Bayhawks Face Tough Task With Pair Against Defending MLL Champs
Published on July 20, 2004 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Chesapeake Bayhawks News Release
Towson, Md. - Coming off a 16-14 win against the New Jersey Pride (1-7, 0-3) on Saturday afternoon, the Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (4-3, 3-2) travel to Long Island on Friday, July 23, looking for a victory against the defending MLL champion Lizards in a rescheduled game from June 25. The following day, the Lizards travel to Baltimore to take on the Bayhawks at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium at Towson University with face-off scheduled for 7:00pm.
The Bayhawks have not played the Long Island Lizards since last year's New Balance MLL Championship Game at Villanova Stadium. The Bayhawks finished the 2003 season with an 8-5 record and a perfect 4-0 record in National Division play, claiming their third straight National Division title. They advanced to their third straight MLL Championship game, where they fell to Long Island by 15-14 in overtime. Long Island won its second MLL title in three years with a 10-3 record, including a pair of wins over the Bayhawks.
Last Saturday, Baltimore extended its record from Unitas Stadium to 4-0 after defeating the New Jersey Pride at Sprague Field by 16-14. The Pride jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on goals from Adam Doneger, Walid Hajj and Jesse Hubbard. Bobby Benson and Mark Millon narrowed the Bayhawks deficit to 3-2 with consecutive goals less than a minute apart.
The Pride came back with five straight goals to take an 8-2 lead, which forced Player-Coach Gary Gait to pull starting goalkeeper Mike Levin and replace him with Rob Scherr. The Pride were then held scoreless for nearly 16 minutes, as Baltimore took a 10-9 lead with an 8-0 scoring streak of its own led by Millon, who scored three goals. Gait scored twice, including the first two-point goal of his career off a restart. Attackman Dan Marohl also scored two goals to complete the 8-0 run.
Starting the third period was Gait, who scored his third goal. Hajj and Doneger tied the game with back-to-back goals. Reclaiming the lead for Baltimore at 14-11 was Mark Frye, who scored a two-point goal, and Benson added his second goal of the game. The Bayhawks and the Pride traded goals at the end of the third quarter, giving Baltimore a three-point advantage at 15-12.
Frye scored his second goal of the game to give the Bayhawks a 16-12 lead. Dan Chemotti and Doneger scored to bring the Pride within 16-14, but it was not enough, giving Baltimore the key divisional win.
Scherr was named Bud Light Game MVP after making 18 saves in 47 minutes of play. Millon extended his streak of consecutive games with a goal to 19 straight, while Gait has scored a goal in 23 straight games.
On Saturday, July 24, the Baltimore Bayhawks will look for their first win at Unitas Stadium when Long Island travels down to Baltimore the day after facing them on their home field.
The Long Island Lizards will try to come back with a win against the Bayhawks after falling to the Philadelphia Barrage (3-5, 1-2) by 18-17 on Thursday night at Villanova Stadium. Attackman Kevin Lowe tallied five assists before suffering a torn ACL in the fourth quarter. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Monday afternoon.
The Lizards fell behind early in the game, trailing 8-4 before they exploded for a seven goal run to go into half-time leading by an 11-9 margin. The rest of the game was close thanks to Lizards' goalie Brian Dougherty, who recorded 23 saves in the game. Dougherty has averaged 29 saves in his last three games, including a record-breaking performance with 33 saves against the New Jersey Pride on July 10.
The Barrage took the win when B.J. Prager broke a 17-17 tie with the game-winner with 1:24 remaining. The behind-the-back shot put the Barrage up by one and they used the rest of the time to run out the clock for the win. This was the first time since 2002 that the Barrage defeated the Lizards. Long Island still holds a commanding 9-3 lead in the all-time series against the Barrage.
Chris Massey led all Lizards with three goals, while A.J. Haugen, Kevin Finneran, Conor Denihan, and Jarred Testa each added two goals in the losing effort. Five other Lizards scored one goal each. While Philadelphia was lead by Prager and Keith Cromwell, who each recorded a hat trick in the win.
The regular season series between the Bayhawks and the Lizards is tied at 3-3 after the teams split a pair of meetings last season. Baltimore has not won on the road in the series since July 14, 2001 in a 16-10 decision at EAB Park.
After the doubleheader, the Bayhawks will host the Barrage and former Baltimore goalkeeper Greg Cattrano on July 31 at 7:00 p.m. at Unitas Stadium. It will be Cattrano's first appearance in Baltimore since being traded last October 13. He started 39 games for the Bayhawks from 2001 to 2003, compiling a 27-12 record.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 20, 2004
- Bayhawks Face Tough Task With Pair Against Defending MLL Champs - Chesapeake Bayhawks
- Attackman Kessler and Gilardi Added to Lizards 23-man Roster - New York Lizards
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