Bayhawks Clinch Playoff Spot with First Home Win
August 14, 2004 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Chesapeake Bayhawks News Release
Towson, Md. â Attackman Mark Millon scored five goals with two assists to lead the Baltimore Bayhawks (7-5, 4-2) to their first home win of the 2004 season, a 23-13 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) victory over the New Jersey Pride in front of a team-record 6,271 at rainy Johnny Unitas ® Stadium at Towson University on Saturday night.
In handing the Pride their 11th straight loss, the Bayhawks clinched their fourth consecutive playoff appearance. However, Rochester won its first National Division title with a 21-14 victory over Long Island. Baltimore will play top-seeded Boston, who lost to Philadelphia on Saturday night, in the semifinals at 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia and Rochester will meet up at 5:00 p.m. in the first semifinal contest at Nickerson Field.
Baltimore jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the opening period on goals by midfielders Josh Sims and Jeff Sonke. New Jersey tied the score with back-to-back goals from attackman David Curry and midfielder Rob Torti before attackman Tom Marechek scored a pair of goals, giving Baltimore a 4-2 lead with 3:52 left in the stanza.
Following a goal from Scott Urick that cut the Pride deficit to 4-3, Baltimore went on a 6-0 run to expand its advantage to 10-3 with 12:11 remaining in the second period. Millon scored three of the goals in the spurt, while midfielder Gary Gait, Marechek, and attackman Dan Marohl also recorded tallies in the run. Urick added his second goal to end the momentum with 10:13 left in the first half.
Baltimore extended the lead to 14-5 with a 4-1 spurt, which included goals from four different Bayhawks. With 4:58 remaining in the second period, attackman Scott Dooley scored off a feed from Walid Hajj, cutting the Pride deficit to eight at 14-6.
Millon scored to end the second period scoring and Hajj tallied at the start of the third quarter before Sims scored a two-point goal, giving Baltimore a 17-7 lead. New Jersey scored three straight goals over a span of 6:26 to narrow the gap to 17-10 before Baltimore rattled off three straight goals of its own. Marechek, Millon and Brian Langtry each found the net during the run. Baltimore and New Jersey traded three sets of goals to end the game.
Millon led the Bayhawks with his five goals, while Marechek recorded four markers. Making his first appearance since May 27, Sims scored three goals, including the two-point tally. Urick led all scorers with six goals, while Curry recorded a hat trick in a losing effort.
Attackman Jesse Hubbard was scoreless on 10 shot attempts, marking the first time in over three years that the Princeton graduate had failed to score. His league-record streak of 46 consecutive games with at least one goal is nearly 20 games more than Gait, who set a new team mark by recording a goal in his 28th consecutive game.
Midfielder Paul Cantabene won 26-of-34 face-offs to set the MLL single-season record for face-off wins. He ended the season with 238 victories, surpassing the previous mark set by Rochester's Chris Cercy during the 2001 season. Cantabene also recorded a league-record 23 ground balls in the victory, upping his record-setting season total to 156.
Baltimore will face the top-seeded Cannons on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. in a rematch of last week's 25-14 Bayhawks win at Nickerson Field. The National Division champion, Rochester will face Philadelphia in the first semifinal at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are available for New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend by calling 866-MLL-TIXX (655-8499) or by visiting www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 14, 2004
- Lizards miss playoffs after loss to Rochester, 21-14 - New York Lizards
- Bayhawks Clinch Playoff Spot with First Home Win - Chesapeake Bayhawks
- The Barrage Clinch Playoff Spot With Win Over Cannons, 18-17 - Philadelphia Barrage
- Bayhawks and Pride Still to Play As Scheduled - Chesapeake Bayhawks
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