2004 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend Opens With Semi-Finals on Friday

Published on August 19, 2004 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release

Boston, MA (August 19, 2004) – Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premiere professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced that after a grueling, dramatic twelve-week regular season, the MLL is poised to crown a new champion during the 2004 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend at Boston University's Nickerson Field. The league's top four teams will battle in a pair of Semi-Final games on Friday, August 20, at 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. The Semi-Final winners will then face off in the 2004 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game on Sunday, August 22, at 1:00 p.m. As the final installment of the Major League Lacrosse "Game of the Week" on ESPN2, the Championship Game will air live nationwide, the first live national telecast in MLL history.

In the first Semi-Final, the Rochester Rattlers will take on the Philadelphia Barrage. The Rattlers won their first National Division title by virtue of a tiebreaker, thus earning the postseason's #2 seed. Lining up opposite them is Philadelphia, the MLL's hottest team, which rode a five-game win streak to the franchise's first postseason appearance, a wild card berth and the #3 seed.

The second Semi-Final will feature the local fan favorites, the Boston Cannons, who will face the playoff powerhouse Baltimore Bayhawks. The Cannons clinched a playoff spot in Week Eight and coasted to an American Division title, the league's best record and the top seed in the postseason. They'll face off against the most experienced playoff team in this year's postseason, the Bayhawks, who failed to win a fourth straight division title but still earned a wild card spot and the #4 seed.

Semi-Final 1: Philadelphia Barrage (7-5, #3 seed) vs. Rochester Rattlers (7-5, #2), August 20 at 5:00 p.m.

Though everyone wants to make the playoffs, those that did had no interest in the playing the Barrage. Boasting an MLL season-high five-game win streak, Philadelphia is the league's hottest team entering the post-season. That's hard to believe, considering the franchise was a combined 7-33 in three seasons in Bridgeport, Conn., and it limped out of the gate in 2004 with a 1-4 record.

But all that changed after the 2004 MLL Collegiate Draft on June 3. The Barrage, who baffled onlookers when they selected Tillman Johnson third overall, swapped him that very evening for what they desperately needed—a playmaking attackman. Princeton All-American Ryan Boyle, picked second overall by the Rattlers, arrived in Philadelphia and began paying immediate dividends. He netted five points in his first game, broke the rookie record for assists by his fourth contest, and became the most prolific rookie scorer in MLL history in his seventh appearance. Others benefited as well; Boyle helped clear space for Blake Miller, whose 46 goals led the league and shattered the scoring record for midfielders. Keith Cromwell (27 goals), Mike Springer (23) and B.J. Prager (16) also managed career highs with Boyle. And when their season was on the line, Boyle stepped up as well. With the score tied late and needing a win to clinch a playoff spot, Boyle scored his fifth goal of the game to give Philadelphia an 18-17 victory over the Cannons in Week Twelve.

The Rattlers, on the other hand, were an offense just looking for someone to stabilize their ‘D'. With Casey and Ryan Powell leading the attack, Rochester again proved to have one of the game's most potent attacks. But they became a complete team when Johnson arrived in the draft night swap with Philly. His impact was profound and immediate; in just his second pro game, Johnson broke a three-year-old record by making 31 saves in a Week Five win over the New Jersey Pride. He went on to finish first in the MLL in goals against average and save percentage and rank second in wins, despite playing four fewer games than the other regulars. Backed up by Johnson, a Rochester defense that ranked fifth out of six teams in 2003 improved to number one this year.

Offensively, the Rattlers remain as strong as ever. Ryan Powell's recovery from major knee surgery is complete, as he was the only MLL player to rank among the top five in goals, assists and points. Casey Powell had another strong season as well, tying for fourth in the MLL with 57 points and becoming the league's all-time assist leader. Josh Coffman topped his career best with 32 goals, while the much improved A.J. Shannon jumped from 10 to 29 tallies.

The two squads are both in uncharted territory this postseason. In eliminating the Long Island Lizards in the final game of the regular season, the Rattlers won their first division crown and clinched their first playoff berth since 2001. The Barrage have even less postseason history; they entered the 2004 campaign as the only MLL team to have never advanced to Championship Weekend. During the regular season, the two teams split a pair of games, though the two contests were vastly different. In Week Two, a pre-Johnson Rochester squad downed a Boyle-less Philly squad by the lopsided score of 24-17. One month later, the two met for a hard-fought Philly victory, 19-15. And while all eyes will likely be on Boyle and Johnson, who combined to win seven of ten Cascade Rookie of the Week awards this year, the key to the game might be Philadelphia netminder Greg Cattrano. Acquired in the off-season from Baltimore, Cattrano is a two-time MLL Goalie of the Year, the all-time wins leader for goalies, and the most accomplished goaltender in MLL playoff history.

