Manley and Thul grab week 2 honors in MLL

May 5, 2014 - 8:37 PM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced today the Warrior Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for Week 2. The League choses weekly winners based on outstanding in-game achievements. This week, Garrett Thul of the Florida Launch was awarded the Warrior Offensive Player of the Week, and Mike Manley of the Rochester Rattlers was awarded the Warrior Defensive Player of the Week.

Thul helped lead the Florida Launch to their first win in club history Saturday against the Charlotte Hounds, defeating them 11-8 and earning himself the Coca-Cola Player of the Game Award. Thul netted a hat trick, each goal further solidifying the Launch's lead in a neck-and-neck game where the score was tied entering both the second and the third quarters. His first came at the end of the first period, widening Florida's lead by two points with a score of 3-1.

His second and third goal were consecutive goals scored in the final quarter of the game, which broke the 7-7 tie between the teams at the end of the third, and helped the Launch gain the lead necessary to defeat the Hounds by scoring the game winning goal a whole eight scoreless minutes later.

The Rochester Rattlers were able to defeat the Boston Cannons narrowly with an 8-7 victory backstopped by amazing defense. Although Mike Manley may not have appeared to make a big impact on the score sheet, he in fact contributed key defense, keeping Boston in the single digits for tallies for their second consecutive game, and notching an assist for himself on an important goal from Kevin Leveille that helped the Rattlers take the lead.

Both teams are at home in Week 3. The Launch will host their third home game of the season as the Ohio Machine come to Boca Raton for a matchup next Saturday, May 10, at 7:00 p.m. ET, viewable at ESPN3.com. The Rattlers' host the New York Lizards on Friday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.