I have been trying to write this blog post for the past couple days, but I still can't believe what happened in the Cannons 14-13 OT win over the Rochester Rattlers. Here is my reaction to the Cannons victory!
The Kardiac Kids:
I have officially nicknamed the Cannons this year the Kardiac Kids, because one of these games they are gonna give me a heart-attack but they always find a way to win. The Cannons remind me of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, Kemba Walker and UConn's magical run that season, and probably this years Boston Red Sox team as well, you can never count them out of any game and always seem to win in a dramatic fashion! No matter how much they might be down by they just have this will and desire that could get them back into any game regardless of the amount they are trailing by. The Cannons have found their way to dig out holes in almost every game this year, and they seem to respond great when they are almost look at as the underdog, or people think their is no way they can come back from down this much but the Cannons do seem to always will themselves back into games. Outside of the opener against Charlotte Hounds the Cannons have always trailed at one point and always fight back into it. In the second game against the Blaze the Cannons at one point trailed 5-2 with 13:40 to go in the second quarter, not a lot in lacrosse but a decent margin the Cannons came back from that deficit and won 13-12. The Cannons never really trailed against the Bayhawks either but they did have to fight off a Bayhawks late comeback, but only trailed 2-0 early in the first quarter. But then you look at the Rattlers game the Cannons trailed 6-2 with 9:42 remaining in the Second Quarter that's a decent hole to have to dig out of. That lead always grew to be 9-3 in favor of the Rattlers 7:03 remaining in the second quarter as well. That's a huge lead 6 goals that's a big hole the Cannons chipped away and made it 9-5 at the half. The Cannons were down 11-7 going into the fourth and came and made it a game. And then seemingly the game should have been over when the Cannons trailed 13-11 with 3 seconds left the Cannons had to clear the ball from their own end line pretty much having to Gilman in it to get a last shot of. And let's just say from now on Brodie Merrill is a god to me. I can't even describe what happened here's the video just watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_TxsmIbX4
WILL MANNY MVP:
I should not have to say anything else, if WILL MANNY DOES NOT WIN MVP THIS YEAR THE MLL AWARDS IS RIGGED. Unless he gets hurts or something oh god please don't let that happen! Will knock on wood please if you read this! I said it last time I blogged Manny is balling out this year and he is balling hard. Manny had a 10 point game! Yeah you didn't read that wrong a 10 point game! He had 6 goals and for the 2nd straight game he scored a 2pt-Goal, he also dished out 3 assists as well. Here is my plead MLL, as the great Santana Moss put it, "Big time players make big time plays in big games." And boy did Manny do that against the Rattlers, first off the Cannons were going up against John Galloway, who I consider one of the top three goalies in the MLL (the class is Drew Adams, Tyler Fiorito, and Galloway). In the 4th quarter Manny had a day, he had 2 goals 1 of which was a 2pt--goal and had an assist as well, and then Manny assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime by David Emala, sorry I haven't talked much about your game winning-goal Dave, still a great player. Manny was also named offensive player of the Week, this week so we are getting close to the dream. But yeah #WillManny4MVP, just let it happen MLL. Here is where he currently sit in everything in the MLL, tied for 2nd in goals (15, one behind the leader Marcus Holman), 2nd in assists with (10, he is 5 behind the leader Tom Schreiber), but he does lead the league in points with 27 the next closest person is Kevin Rice who is only at 20 points this year.
Justin Turri Has Made a Difference:
In the last two games Turri has really showed why the Cannons made the right choice in trading for him. Turri has only played the last 2 games for the Cannons and has looked great in both games, he stepped up big time against the Rattlers when Star Midfielder Max Seibald went down with an injury and missed the rest of the game, he had only 2 points the assist on the first goal of the game to Brent Adams, and then scored the 1st goal in the 4th quarter to start the Cannons comeback run. Turri has brought something different to the Cannons Midfield Unit that they were missing the first 2 games, and I think what they were missing was just another strong offensive minded Midfielder who can really dodge and get to the net!
The Face-off Group:
I really haven't talked much about the Face-off play this year and I should give the Cannons FOGO's some props they have played great so far this year outside of the game against the Hounds in which the got dominated (11-31, 35%), but since then they have looked great. Against the Blaze the Cannons as a team went 19-28 68% Craig Bunker in particular went 16-22 in that game. The Cannons then looked pretty good at the dot, against the Bayhawks going 14-27 (52%) with Nardella being the main guy after Bunker struggled early going 1-7, Nardella would go 13-20 the rest of the game, and then against the Rattlers the Cannons went 20-30 (67%) with all the draws being taken by Nardella. On the season the Cannons percentage is 55.2 and since the Hounds game the Cannons have won 62.4%. Here are Craig Bunker and Joe Nardella's stats through the season so far. Craig Bunker 26-47, 55.3%, and Joe Nardella 36-56, 64.3%.
Joe Nardella Killed it:
Joe Nardella has been hot the last two games for the Cannons and he was really the X-factor in the Cannons comeback win. Winning 67% of the draws is huge in a game in which the Cannons trailed by a good amount it was great to have someone who controlled the dot and made sure the Cannons had the ball and the opportunity to stay in the game and really make a comeback so just a quick shout-out to Nardella.
Those are my thoughts from the Cannons thrilling 14-13 OT victory over the Rattlers! The Cannons next game is this Saturday at 7:00 PM at Harvard Stadium as the Cannons (3-1) host the Ohio Machine (3-1).
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