Phenomenal action this past weekend.  Some wet weather didn't deter some good lacrosse.  For the 1st time since the 2012 session....the Machine suffered a FallBall loss to the Hounds.  In other action, the Cannons found a 2nd half power surge to vault themselves into the top seed in the B Bracket, and the stage is set for some fantastic Playoff action in weeks 7 & 8!  You can read highlights and summaries from this weeks games below, and check out our 1st installment of highlight video clips here...  https://youtu.be/jZuMoi97VOA

GAME 1  Nationals v Lizards.  This one didn't end close but had plenty of grit, determination, and good lacrosse.  The Nationals came out firing in this one, with the Lizards starting the game with only 10 players...no subs.  Scotty Bohn notched an early goal, and the Nationals raced out to a 3-0 lead.  Danny Baier got topside and put in a nice goal on the run for the Lizards to make it 3-1.  Then the James Lewis/Wes Holthaus combo turned on the jets.  A goal from Holthaus, and 3 goals from Lewis (2 of them assisted by Holthaus) gave the Nationals a 7-1 lead and looked like they were running away with it.  But lots of credit to the Lizards who didn't fold.  They scored 3 goals, including 2 from Aditya Nag, who was running attack, running middie, clearing, dodging, scoring, and playing defense with some serious heart and hustle.  Nags determination, the Lizards unwillingness to quit, and some solid FO wins by Connor Quinn gave the Lizards a few goals, and some momentum, as the they went into the half trailing 7-4.  But the Nationals must have had an inspired halftime talk.  Their Defense stepped up, including some great work in cage from Goalie Xander Peck, and the Holthaus/Lewis combo went back to work.  The 2nd half saw Holthaus with 3 goals, Lewis notching another, and Stephen Cannon blasting a nice top shelf goal in between, to finish this one out 12-4.  "D2" Nag led the Lizards with his 2 goals, While Holthaus (4g, 2a) and Lewis (4g) paced the Nationals in the victory.  The Lizards will face the Outlaws in the B Bracket Semifinals next week.  This should be an exciting rematch, as the Outlaws bested the Lizards by just a goal in Week 2.  The Nationals will face the Bayhawks in the A Bracket Semifinal next Sunday, in what will also be a highly anticipated rematch from Week 1, where the Nationals escaped with a 1 goal victory in an exciting game.  

GAME 2  Bayhawks v Rattlers.  After exploding for 25 total goals over the past 2 weeks, the Bayhawks showed no signs of slowing down this week.  Current FallBall leading scorer Matt Seligson didn't disappoint, with yet another Hat Trick, but brought the balanced package this week chipping in 3 assists.  Owen Dulik was on the receiving end of a couple of those, as he finished the game leading all scorers with 4 goals.  Dulik had an early Hat Trick, scoring the games 1st three goals, as the Bayhawks raced out to a 7-0 halftime lead.  The Rattlers put up a fight, with a couple 2nd half goals and some defensive adjustments, but couldn't recover from that deficit, as Dulik & Seligson combined for 2 more goals and 2 assists themselves.  This one ended 11-2.  The Rattlers will face the Cannons next week in the B Bracket Semis...a rematch of a hard fought 4-2 game in Week 4 which the Cannons won.  The Bayhawks face the Nationals, with both teams coming off high powered Week 6 wins....should be an exciting match!

GAME 3  Hounds v Machine.  Last week, the game that was....wasn't.  This week, the game that wasn't....WAS!!  What an exciting game this one turned out to be!!  The Hounds struck first, on a Joey Cassin goal, giving the Machine their first deficit this entire Fall Ball Session.  But Jake Steinbock powered through for 2 unassisted goals, giving the Machine the lead.  At this point, both defenses really tightened....with goalies Young and Eltejean both making some incredible saves.  The halftime buzzer sounded with this one 2-1 in favor of the Machine, with both teams showing off some solid Defense in the half.  The 2nd half had plenty more excitement in store.  Cody Mestice scored early in the 2nd half to tie it, on a nice EMO goal, with some excellent ball movement.  Minutes later he took a pass from Cassin and scored again giving the Hounds the lead 3-2.  Cam Buckley blasted a nice shot to the backside corner, extending the lead, but then Steinbock, and JT Belshe each scored for the Machine to tie it back at 4 apiece.  Another Buckley goal made it 5-4 Hounds, and it looked like we were heading for a tight finish.  But despite the close score, it was clear the Hounds were benefitting from some sharp passing, and the Machine were uncharacteristically relying on individual dodging.  They couldn't seem to string enough passes together to get their usual number of "assisted" goals.  Cassin took a pass from Jack McCrae to make it 6-4, and the Hounds started to believe.  The bounces and breaks just seemed to go the Hounds way down the stretch, and when Cassin put in his 3rd of the half, and 4th of the game to make it 9-4 late, the game was out of reach.  Steinbock muscled in another nice one, his 4th of the day, to make it a 9-5 final, but it wasn't enough.  The Hounds celebrated as they handed the Machine their first Fall Ball loss since the 2012 FallBall session.  In beautiful irony....this game will be replayed in the semifinals of the A Bracket Playoffs next week....should be an exciting rematch!! 

GAME 4  Cannons v Outlaws.  The last game of the day turned out to be the closest game of the day.  The Outlaws opened up a lead early in the first half.  Karl Schenck fed Emilio Garcia on a nice goal, and Aidan Peck drove in to score making it 2-0.  The Cannons recent Offensive power outage seemed to be in full swing, as the Outlaws unleashed a barrage of offensive attacks in the first half.  Goalie Blake Axtell helped keep this one from getting away early with a number of great saves for the Cannons.  Ryan Elston was able to get the Cannons on the board late in the half with a hard shot on the run, and the Cannons breathed a sigh of relief going into the half only down 2-1.  The second half started out the same, with Defenseman Kurt Bench capping another flurry with a drive and goal of his own to put the Outlaws up 3-1.  But then Sal Giovannotto of the Cannons put the team on his back, and singlehandedly took control of this game in the 2nd half. Giovannotto scored on a jump shot quick stick off a nice feed from Thomas Gajendran, then muscled in another off a nice drive and shot to tie it at 3.  He wasn't done yet.  Sal found his shot, and two more goals gave the Cannons a 5-3 lead.  Axtell went into shutdown mode, making a number of tough saves down the stretch to keep the Outlaws off the board, and Nathan Iruegas iced it, scoring on a good feed from Alex Noriega.  This one ended 6-3 in favor of the Cannons, who vault to the top of the B Bracket Seedings with the W.  Giovannotto led all scorers with his 4 goals, and Axtell got the DMVP for his work in goal.  In the B Bracket semis next week, the Cannons will face the Rattlers, who will look to avenge their 4-2 loss to the Cannons in Week 4, while the Outlaws and Lizards will rematch their Week 3 game, which the Outlaws won by a single goal.