Victory clinches home playoff game
The lights kicked on at Fortress Obetz before the second quarter was halfway completed.
They will shine again this season. On the strength of the biggest scoring outburst of the season, the Ohio Machine defeated the visiting New York Lizards 21-14 and clinched a Major League Lacrosse playoff game at home with one regular-season game still on the schedule.
“The whole attitude coming into this week was that we control our own destiny, so let’s not leave it in someone else’s hands,” coach Bear Davis said. “For us to play such a good team and have that kind of win means a lot, and to know we’re coming back in two weeks, it’s great.”
Four of Ohio’s previous six games had been decided by one goal, and none had been decided by more than two since an 18-11 win at Chesapeake on June 2. This one was never in doubt.
Mark Cockerton fed Connor Cannizzarro for the opening goal with 10:30 left in the first quarter, and Cockerton and Peter Baum followed in the next four minutes to open up a three-goal lead before the Lizards (6-7) got on the board.
But when Cockerton found the net with 4.2 seconds left in the first quarter on a wideopen breakaway for his second goal, it gave Ohio a 6-1 lead.
And by the time the lights came on, the lead was 8-2 and Baum had already completed a hat trick with his third goal with 10:14 to play in the second.
“You want every game to go like that offensively,” Baum said. “We just kind of clicked right from the get-go, which is great.”
Ohio removed all doubt in the first nine minutes of the third quarter, opening it with a five-goal barrage that pushed its lead to double digits at 15-5 with 6:24 left in the quarter.
Cockerton started and ended the scoring run, and the Lizards would get no closer than four goals the rest of the way as goalie Kyle Bernlohr made a career-high 21 saves.
Cannizzarro and Baum each finished with five goals and Cockerton had four more to lead the Machine. Marcus Holman also had a hat trick.
The Machine (9-4) is the second team to clinch a playoff spot, after first-place Denver did so with an overtime win Thursday.
The teams met in last year’s championship game, a 19-18 Outlaws win. This will be the fourth straight season in which the Machine has reached the postseason.
“It’s great for our fans,” Baum said. “We have this new, beautiful facility, which has been exciting for us. For us coming into the season, it was a big thing for us to be able to have that home playoff game.”