Bayhawks Week 11 Preview

7/27/10 4:13 PM

Bayhawks Week 11 Preview

By Caitlain Kelley

Coming off their fifth consecutive loss, the Chesapeake Bayhawks return home to take on the Chicago Machine in the second-to-last game of the regular season. The Bayhawks last home game is Saturday, July 31 at 7 p.m. While Chesapeake hasn’t been able to turn their luck around, they still have a shot at making the playoffs.

Last week against the Lizards, Chesapeake was one goal shy of Long Island with 42 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately the Bayhawks were, again, unable to snap their losing streak. After Chesapeake pulled their goaltender, Long Island’s Stephen Berger found the empty net on a two-pointer for the 14-11 win.

The Bayhawks had to do without three key players—Kyle Dixon, Joe Cinosky and Alex Smith—because of the 2010 FIL World Championships. Team USA brought back gold and the MLL stars just in time for the Bayhawks most important game yet. Smith was perhaps the most missed of the group; his replacement, Ben DeFelice, went 6-27 against Long Island’s two face-off specialists.

In Chicago and Chesapeake’s last meeting, the Machine walked over the Bayhawks to end the game 17-14. It was Chesapeake’s first loss of the season. It began with a Chicago goal in the first 11 seconds. The Machine came out ready to play and the Bayhawks were forced to play catch-up the entire night. Kevin Leveille registered four goals and an assist while Mike Leveille tallied a goal and an assist. With the addition of Ned Crotty to attack, the Machine has one of the most potent attack units in the league.

“We expended a lot of energy to come back and couldn’t sustain it,” said Bayhawks’ Buggs Combs of the first loss.

In the team’s most recent loss, they were ready to play. Although new Head Coach Brendan Kelly’s regime couldn’t bring home a win, it did mark some positive changes.

“I think the energy was there as well as the effort, a few mistakes in between the lines turned out to be the difference,” said General Manager Spencer Ford. “We battled until the final whistle,” continued Kelly. “The lesson is that you need to play four quarters in this league.”

The Bayhawks will need to do more than come out with energy this weekend. They’ll need to come out and play like this is the most important game, for many of them it is.

“A lot of people don’t realize this, but I have yet to have a winning record in the MLL,” said Kyle Dixon. “The most wins I have had is five and I have never made the playoffs.”

While a winning season is out of the cards for Dixon, Chesapeake could make the playoffs. Whether they do or not depends entirely on the Bayhawks.

If they win by four on Saturday, they’ll be playing August 21 and possibly 22 for the Steinfeld Cup. If they win, they’ll potentially be in a position to make the playoffs. If they lose, they’re out.

2010 Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend presented by Warrior

August 21-22, Annapolis, MD

For information and tickets go to www.majorleaguelacrosse.com