MLL Announces Week 14 Awards


BOSTON, Mass. – Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Monday its weekly award winners for the week ending August 12, 2012, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. Hamilton Nationals midfielder Rhys Duch was selected as the MLL Offensive Player of the Week while Denver Outlaws goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman earned the League’s Defensive Player of the Week award.

In addition, Charlotte Hounds attackman Eric Lusby was named as the recipient of the Cascade MLL Rookie of the Week award.

Honored as the Bud Light MLL Player of the Game for the first time in his career, Duch scored a career-high five goals and matched a season high with two assists to lead the Nationals to an 18-8 victory over the Long Island Lizards at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday night. Duch, who had scored just two goals in six games prior to the victory, tallied three of his five goals in the first half as Hamilton jumped out to a 10-5 lead.

Duch, who was selected as the MLL Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career, finished the season with seven goals and six assists in seven games.

Meanwhile, Schwartzman led the Outlaws to the number one seed at the MLL Championship Weekend presented by Warrior after earning a 15-13 come-from-behind victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Schwartzman made 18 saves, including 12 in the second half, as the Outlaws overcame a 7-2 deficit in the first quarter to earn their team-record 11th victory.

The fourth player in MLL history to be named as the Defensive Player of the Week at least seven times in his career, Schwartzman finished the regular season ranked second in the MLL with an 11.03 goals against average. He also ranked second in the MLL with 175 saves while his .540 save percentage was good for third in the MLL.

Playing in the second game of his MLL career, Lusby scored three goals as the Charlotte Hounds ended their inaugural season with a 15-14 victory over the Rochester Rattlers at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. He scored all three of his goals in the first half as the Hounds built a commanding 13-7 lead to eliminate the Rattlers from postseason consideration.

After leading Loyola University Maryland to its first NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse title in May, Lusby was acquired by the Hounds in June. Named as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division I Tournament, the Severna Park, Md. native set an NCAA Tournament record by scoring 17 goals in four games. He made his MLL debut on July 28 and scored a goal against the Long Island Lizards.

The MLL Championship Weekend presented by Warrior will be held on August 25 and 26 at Harvard Stadium. The Denver Outlaws will face the Long Island Lizards in the first semi-final at 1 p.m. before the Chesapeake Bayhawks will play against the defending MLL champion Boston Cannons in the second semi-final at approximately 4 p.m.

The two semi-final winners will play in the championship game on Sunday, August 26 at 3 p.m.

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