MLL Championship Weekend Wrap-Up

Major League Lacrosse just finished up it's championship weekend. The weekend took place at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2 semi-final games took place on Saturday and then the championship on Sunday. 

The Denver Outlaws in a huddle
http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/08/25/game-photos-outlaws-13-lizards-12

In the 1st game of Semi-finals on Saturday, the Long Island Lizards faced the Denver Outlaws. However, the Outlaws' Brendan Mundorf, this seasons' MLL MVP, was out for the game due to an injury to his ankle. Denver was number 1 in the standings in the regular season, with a record of 11-3, while the Lizards were 4th at 8-6. The game started off  as all Long Island. After the 1st period, the Lizards were up 3-1. They added 5 goals to the Oulaws 1 to take a commanding 8-2 lead going into halftime. The Lizards added 4 more goals to 1 for the Outlaws at the start of the 3rd. Then, Denver's offense took off. They scored 9 unanswered goals to tie the game at 12. Then, Jeremy Sieverts, who won LL's Most Improved Player this season, broke the tie to give Denver a 13-12 lead. Chris Bocklet led the game with 6 goals.

Game 2 of the day featured the Chesapeake Bayhawks against the hometown team,the Boston Cannons. Boston took the early lead by scoring 5 goals in the 1st period compared to 2 by the Bayhawks. The Bayhawks responded well in the 2nd period, scoring 5 goals, including 2 two-pointers (from at-least 16 yards out) while the Cannons could only muster up 3. Going into halftime the score was close, after halftime was over, Chesapeake dominated. They scored 7 goals in the 2nd half to put the game out of reach. Chespeake won 16-10, led by Kyle Dixon who had 3 goals, 2 two-point goals, and an assist along with Ben Rubeor who had 6 goals.

Both participants in the championship game are not new to the stage. Chesapeake had 3 previous championships and 2 other appearances in the game. Denver had 4 previous appearances, all resulting in being  the runner-up. The Bayhawks were looking to make it their 2 championship in 3 seasons. The Outlaws looking to get their 1st championship.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks after winning the MLL Title
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Denver started off well by scoring the 1st 2 goals. However, the Bayhawks countered with scoring 5 consecutive goals to end the 1st period. Then, within the 1st minute of play in the 2nd period, Chesapeake's Ben Hunt scored a two-pointer to take a 7-2 lead. Denver scored 3 goals in the rest of the period, while Chesapeake scored 3 more. At the half, it was 10-5. The 3rd period was all Bayhawks, They shutout the Outlaws in the quarter, while adding 3 goals, including a two-pointer, to their lead. They added 2 goals in the 4th, while Denver could not come back as Chesapeake won 16-6. Hunt had 4 goals and 2 two-point goals. The Bayhawks' goalie, Kip Turner  had 12 saves in the game.  With  6 goals in the semi final game and 2 goals in the championship game, Rubeor was named the MLL Championship Weekend MVP.