Barrage to Take on Rattlers August 14
Published on August 13, 2003 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Philadelphia Barrage News Release
Barrage at a Glance: The Bridgeport Barrage are set for their fourth and final game of the season against the Rochester Rattlers. The Rattlers lead the overall series with a 7-0 record against the Barrage. Brothers, Ryan and Casey Powell have combined for 32 points (14g,18a) in the three previous games this season for Rochester. Midfielder Chris Rotelli had a season high four goals to lead all Barrage scorers against the Rattlers the last time they met. Dan Denihan led all scorers on August 7 against the Boston Cannons with a career and franchise high 10 points (7g,3a).
Breakout Performance: The Barrage, although 1-10 on the season, are climbing the ranks in the league leader categories as individuals. Attackman Dan Denihan has moved up to sixth overall in the league in points with 46 (25g,21a) and assists with 21. Denihan has also made the top ten in hat tricks and power play goals with four on the season. Attackman Keith Cromwell has also been leaving his mark on the leader boards as he stands ranked fourth with three two-point goals. Midfielder Doug Shanahan leads the Barrage with four two-point goals on the season and is ranked second overall in the league.
Dan's the Man: Attackman Dan Denihan has come out of his shell and has scored an impressive 46 points (25g, 21a) for the Barrage this season. In the game against Boston on Thursday August 7, the Barrage shut out the Cannons in the third quarter and scored six unanswered goals all of which Denihan either scored or assisted. His standout performance against the Cannons set new team records with goals scored with seven and points with ten in a single game. Dan was added to the 2003 MLL All-Star Roster, and made his third appearance of his career.
Rotelli Rewarded: Barrage Rookie, Chris Rotelli became the only Men's Lacrosse player to be awarded the ACC's Male Athlete of the Year Award. Rotelli, who led the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia to the National Championship this past spring, was the first overall draft pick of the 2003 MLL Collegiate Draft. Rotelli was also named the 2003 recipient of the prestigious Tewaaraton Award. Rotelli had a season high four goals against the Rattlers on August 7. He joins teammate Doug Shanahan, the 2001 Tewaaraton Award winner, as the second Barrage to be recognized as the nations top player. The Barrage are the only team in the MLL to have two Tewaaraton Award winners on their roster.
Well Done: Attackman Keith Cromwell was named the MLL Co-Offensive Player of the week for his stellar performance against the Baltimore Bayhawks on July 19 in which he scored a career high eight points on four goals (two 2pt) and two assists. Cromwell was the first Barrage player to earn Bud Lite MVP honors this season for his impressive showing. Cromwell scored four goals in back-to-back games for the Barrage (7/12 and 7/19). He now ranks just under Dan Denihan with 28 points (14g (3 2pt) 11a) this season. Against the Long Island Lizards on July 12, Keith tied a season high with four goals in the one-point loss to the Lizards, an accomplishment that earned him New Balance Sportsman of the Game honors.
Polanco Power: Defensman Nicky Polanco was named the MLL Defensive Player of the Week after holding Baltimore's leading scorer Mark Millon (48 pts. (32g, 16a)) to one goal in Bridgeport's first win of the season on July 19. Nicky scored his third goal of his MLL career, and first of the 2003 season against the New Jersey Pride on July 31. Polanco has is one of only two players on the Barrage roster to have started every game for Bridgeport this season, in his second year playing in the MLL.
Getting Recognition: Barrage Rookie, Matt Hunter received Cascade MLL Rookie of the Week honors after posting the highest save total of any MLL goalie this season with 29 saves in his MLL debut starting between the posts in the one-goal loss to Long Island on July 12. Hunter also earned his first win as a professional against the Baltimore Bayhawks on July 19 with 16 saves. The Bridgeport Barrage acquired the 2003 Division II Player of the Year from the Player Pool just before their game against the New Jersey Pride on June 14. Hunter led the New York Institute of Technology to the Division II National Championships behind a flawless 14-0 record while only allowing an average of 7.76 goals per game his senior year. Hunter is also ranked fourth in Division II Lacrosse with a .645 save percentage.
Sweet Skills: The Barrage are pleased to hear that Kyle Sweeney has recovered from a broken ankle sustained during his senior season at Georgetown. Sweeney scored his first MLL point against the Rochester Rattlers on July 24 as he assisted Blake Miller's goal in the third quarter. Sweeney, who was selected as a STX/USILA All-American three times as a Hoya, was Bridgeport's third pick in the 2003 Collegiate Draft. Sweeney's quickness and stick skills are a welcome addition to the Barrage defense. At Georgetown he led the Hoyas all-time with 229 ground balls and served as their tri-captain for the 2003 season. Kyle, who played as a long stick midfielder, led his team to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament where the Hoyas met the Cavaliers of Virginia, the eventual National Champions.
One Hundred Plus: Attackman Dan Denihan holds the distinction of being the first Barrage player to attain his 100th career regular season point in the MLL. Denihan currently has 138 career regular season points (67g (1 2pt), 70a). Dan scored his 100th point during a breakout performance against the Long Island Lizards on June 26, when he tied his 2002 season high with seven points (4g, 3a). Denihan scored a season high eight points against the Bayhawks on July 19 in Bridgeport's first win of the season, with a team record 6 assists. His record-breaking season continued into Bridgeport's game against the Boston Cannons on August 7 as Dan scored a team record seven goals and ten points, for the Barrage. Dan spent the first season with the Baltimore Bayhawks where he scored 20 goals and 25 assists for Baltimore.
