Season Review: Chesapeake Bayhawks

8/26/10 9:59 AM

Chesapeake Bayhawks Season in Review

By Derek McLean

The Chesapeake Bayhawks are the 2010 Major League Lacrosse Champions. The Bayhawks defeated the Long Island Lizards 13-9 in the finals for the franchise’s first title since 2005 and their third since the inception of the league 10 years ago in 2001.

“Not making the playoffs since 05’, getting back into the playoffs and upsetting 2 teams, while becoming the first 4 seed to win it, was huge,” says Bayhawks team president and head coach Brendan Kelly.

While the end result was glory, no team faced more drama and adversity throughout the course of the season than the Bayhawks. The team fired their head coach, reached the high of highs, sank to the low of lows, and eventually recovered just at the right time. The team introduced one of the league’s newest stars, but in the end they relied on unlikely heroes and pure will to carry them across the finish line.

In 2009 the Bayhawks fell just short of the playoffs, finishing the regular season with a 5-7 record, yet there was a lot of optimism heading into the regular season. They were returning much the team’s core from the year before. During the 2009 regular season the Bayhawks had lost 3 games by 2 goals or fewer, and finished the season on a 2-game winning streak.

Returning for his second season as head coach of the Bayhawks was John Tucker. He was a former star at Johns Hopkins University in his playing days and had coached the Los Angeles Riptide in 2007 and 2008.

Heading into training camp, coaches were excited about featuring the little known Peet Poillon to their lineup. Last year the midfielder from UMBC was selected by the Boston Cannons with the 20^th pick in the MLL draft. However the Cannons had a ton of depth at that position and Poillon could not find a spot on the bench let alone the field. When Poillon became available, the Bayhawks quickly added him. They played him in the last 2 games of the 2009 season. He scored 7 goals in that span, including the game winning goal in a game against the Cannons.

“I thought coming through training camp and watching him play he had the raw talent to do it,” says Kelly. “He hadn’t played at this level consistently. He played a little bit for us last year. The way he played I wasn’t surprised. He’s a competitor and a good character guy. He came a long way this year.”

Poillon began the 2010 season where he left off in 2009 and then some. He scored 24 goals, 15 assists, and 41 points leading the team in scoring and placing third in Major League Lacrosse. He was easily named the MLL’s Warrior Most Improved Player of the Year winner. Poillon gave the Bayhawks one of the most lethal scoring threats in the league and was a key part to what was arguably the best midfield in the league.

The Bayhawks began the season nearly unstoppable. In week one they opened the season at home with a dominant 16-8 victory over the Long Island Lizards. Poillon led the charge scoring 5 goals and 2 assists. 2009 first round draft pick Danny Glading and veteran midfielder Kyle Dixon added 2 goals each. Alex Smith, who throughout his 4-year career has built the reputation of being the best face-off specialist in the league, won 17 of 25 face-offs in the game.

The Bayhawks continued their hot start of the season with a 25- 12 thrashing of the defending Major League Lacrosse Champion Toronto Nationals in week two. Smith again showed his dominance, winning an unprecedented 34 of 39 face-offs. Poillon continued to the lead the charge offensively scoring 3 goals and 3 assists. The Bayhawks received 4 goals from one of their many threats at midfield Brian Vetter as well as 7 points from Kyle Dixon.

Chesapeake won four of its first five games, the only loss coming to Chicago in week three. They averaged over 16 goals per game during that stretch, while allowing only 12. Veteran goalie Chris Garrity seemed to be at his best and the Bayhawks looked poised to make the playoffs.

“Coming out of training camp we were all committed,” says Kelly. “We got a couple of wins and we started getting lazy and not practicing, not having that once a week practice you’re allowed. I think we just kind of blew it off and thought we we’re good enough to not practice.”

Suddenly the winning stopped. It started with a Week six loss to the Denver Outlaws. The Bayhawks then lost their next four games, while being outscored 65-50. Following a 16-10 loss to the Boston Cannons, team President Brendan Kelly had seen enough. Head coach John Tucker was fired and Kelly, who had never coached in the MLL before, took over.

“I refocused the guys on what was important,” says Kelly. “How important it was for those guys to stay in shape and work out, stick together, to show up for practice, to really just become a team, and really think about team first and self second.”

in Kelly’s first game on the sidelines the results didn’t change. The Bayhawks, who were missing several players to the FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England, lost to the Long Island Lizards 14-11. Despite the loss, the attitude of the team had changed noticeably.

“I don’t think people believed in each other. There wasn’t a sense of team there. There wasn’t a commitment to each other. Everyone played as individuals,” says Kelly. “The World games really hurt us in the Long Island game. But I think the chemistry was there and I think it was a good building block moving on the rest of the season.”

The Bayhawks won the next 2 games and clinched the 4^th seed in Championship Weekend, at their home stadium in Annapolis, MD. The final game of the season was a 16-15 overtime victory against the Boston Cannons. The Bayhawks found new life and a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.