Semi-Final 2: Baltimore Bayhawks (7-5, #4 seed) vs. Boston Cannons (8-4, #1), August 20 at 8:00 p.m.

Though they might appear to be the same Bayhawks team that advanced to the title game each of the last three years, Baltimore has certainly changed. Gone is Cattrano, sent to Philadelphia for a first-round draft pick during the off-season. The resulting void in goal was difficult to fill; player-coach Gary Gait auditioned four netminders before settling on Rob Scherr, who played well enough to win the crucial final two games that guaranteed the Bayhawks a playoff spot. Baltimore also moved to a new home field, Unitas Stadium at Towson University, although it took quite some time to christen it with a victory. The Bayhawks struggled at home, dropping the first five games at Unitas Stadium before winning the season finale, a 23-13 blowout of New Jersey.

Despite the changes, the constant that remained was Baltimore's strong offense. Led by two-time defending MLL Offensive Player of the Year Mark Millon and player-coach Gary Gait, the Bayhawks finished second in the league in points scored. Millon ranked second in the league in points with 61, the third straight season he topped 60. Gait, whose accomplishments in his distinguished career are legendary, set MLL career highs in goals, assists and points. Led by those two stalwarts and a strong compliment of attackmen and middies, the Bayhawks set a franchise scoring record and became the first MLL team to go undefeated on the road for an entire season.

While the other three playoff teams didn't clinch a spot in the postseason until the climactic final week, the Cannons seemed almost preordained to make a run for the title. Boston tied a league record by starting the season 4-0 and extended that mark to 7-1, the second best start in MLL history. In fact, the Week Eight overtime victory in Rochester clinched a playoff spot for the Cannons with one-third of the season still to go. Boston coasted to their first American Division title, breaking Long Island's streak of three straight crowns. At the heart of their success was an explosive offense that led the league in both goals and points for the first time in franchise history. And that offense flowed through Conor Gill, the 2002 Cascade Rookie of the Year who set a league record for assists in 2003. He led the league in scoring in 2004, challenging Casey Powell's record for points in a season and tying his own assist mark. Michael Watson also exploded for the Cannons, scoring 21 goals in a record-setting four-game stretch and finishing with 39, good for second in the league. In all, six players scored 20 or more goals, tops in the league, and nine registered double-digit goal totals.

But for all their offensive prowess, the Cannons struggled on the defensive side of the field. They became the first team to finish with the best record in the league yet still have a negative goal differential. Their 239 points surrendered was the second highest total in MLL history, exceeded only by the 2003 Bridgeport Barrage, who finished 1-11. The problem was exacerbated in Week Six, when starting goalie Chris Garrity was felled by a leg injury. Kevin O'Brien filled in admirably, and Boston acquired former all-star netminder Trevor Tierney from the Pride at the trade deadline to help shoulder the load. But after clinching a playoff spot, the Cannons began to falter. Boston dropped three of the final four games, giving up 93 points in the process. Garrity returned to the field in Boston's final contest, delivering a strong performance that bodes well for a Cannons playoff run.

In the playoffs, the Bayhawks and Cannons couldn't be more different. The Bayhawks won the MLL title in 2002 and played in the Championship Game each of the last three years. In contrast, the Cannons have qualified for the postseason three seasons in a row, yet they've never advanced beyond the first round. The two franchises met in the playoffs two seasons in a row, in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, a game Boston squad, which entered the playoffs with just a 3-11 record, hung tough against the 10-4 Bayhawks before losing on a tally in the final minutes, 12-11. One year later, an improved Cannons fell behind early and never recovered, falling to the eventual champs, 15-10. This season, the two split their season series, with Boston taking the Week Two contest, 22-21, and the Bayhawks winning in Week Eleven, 25-14.

Major League Lacrosse, a six-team professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded in 1999 by fitness entrepreneur Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global L.L.C., and partners Dave Morrow, a former champion lacrosse player and now CEO of Warrior Lacrosse, a leading global provider of innovative and high performance lacrosse equipment; and Timothy B. Robertson, former CEO of The Family Channel and the current chairman of Bay Shore Enterprises, L.L.C., an investment holding company with activities in international media and Internet technology ventures. The MLL commenced play in June of 2001 and enters this season with teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, (Montclair) New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester. The 2004 MLL season began on Saturday, May 22 and concludes with the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend, Friday, August 20 and Sunday, August 22 at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.

Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 19, 2004

• 2004 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend Opens With Semi-Finals on Friday - MLL
• Rochester Rattlers vs. Philadelphia Barrage - Dallas Rattlers

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