The Charlotte Hounds on Saturday night came up short against the Chesapeake Bayhawks, falling 16-14 in front of 10,831 fans at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium The Bayhawks’ Ben Rubeor was named Player of the Game for a six-point performance.
The Bayhawks opened the game with five straight goals, including the first of the night from Rubeor, to set the tone for a high-scoring affair. John Haus ended the run with a tally from long range, but John Grant Jr. responded with a goal of his own to keep the Bayhawks ahead by five, 6-1. Geoff Snider won the ensuing faceoff, and Josh Hawkins scooped up the groundball and took it straight to the cage to make it a four-goal game. Ryan Flanagan then scored in transition to cut the Bayhawks’ lead to 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Momentum stayed with the Hounds to start the second, as Jake Tripucka pulled the Hounds within two, 6-4, just two minutes in. But Drew Westervelt tallied his second of the night off a feed from Rubeor, who turned around and scored his second of the night to push the Bayhawks in front 8-4.
Mike Sawyer scored first off a feed from Matt White, then White got one of his own off a feed from Danowski to cut the Bayhawks’ lead to 9-8. Danowski then gave the Hounds their first lead of the game, 10-9, by ripping a 2-pointer with 11 seconds remaining in the half. The run continued in the third, as Sawyer opened the scoring off a great individual effort to put the Hounds up 11-9. That was followed by goals from Ryan Young and Kevin Drew to build a 14-9 lead. However, it would be the final goal of the night for the Hounds. Hawkins got called for pushing, and Westervelt ended the run with a power-play goal to make it a 14-10 game going in to the final stanza.
Rubeor opened the scoring in the fourth to start the comeback for the Bayhawks. After goals from Matt Mackrides and Grant Jr. to pull within 14-13, Michael Kimmel ripped a 2-point goal and the Bayhawks re-took a 15-14 lead. Rubeor tallied his fourth of the night with 3:10 to play to account for the 16-14 final.
With the win over the Hounds and a loss earlier in the day by the Hamilton Nationals, the Bayhawks (9-5) claimed the No. 2 overall seed for Championship Weekend. They still will face the Nationals (9-5) who ended up in the third spot. The Hounds’ semifinal against the Outlaws will take place on Saturday, August 24 at 1:00pm ET. The game will be played at PPL Park in Chester, Penn., and be televised live on ESPN2.
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