Barrage Complete Miracle Season, Win MLL Title
Published on August 22, 2004 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release
Boston, MA (August 22, 2004) â Philadelphia goalkeeper Greg Cattrano made 19 saves and earned Bud Light Championship Game MVP honors in leading the Barrage (9-5) to their first-ever Major League Lacrosse (MLL) title with a 13-11 victory over the Boston Cannons (9-5) in the 2004 New Balance MLL Championship Game. A league postseason record 8,279 fans witnessed the MLL's fourth title game in perfect conditions at Boston University's Nickerson Field on Sunday afternoon.
After winning just one game in the 2003 season, the Barrage finished this campaign by winning their last seven games, including a pair of postseason wins over Rochester and Boston.
Boston took a quick 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a goal by midfielder Steve Dusseau before the Barrage answered with four straight goals, including a pair of tallies by midfielder Roy Colsey, to take a 4-1 advantage with 7:27 left in the opening period. The Cannons ended the spurt with a power-play tally from attackman Michael Watson, which was followed by a goal from midfielder Brian Silcott with 2:07 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Barrage started the second quarter with back-to-back goals from Colsey and midfielder Nick Russo to extend the advantage to 6-3 with 7:53 remaining in the period. Midfielder Mike Battista scored his third two-point goal of the postseason with 4:49 left in the first half to snap a Cannon scoring drought of nearly 12 minutes and narrow the gap to 6-5, but the Barrage countered with back-to-back goals for an 8-5 half-time lead.
A power-play goal by attackman B.J. Prager gave Philadelphia a 9-6 lead early in the third period before attackman David Evans tallied, cutting the Boston deficit to 9-7 with 5:08 left in the third stanza. Following a Keith Cromwell score, Boston tied the game at 10-10 with three straight goals to end the third quarter, including back-to-back tallies from Dusseau.
Philadelphia scored three straight goals in the opening 9:41 of the final quarter to take a 13-11 lead. With 3:20 left in regulation, midfielder Chris Rotelli scored to cut the margin to two at 13-11, but Cattrano and the Philadelphia defense withstood a late rally to secure the victory.
In two games during the postseason, Cattrano made 33 saves and allowed 26 goals to earn the MVP award. He stopped 55.9 per cent of the shots he faced and had a 12.69 goals against average. He won his second league championship and first with Philadelphia after three years with Baltimore.
Colsey led the Barrage with four goals and an assist, while Cromwell scored one goal with two assists. Dusseau scored three goals for the host Cannons, who were the top seed after winning eight of 12 games during the regular season. Goalkeeper Chris Garrity made 19 saves in a losing effort for Boston.
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 Game on 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 22, 2004
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