Milestone Reached: Midfielder Roy Colsey became the first Barrage Midfielder to score his 100th point against the Boston Cannons on August 7. Colsey scored his 100th point 13:33 into the second quarter when he assisted Michael Springer's first goal of the night. Colsey currently has 103 career points (67g(14 2pt), 22a) in three years of play for the Barrage.
Springing into Action: Barrage rookie, Michael Springer was named the MLL Cascade Rookie of the Week after his impressive performance against the New Jersey Pride on June 14. Springer led all Barrage scorers against the Pride with three points, including his first two-point goal of his career. Springer currently leads all Collegiate Picks on the Barrage in points with twenty-five (16g (2 2pt), 7a). While at Syracuse Springer was a four-time All-American and the Orangemen's leading goal scorer in 2003 with 36 goals and second overall with 60 points (adding 24a). Springer leaves Syracuse ranked third on the school's all-time goals list (159), compiling a total of 229 career points (159g, 70a), ranking him ninth on the all-time scoring list.
Behind the Arc: The Barrage as a team are ranked second in the league, behind Boston, with 11 2003 two-point goals. Midfielder Roy Colsey leads the Barrage with 14 career two-point goals, seven of which have come against the Long Island Lizards. Midfielder Doug Shanahan now leads the team with four 2003 season two-point goals. Shanahan's fourth came against the Rattlers on August 2. Attackman Keith Cromwell became the only Barrage attackman to score two 2-pt goals in a game against the Baltimore Bayhawks on July 19, which brought his career total to four all-time. Attackman Michael Springer became the only other Barrage player to score more than one two-point goal as his came against Long Island on June 26. All four players are ranked within the top ten in the league in the category with Shanahan tied for second with four, Cromwell tied for third with three, and Springer and Colsey tied for seventh with two each.
A Surprising Fact: In a game between the two team league leaders in two-point goals, including five of the ten individuals leading the league, not a single two-point goal was scored in the hour of regulation play on Thursday night. Mike Regan leads the league and Boston with 11 2003 two-point goals.
The Face-off Factor: Barrage Midfielder Doug Shanahan is leading the cause for Bridgeport winning 52% of face-offs taken among midfielders that have taken 100 face-offs or more. Midfielder Paul Rao is second on the team (and seventh in the league) winning 41 percent of all face-offs attempted. Rao won a career high 18 face-offs of 30 taken (.600) against the Cannons on August 7.
All-Star Midfield: The core of the Barrage offense has come from their midfielders this season. Among the top scorers on the team are the three starting Bridgeport midfielders, Doug Shanahan (27pts (19g (4 2pt) 4a), Blake Miller (24pts (20g, 4a)), and Roy Colsey (20pts (14g (2 2pt)4a)), all of which were selected to play in the 2003 MLL All-Star Game.
The Task Ahead: The Barrage are looking for their second win of the season against the Rochester Rattlers at Harbor Yard, who are led by Casey Powell (61pts (29g, 1 2pt, 31a)), Josh Coffman (33pts (24g, 9a)), and Ryan Powell who has played in only five games for the Rattlers this season (22pts (11g, 11a)).
Last Time They Met:
The First Time Around: The Rochester Rattlers defeated the Barrage 23-13 at Kearney Field in front of 1,977 fans. The downpour that lasted the duration of the game made for an interesting season opener. Both teams seamed evenly matched as the third quarter started out as both teams exchanged goals, this back and forth flow continued until deep into the quarter as MLL Rookie Michael Springer scored his first goal as a member of the Barrage, unassisted at 11:27, leaving Bridgeport down by only one goal, with the score 14-13. That was the closest the Barrage would get as the Rattlers, led by Schindler (5g, 2a) would score 3 of the nine unanswered goals in the second half of the third quarter and into the fourth for Rochester, with the final score 23-13.
The Second Time Around: The Rochester Rattlers defeated the Barrage 21-19 at Harbor Yard in front of 3,124 fans. Rochester's Josh Coffman was named the BUD Light MVP after leading all scorers with seven points, six goals and one assist. The Barrage were led by Dan Denihan and Blake Miller who both had three goals and one assist. Rochester started out early with a 8-0 run to begin the first quarter with a pair of goals coming from attackman Josh Coffman, and Ryan Powell found three different Rattlers in front of the goal for his first three points of the game.
Rochester's Gewas Schindler found himself ejected from the game after using a non-Warrior stick leaving Bridgeport a man-up for three minutes and leaving Rochester without one of their highest scorers for the rest of the game. Bridgeport scored their first two goals of the game during the New Balance Power Play. Rochester only had 14 of their 18 men available for the duration of the game after three injuries left the Rattlers struggling to fill positions.
The game saw five ties as both teams turned on the offense in the third quarter. The Barrage outscored the Rattlers for the second consecutive quarter in the third as Blake Miller (3g, 1a) contributed two of the five goals scored for Bridgeport. Rochester broke a four game losing streak as the Barrage fell to 1-7 on the season.
The Third Time Around: The Barrage fell to the Rattlers 28-13 on August 2nd. Every offensive player in attendance for Rochester scored for the Rattlers. Rochester's Ryan Powell was named the Bud Light MVP for his 10-point (4g, 6a) performance. Barrage midfielder Chris Rotelli scored a career high four goals to lead all Bridgeport scorers, recording his first hat-trick of his career.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 13, 2003
- Rattlers Hope to Send Coach off with a Win against Bridgeport - Dallas Rattlers
- Barrage to Take on Rattlers August 14 - Philadelphia Barrage
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