Nationals vs Hounds Game Recap

The Hamilton Nationals and Charlotte Hounds had quite the dogfight tonight, falling 14-11. Although the Nationals were unable to clinch the No. 2 seed, Charlotte did, however, clinch its first ever playoff berth.

Kevin Crowley’s five-point performance wasn’t enough to keep the Hounds at bay, as Charlotte’s Matt Danowski notched six goals and seven points. Crowley put in four points in the first half, three of which came in the first quarter. He started off the Nationals with a two-point goal, which was the second of his career. Crowley extended his team record point streak to 28 games.

Rookie Garrett Thul followed Crowley with another two-point goal for the Nationals. Thul was coming off a career best five-goal, six-point effort on July 27th. Also in the first, Kevin Cunningham and Joe Walters would score for the Nationals. Walters extended his point streak to 25 games.

Martin Cahill would score the lone goal for the Nationals in the second, which would be the fourth two-point goal of the contest and the third for Hamilton. Danowski would keep the Hounds and Nationals tied at the end of the first half with two goals in the second quarter.

Stephen Keogh and Cunningham connected for a Nationals’ goal to give Hamilton a 10-9 lead to start the third quarter. Cunningham’s assist set a new team record for consecutive games with an assist, as he reached nine games. The record was originally set by current teammate Joe Walters. Although the Nationals opened the scoring, the Hounds responded with three straight goals to give them a 12-10 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter. 

Jake Tripucka (three goals) continued the Hounds’ goal-scoring streak in the fourth with his second goal of the game before Crowley would break the streak and cut the Hounds lead to two points. Ryan Young put in his third of the game to end the fourth and give the Hounds a 14-11 win over Hamilton. 

The Nationals (9-4) will conclude the regular season on Saturday, August 10th when they face off against the No. 1 seeded Denver Outlaws at 3:00 p.m. For tickets, call the Nationals ticket office at 905-525-NATS (6287).

Nationals vs Hounds - Halftime

Kevin Crowley opened up the scoring with a two pointer, which would be his second of the season as well as the second of his career in order to take his game point streak to 28 games.Also in the first, Rookie Garrett Thul connected with Joe Walters for his third two-pointer of his career. Out of the eight two-point goals for the Nationals this season, Thul has put in three of them. Walters would also find the back of the net as well as Kevin Cunningham. Crowley would put one more in to finish the Nationals scoring throughout the first. As for Charlotte, Matt Danowski put in three for a hat trick early on in the game to keep the Nationals within reach of the Nationals, as Jake Tripucka would tie the score at 7 to end the first quarter.

Danowski gave the Hounds their first lead of the game with his fourth goal of the game, which came almost 7 minutes into the second. A long drought for both teams, until National's Martin Cahill ripped one from behind the arc for two. Cahill's goal would be answered shortly after by Danowski who would put in his fifth of the game to bring the game to a tie once again. 

Ending the first half Kevin Crowley is just three points away from the team record for points in a season that was set in 2009 by Merrick Thompson. The standard currently sits at 50 points. Both Crowley and Walters have extended their game point streaks. After Boston's loss earlier today, Charlotte could clinch their first ever playoff spot with a win over Hamilton. Goalie Brett Queener stopped a total of 8 shots within the first half to hit the 500 mark.