MLL Notebook: Pannell, Lizards Revamp Offense En Route to First Win

Mon Jul 1 2019 | Phil Shore | Pro

PHOTO BY WESLEY BUNNELL/PRETTY INSTANT

In his seventh season, Rob Pannell surpassed MLL legend Tim Goettelmann as the Lizards' all-time leading scorer.



Even as the New York Lizards struggled at the outset of this season, losing their first four games, reigning Major League Lacrosse MVP Rob Pannell was still doing what he does best — putting points on the board. In the first four games, Pannell scored seven goals and added nine assists. So when the Lizards defeated the Dallas Rattlers 13-9 in Week 5, it was no surprise Pannell had a big night. Pannell scored two goals and added three assists in the team’s victory and made history in the process. Four of Pannell’s five points came in the second half, when the Lizards pulled away from the Rattlers in a close contest. His second goal, in the third quarter, broke an 8-8 tie and gave the Lizards a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. In the fourth quarter, Pannell assisted on the final goal of the night, a score from Scott Corcoran. That assist gave him 388 career points, making him the Lizards all-time leader. Pannell, in his seventh season in the league and with the Lizards, surpassed MLL legend Tim Goettelmann on the franchise list. In a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network, Pannell discussed how the success both he and his team had against Dallas was thanks in part to a new offensive game plan. “I played off ball in practice a lot, because we’re trying to get different guys inside and get me in the middle to make sure guys are in the right spots and kind of quarterback the offense from the crease,” he said. “Guys were struggling with that, so I just wanted to go in there, make sure we were balanced, guys were getting on the right sides of the field to give the guys that were dodging space. When I have the ball behind, a lot of guys get excited and want to cut, and everyone wants to go to the crease. When I’m in there [in the middle], we’re spread out a little better. We were working on that a little bit, and then the rest of the game we were trying to balance a little more.” Kevin Crowley was the beneficiary of a Pannell assist in the first quarter. He praised Pannell in a post-game interview done by the Lizards staff. “Rob’s a great feeder,” Crowley said. “Anytime I’m moving off ball, I know he’s looking for me, so we were fortunate to connect there.”











No more unbeatens

Heading into Week 5, two MLL teams were undefeated: the Boston Cannons and the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Both teams lost, however, leaving no one with a perfect record.

In the best game of the week, the Denver Outlaws traveled to Quincy, Mass., and beat the host Cannons 17-16. Down 15-11, the Cannons went on a 5-1 run in the span of six minutes, tying the game at 16 thanks to a Kyle Jackson goal with 42 seconds remaining.

Outlaws rookie midfielder Zach Runberg, who made the team from an open tryout, picked up the ground ball off the ensuing faceoff and scored the game-winning goal with 22 seconds left.

The goal was Runberg’s first in his MLL career.

“We were just scrapping at the faceoff X for a while. Nobody could really get a ground ball. We were playing it out, being patient,” Runberg said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network. “I finally got the opportunity to get the ball, and then I was running down. We had an advantage man-wise. We were up 4-3, so I threw a pump fake to my guy and the defender luckily slid off me, and I just kind of went down, shot and scored.”

Also at home, the Bayhawks fell to the visiting Atlanta Blaze 19-10, the biggest point differential of the week.

The Bayhawks were up 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, but the Blaze opened the second frame with a 7-0 run from which the Bayhawks were never able to recover.

In that run, the vaunted Blaze offense caught fire; Randy Staats had two goals and an assist, Tommy Palasek scored two goals, and both Shayne Jackson and Bryan Cole tallied a goal and an assist apiece.

Additionally, with Bayhawks faceoff specialist Kenny Massa going down with an injury, Atlanta and Alex Woodall were at an advantage. Atlanta won 14 of 25 faceoffs from the second quarter on.

“They won every faceoff, and we gave up transition goals,” Chesapeake coach Dave Cottle said about the 7-0 run in a press release on the Bayhawks website.

The Outlaws, Blaze, Cannons and Bayhawks have one loss apiece. Denver is in first place thanks to its four wins, with game in hand on Atlanta and Boston and having played two more games than Chesapeake.

Junior heating up

John Grant Jr.’s retirement after the 2016 season came in large part because of the physical toll injuries were taking on him. Even though he has admitted he wasn’t at his best, he still managed to score 10 goals in his final regular-season game.

After a two-year retirement, he came back for the 2019 season. While he said he wasn’t sure what his body would be able to handle, he’s enjoyed a successful season and was at his best in Week 5 — a stretch of two games in three days for the Outlaws.

In Denver’s 15-9 victory Thursday over Dallas, he tied Brendan Kavanagh with a game-high four goals. They were not run-of-the-mill, either. A no-look, one-handed, between-the-legs bounce shot landed Grant on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Then, in Saturday’s victory over Boston, he added a goal and four assists.

“[Denver head coach] Tony Seaman will bench me or cut me if he sees I’m not doing what I can to help the team,” Grant said. “So far, each game I’ve gotten better, so that was good.”

Noteworthy

Coming back to play near his hometown, Outlaws faceoff specialist Max Adler enjoyed an enormous game. He won 21 of 37 faceoffs and picked up 11 ground balls in Denver’s win at Boston. … Rookies Ryan Lee and Chris Aslanian each tallied four points for the Outlaws. … Mark Cockerton and Kyle Jackson scored four goals apiece to lead Boston in the losing cause. … Zach Currier had three goals and three assists in Denver’s win over Dallas. … While Dallas scored only nine goals against the Outlaws, seven different players scored, including LSM Eli Salama, who scored a 2-point goal. … Bryce Wasserman bounced back from a scoreless outing against the Outlaws to score three goals and add an assist against the Lizards. … Dylan Molloy and Ryan Walsh each netted hat tricks in New York’s victory over Dallas. … The Chesapeake attack trio continued to put up big numbers even in the loss to Atlanta. Lyle Thompson had four goals and two assists, Colin Heacock had two goals and an assist, and Steele Stanwick had a goal and two assists. … Niko Amato made 16 saves against the Blaze. … Atlanta goalie Chris Madalon followed a 20-save game against Dallas in Week 4 with a 19-save outing against Chesapeake. … Atlanta faceoff specialist Alex Woodall went 18-for-31 with 13 ground balls.

Player of the Week

Brendan Kavanagh, A, Denver Outlaws

In what was a high-scoring week for several teams and individual players, Kavanagh was instrumental in a two-win week for the Outlaws. He scored four goals and added an assist in the mid-week win over Dallas, and then against the undefeated Cannons, he scored another three goals and added two assists.

Play of the Week

John Grant Jr., A, Denver Outlaws

The best play you'll see tonight from a 44-year old @JohnGrantJr24 #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/XBbli6A3wg — Major League Lacrosse (@MLL_Lacrosse) June 28, 2019

The league’s all-time leading scorer put on a show in his first game in Denver since retiring in 2016. His off-hand, between-the-legs shots left fans and peers salivating over his wizardry.