“It’s a great team. BK came in and changed the atmosphere, what a quick turnaround we had. I know we even had some doubts and had a lot of doubters out there,” says Peet Poillon. “Playing in Annapolis is just so special. It’s an awesome place, I’m glad [Championship Weekend] was here.”

With the new confidence and swagger the Bayhawks rolled into Annapolis for Championship Weekend ready to face for the Cannons again. Boston was led by the 2010 MLL Bud Light Most Valuable Player Matt Poskay, the 2009 Bud Light MVP Paul Rabil, and the league leader in assists Ryan Boyle.

“It’s always good to be the hunter and not the hunted,” says Kelly. “So we needed to use it to our advantage.”

Conditions were not easy for any team over the weekend, with temperatures ranging around 90 degrees throughout. But that did not stop the Bayhawks from starting fast. At halftime they had a 10-3 lead over the Cannons, and by midway through the third quarter the Bayhawks were ahead 12-4. The Cannons made a charge, and cut the lead to 12-9 with over 7 minutes to play. But the Bayhawks defense stayed resilient and the Cannons could not score for the remainder of the game. Chesapeake went on to win 13-9. Ben Hunt scored 3 goals in the win, after scoring just 9 goals the entire season. On defense, Chris Garrity recorded 18 saves and the defense held did not allow Paul Rabil to score.

“It’s just a great team effort all around,” says Kelly. “No one’s looking to be that leading scorer or that leading point getter. Everyone’s just looking to do their job and be in their spot and make things happen when their number’s called.”

In the Championship the Bayhawks took on the Long Island Lizards who entered the contest on a 6- game win streak following their semifinal win over the Denver Outlaws. The Lizards had the league’s second highest scorer Matt Danowski, who finished the regular season with 47 points and had the league’s top defense which had allowed 11.58 goals per game.

“Mike Evans, Joe Cinosky, and Shawn Nadelen, I can’t say more about those guys,” says Kyle Hartzell talking about the other Bayhawks defenders. “We made it simple on ourselves. Don’t get beat deep and when we did get beat our sliding would need to be really on point. Our goal as a whole team was under 10 goals and we said that quote all weekend.”

Against the Outlaws the Lizards veteran midfielder Stephen Berger led the team offensively scoring 5 goals and 6 points. Like Rabil the day before, Berger was covered by Hartzell. This turned out to be a key matchup as Berger was held pointless in the Championship. The game went back and forth through the first 3. The Lizards led 3-2 after the first, they were tied 4-4 at halftime, and 8-8 after the 3^rd. No team was able to gain more than a 2-goal lead throughout.

After 2 days of highly intense lacrosse in 90 degree weather, fatigue began to set in for both teams. This obstacle proved to be more detrimental to the Lizards than the Bayhawks. As the Lizards legs began to slow, the Bayhawks willed themselves to keep their pace until the end.

“They we’re fatigued and we still had some gas left in the tank. We were still able to push over the hump,” says Kelly. “We stayed focus. I told the guys to keep the pain aside and quit thinking about the heat and all of the other stuff. Keep thinking about the last 15 minutes of your 2010 career.”

The Bayhawks scored 4 straight goals in a span of just over 5 minutes to start the 4^th quarter. The Lizards could not find an answer to the relentless Bayhawks attack. First round draft picks Brian Carroll and Michael Kimmel accounted for three of the four goals in the run with Kyle Dixon scoring the other.

“The neat thing about us throughout the last 4 games is we would have 9 or 10 different people score every game,” says Kelly. “I think that was the biggest surprise, we weren’t just a 2 dimensional team. No matter what 6 guys we had on offense we could score. That was really the difference the whole weekend.”

The Lizards were able to finally find the net and cut the lead back down to 3, after a goal by Keith Cromwell, but Peet Poillon responded shortly after to give the Bayhawks the 13-9 victory and the championship.

Says Kelly, “I think the team really rallied around each other and the players came together and got it done.”

The Bayhawks became the first team to celebrate the Major League Lacrosse Championship in front of their home crowd. Kyle Hartzell was the first defenseman and most improbable player to ever win the Championship Weekend MVP.

“Winning the Championship was huge,” says Hartzell. “It was an unreal weekend. Not many people had us winning. Coming from behind like that, it was really something special. Winning the MVP award is kind of like cherry on the cake. It was unreal that I won that award.”

Perhaps Hartzell winning the MVP was consistent with the Bayhawks season. Despite a 5-game losing streak and a coaching change, the Bayhawks received big moments from numerous unlikely heroes. In the end the Bayhawks were champions.

“It feels incredible. With all of these guys, it’s a great team,” says Poillon. “I know this sounds silly but this is a dream come true for me. Winning an MLL Championship, I never thought I would get it. It’s a special group and it’s just a blast.”