Chester, Pa. (August 24, 2013) – In their first playoff appearance in club history, the Charlotte Hounds stunned the Denver Outlaws 17-14 in the first semifinal of Championship Weekend presented by Smartlink. The Hounds advance to the Championship Game on Sunday, August 25 at 3 p.m., while the Outlaws see their season end once again in the post-season.
The first quarter started with an explosion of offense from the low seed of the tournament. Charlotte hit the ground running scoring eight points in the opening quarter of play. Denver struck first, however, taking a 1-0 advantage off the crosse of rookie attackman Eric Law. Law, a graduate of the University of Denver, would carry his team through the game with a record-breaking performance scoring nine of Denver’s 14 goals.
Contrary to the play of Denver, Charlotte was able to distribute offensive opportunities throughout the scoring sheet. The Hounds had six different players score goals in the first two quarters of play.
Despite being down 13-7 headed into the third quarter, the no-quit attitude of the best regular season team in the history of MLL helped carry the Outlaws back into the contest. Denver inched back to bring the game within two and a score of 14-12 with 8:24 remaining in the game but Charlotte would add three more insurance goals and go on to win.
While offense may have been the story of the game, Charlotte faceoff man, Geoff Snider was the hero. Snider absolutely dominated the faceoff “x” winning 17-25 draws, and with 2:37 remaining, the specialist delivered what would ultimately be the goal that ended Denver’s perfect season.
Denver goalie Jesse Schwartzman, the recipient of this year’s Warrior Goalie of the Year Award, never got into a rhythm that allowed the Outlaws to remain in the game. While on the other end of the field former Virginia graduate Adam Ghitelman was a star. In his first playoff start as a professional, Ghitelman stopped 17 shots.
The Hounds will face off against the winner of the second semifinal between Hamilton and Chesapeake, in tomorrow’s MLL Championship Game. Be sure to tune in for tomorrow’s game at 3 P.M ET on ESPN2.
