayhawks returned from the break
last weekend against the Charlotte Hounds and took quite the setback.
Without some of their top scorers (Steele Stanwick, Matt Danowski, Josh Byrne) the Bayhawks
offense became stagnant and allowed the Hounds to come out of the gates firing, increasing
their lead to 10-3 by halftime. Despite Stephen Kelly winning the faceoff battle, the Hounds were
able to generate more shots and shots on goal en route to a 20-10 win. This was a big win for
the Hounds, who currently sit in fourth place and have a slight grip on the last playoff spot. In
terms of the Bayhawks, the loss dropped them to 8-3, with three remaining games against
Atlanta, Denver and New York, all of which are fighting for the third and fourth spots.
The current standings are as follows:
Dallas 10-2
Chesapeake 8-3
Denver7-5
Charlotte 7-6
New York 6-6
Atlanta 5-6
Florida 4-7
Ohio 3-9
Boston 3-9
As you can see, the battle for the fourth playoff spot is very much still up in the air, but as of
today, the Bayhawks look like they have mostly secured a spot. Even with three losses, they
could potentially be in a tiebreak with four other teams.
The playoffs, however, could be set by the end of this weekend. With the United States taking home the gold in the FIL World Championships over Canada on a buzzer beating goal, players have returned to the states and look to finish up the regular season. Many teams play doubleheaders over the weekend, and there are games Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Bayhawks head to Atlanta tomorrow evening to take on the Blaze at 7:30 before returning
home to Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to finish off their home slate against the Denver
Outlaws.
The game this Thursday will be a big one for both, as Atlanta is coming off two straight wins to
put themselves in playoff contention and remain in the chase at 5-6. Look for Colin Heacock to
continue his stellar year playing out of the box, that is if Stanwick and Danowski come back and
play attack.
The Blaze are led offensively by Kevin Rice (2nd in the league in points) and Deemer Class, and will need significant efforts from the two of them as well as others to keep their season alive.
The Bayhawks will be chasing down the Dallas Rattlers for the first seed in the playoffs for the remainder of the year, which cannot be done without a couple of victories.
Time will tell, but the remainder the MLL season remains very up for grabs...who will be the
team who takes it?