Atlanta Blaze Dominate Cannons in First Win
April 28, 2018 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Atlanta Blaze News Release
Kennesaw, GA - Today, the Atlanta Blaze defeated the visiting Cannons 19-12 in a complete 180 shift from the previous week's loss against the Boston Cannons. By the end of the first half the Blaze were ahead of the Cannons and never gave up the lead bringing their record to 1-1. This game marked the first win for head coach Liam Banks.
In the first minutes of the first quarter the Boston Cannons fired two unassisted goals past Chris Madalon who made his first career MLL start. Defensive momentum pushed the Blaze forward and the quarter ended 6-4.
The next few quarters were run by the Blaze offense, evidenced by the 6-4 scoring in the second quarter, 5-2 in the third, and 2-2 in the fourth. A total of 31 shots on goal and only 12 off vaulted the Blaze to victory.
Influential players include captain Kevin Rice who netted two goals and had 5 assists and ultimately won MVP for his efforts, Deemer Class and Matt Gibson who each had hat tricks (3 goals and 4 goals respectively), and Scott Ratliff who put up five points between two goals, a two point goal, and an assist.
Defensively the Blaze were once again led by Liam Byrnes and Callum Robinson who not only ran the defense regarding ground balls but also were significant in transitions and offense; Byrnes had a goal as well as an assist in the first quarter.
The goaltending was noteworthy due not only to the .607 save percentage from Madalon, but also because this game marked his first career start. Madalon previously played for the Lizards but saw little goal time. The absence of captain Adam Ghitelman (due to his coaching responsibilities with the Utah men's lacrosse team) led Madalon to be the first goalie other than Ghitelman to bring the Blaze to victory.
The Atlanta Blaze will play three away games before returning home on Saturday, June 2nd for the Real Men Wear Pink game against the New York Lizards.
Players of note:
2 Scott Ratliff (captain): 2 goals, 1 two-point goal, 1 assist
22 Kevin Rice (captain): MVP, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points
66 Matt Gibson: 4 goals
11 Chris Madalon: 17 saves on 28 shots, .607 save percentage
All Atlanta Blaze home games are played at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA. Single-game tickets are on sale now at AtlantaBlaze.com/Tickets
Major League Lacrosse Stories from April 28, 2018
- Atlanta Blaze Dominate Cannons in First Win - Atlanta Blaze
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