Playing in his fifth MLL season, Randy Staats has played for two teams: Atlanta (2016-2017 and 2019) and Dallas (2015, when the franchise was in Rochester, and 2018). After playing only two games for Dallas in 2018, Staats and the 26th pick in the collegiate draft were traded to Atlanta for the 22nd and 31st picks in the collegiate draft.

Staats said he had no ill feelings towards his former team.

“I built a relationship here [in Atlanta]. Rochester drafted me when I came out of college. It’s good,” he said. “It’s definitely been different competing against each other, because you have such a good relationship with both.”

What he said and what he did, however, were two different things. Against his former team, Staats used his nifty stick skills to score two goals and assist four others to lead the Blaze over the Rattlers 13-11.

Staats scored the first goal of the game after more than five and a half minutes of scoreless play. He also showed his great chemistry with his teammates from the NLL’s Georgia Swarm. Of his four assists, two were to Shayne Jackson and two were to Bryan Cole.

“We’ve been playing together for a little while now — three years Randy, Shayne and I — and it’s just so easy to play with those guys. Randy and Shayne make it so easy to play with,” Cole said about his teammates in a televised postgame interview. “We’ve got Colton Jackson and [Brendan] Sunday and [Christian] Mazzone. Everyone shares the ball, and you just kind of find seams. We were able to do that tonight and get some success.”

Boston 3-0 for First Time in History

With an impressive 18-11 victory over the New York Lizards, the Boston Cannons are 3-0 for the first time in franchise history.

This was the second time these two teams met in the 2019 season, and the first half played out similarly to the Week 1 game, with the teams trading goals and Boston never getting more than two goals ahead. 

The Lizards scored three of the first four goals in the second quarter, with consecutive Justin Reh goals from Rob Pannell assists tying the game at six with 4:25 remaining in the half. The Cannons responded 46 seconds later, however, with a Kyle Jackson goal. Boston would score two more to take a 9-6 lead in the third quarter, expanding on that lead throughout the remainder of the game.

“Our guys battled,” Cannons head coach Sean Quirk said in a press release on the team’s website. “Early on, New York came out really strong, particularly at the faceoff X. Our guys were just really resilient tonight. Even at the end when [the Lizards] made that push, we just kept fighting. Really proud of the guys. Our coaches did a great job preparing. John Klepacki, the defensive coordinator, and Ben Rubeor, our offensive coordinator, really had a great game plan going into this.”

Mark Cockerton and Connor O’Hara each scored four goals apiece to lead Boston. 

The Cannons have now won five consecutive games going back to the 2018 season. In those five games, Cockerton has 21 goals. Since being acquired by the Cannons early in the 2018 season, Cockerton has scored 41 goals in 12 total games.
 

Noteworthy

While Staats led the Blaze with six points, Cole led the team in goals (four). He also added an assist. Their Blaze and Swarm teammate, Jackson, had three goals and one assist. … Dallas’s undrafted faceoff specialist, Blake Boudreau, bested first overall pick Alex Woodall, winning 17 of 28 faceoffs. He also picked up eight ground balls. … Brian Kormondy led the Rattlers with four points (two goals and two assists), while Ryan McNamara scored three goals and Teddy Hatfield scored one goal and added two assists. … In his MLL debut, Dallas’ Joe Saggese earned his first point, an assist on a Bryce Wasserman goal. … Christian Carson-Banister made 11 saves for the Rattlers. … In the loss to the Cannons, Pannell scored two goals and added three assists. … Greg Puskuldjian continued his strong play at the faceoff X, wingoingning 16 for 26 and picking up 10 ground balls. … Zed Williams, Will Sands and Kyle Jackson each tallied two goals and one assist apiece for Boston. … Shawn Evans scored his first goal as a member of the Cannons.

Player of the Week
Chris Madalon, G, Atlanta

There were several high scorers for the week, but Madalon was most impressive in denying others. The Rattlers shot the ball an astounding 63 times, 31 of which were on goal. Under constant pressure, Madalon made 20 saves, including 11 in the second half as Dallas desperately attempted to come back and earn its first win of the season

“He played a special game,” Dallas attackman Bryce Wasserman said. “He was all over the ball. He was moving to it. He was seeing it well. Sometimes, that’s how the ball goes. You just have to tip your cap to him.”

Play of the Week
Dylan Molloy, A, New York

The Cannons may be 2-0 against the Lizards, but Dylan Molloy has scored some impressive goals against Boston. He scored three against the Cannons in Week 4, including this nifty over-the-shoulder, no-look shovel shot.

.@dmolls4 is https://t.co/fSlt3Gv1B5 pic.twitter.com/1Xsc55sLWh

— Major League Lacrosse (@MLL_Lacrosse) June 23, 2019