Experience bests youth as Charlotte Hounds fall in MLL final, 10-9

The Charlotte Hounds’ youth carried them to the Major League Lacrosse playoffs and a surprise appearance in the title game.

But it was the Chesapeake Bayhawks’ championship experience that made the difference Sunday, as the mistake-prone Hounds lost 10-9 in the MLL final in Chester, Pa.

John Grant Jr., the game’s most valuable player, scored four goals over a three-quarter span to put the Bayhawks (11-5) in command. Goalkeeper Kip Turner then came up with 14 saves as Chesapeake won its second straight MLL championship, third in the past four years and a league-best fifth overall.

“They did a really nice job on us,” Hounds head coach Mike Cerino said. “They were able to get a little bit of a lead, but the game wasn’t out of reach. We certainly were within striking distance, we just came up a little short.”

Ryan Young had four goals and three assists for Charlotte (8-8), which stunned the previously-undefeated Denver Outlaws on Saturday in the MLL semifinals to advance to the second-year franchise’s first championship game appearance.

However, while the Hounds turned in a near-perfect game in knocking off the Outlaws, turnovers and poor shot selection hurt in Sunday’s final at PPL Park despite dominating faceoff performances from Geoff Snider.

Young’s second goal tied it at 2 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter, but Grant’s buzzer-beater put the Bayhawks ahead to stay.

It also kicked off a four-goal run by Grant. With his final score – a point-blank shot past Charlotte defender Brett Schmidt and an out-of-position Adam Ghitelman – to give Chesapeake a 6-2 lead with 10:25 left in the third quarter.

Still, the Hounds – thanks in part to Snider, who was 15-for-20 on faceoffs, including an 11-for-12 run in the second half – cut the Bayhawks’ lead to two points twice in the final two quarters.

Charlotte’s last run came at 9-7 on back-to-back power-play goals by Peet Poillon and Mike Sawyer early in the fourth quarter. Chesapeake responded with Drew Westervelt’s third goal of the game, pushing its lead to 10-7 with 7:07 remaining.

Sawyer finished with two goals for the Hounds, while Matt Danowski skipped in a two-point goal from midfield at the buzzer to se the final.

“They worked the shot clock pretty well and worked the ball around,” said Ghitelman, who finished with nine saves. “We were trying to play our best lacrosse at the end of the year, and we did that. But today, we just didn’t have it.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2013 at 8:31 PM.