Bayhawks stage comeback win in Rochester
June 19, 2005 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Chesapeake Bayhawks News Release
Rochester, New York (June 19, 2005) - The Bayhawks second road game of the season was marked by a few big differences from their previous three games. It was the first game in which the gameday temperature was below 90 degrees. Next, probably the bigger difference, the game in Rochester was the first game for the Bayhawks on natural grass. Despite these factors, and signs of travel taking a bit of a toll, the Bayhawks managed to collect themselves after a rocky and uncharacteristic first half and storm back into the game, and the win column, besting the Rattlers 18-11. The Bayhawks are now 4-0, tied for the best start in the history of the league.
At the opening faceoff, it was more of the same 2005 Baltimore Bayhawks lacrosse. After an opening faceoff win, the first goal came from (A) Mikey Powell off the assist from (A) Tom Marechek. But the Rattlers answered with back to back goals coming less than two minutes apart, first from (M) Tim Booth, and then from (M) Justin Smith.
Rochester continued to keep the offensive pressure on the Bayhawks for the majority of the first quarter, with one more score coming from former Baltimore attackman Andrew "Buggs" Combs off the assist from (M) Kevin Cassese with less than a minute remaining in the period. The first quarter came to a close with Rochester leading 3-1.
(A) Gary Gait opened the scoring in the second quarter, the assist from (M) Kevin Boland. The Rattlers refused to let up, though, answering 17 seconds later with (M) Justin Smith's second score from (A) Buggs Combs. Combs would then score again at the 11 minute mark off of the assist from (A) John Grant. (G) Tillman Johnson continued to stand strong against Baltimore's offense, allowing one goal in the second period. With the Bayhawks offense off balance, the Rattlers capitalized again, this time (A) Jason Doneger with the help of (A) John Grant; followed less than two minutes later by a solo garbage goal from (A) Buggs Combs.
The remainder of the half, despite a Bayhawks power play, was marked by unsettled play on both ends of the field by both teams. But with 11 seconds left in the half, (A) John Grant rattled a two-pointer home with an assist from (M) Kevin Cassese. The first half ended with the Rattlers still in the lead, 8-2.
The halftime stats told the story of a Baltimore offense struggling to find its rhythm; 2 goals in the half, only 50% of their shots being on goal, and total of 38 loose balls.
The second half began much the same as the first; an early goal by Bayhawks' midfielder David Curry from (A) Tom Marechek, followed by a quick response from Rochester in the form of a goal from (M) Sean Lindsay from (M) AJ Shannon. But the Bayhawks responded well even with (M) Gavin Prout in the penalty box after an unnecessary roughness charge, with a solo take by (A) Mikey Powell. As the quarter progressed, the vicious nature of both teams' play escalated to near brutality, with several bone-crushing body checks and a few cage-rattling stick checks being exchanged. The Rattlers continued to charge on, though, scoring another goal off of a Buggs Combs assist, this time from (A) Josh Coffman.
The Bayhawks responded again with a solo score from (M) Paul Cantabene, but he too landed himself in the box with an unnecessary roughness penalty following his goal. That penalty marked Baltimore's third one-minute penalty in the 9 minutes played to that point in the third. Baltimore, despite penalty woes, possessed the ball better through the quarter than they had throughout the game. With a bit of patience and poise restored, the Bayhawks put another score in, this time from behind the two-point line from (M) Mark Frye, the help coming from Gary Gait, cutting the Rattlers lead to 3. The Baltimore scoring run in the third period was continued by (A) Tom Marechek, with an impressive, unassisted behind-the-back tally. (M) Kevin Boland also put one in the back of net, his first career goal, again with help from Gary Gait. The Bayhawks scoring wouldn't end there, though; a goal from (M) Gavin Prout would tie the game at 10. Also staying hot were the tempers of both the Bayhawks offense and the Rochester defense, with dual unnecessary roughness penalties for Bayhawks (M) Jeff Sonke and Rattlers defenseman Eric Martin. The story of the period, though, would be the Bayhawks 10 point, 9 goal scoring effort to take the lead, 12-11; with the final 90 seconds of the period seeing 3 scores from Baltimore.
The fourth quarter opened with more full-speed, full-force body checks than settled play in the first three minutes. Through the chaos, Gary Gait managed another acrobatic goal, and (M) Josh Sims slammed home a near-two-pointer that stretched the Baltimore lead to three. The Bayhawks continued their scoring ways, with (A) Mikey Powell feeding a behind-the-back helper to Tom Marechek for his second score of the game.
The Rattlers, at the same time, continued to find themselves in the penalty box, with two successive unnecessary roughness flags putting them in man-down situations. Baltimore midfielder Jeff Sonke blasted his first goal of the game from two-point range, pushing the Bayhawks' lead to 6, and extending their fourth quarter scoring run to 5 unanswered goals. To make it 6, Tom Marechek stung one home off of Gary Gait's third assist of the game. Rochester, meanwhile, continued to struggle to possess the ball, and struggled to pick up loose balls; a category which the Rattlers dominated in the first half. When the Rattlers did possess, they found (G) Trevor Tierney in the way of every shot on goal. At the final horn, the scoreboard read 18-11, Baltimore with the win; and the scorecard showed relative domination in the third quarter by the Bayhawks and total domination in the fourth.
A little road-weariness may have slowed the Bayhawks in the first half, but once they were loosened up and returned to the form they took in the first three games of the season, there was no stopping the Baltimore offense, and no shaking their defense. The Bayhawks won the second half of the game, outscoring Rochester 16-3, none of those Rattlers scores coming in the fourth period. The Bayhawks took 38 second half shots to the Rattlers 14, picked up 20 of 36 ground balls in the half, and won 11 of 18 second half faceoffs. Gary Gait was named the Bud Light MVP for his 3 goal, 3 assist performance. Not far behind him, though, were Tom Marechek and Mikey Powell, both tallying 3 goals and 2 assists, and Mark Frye scoring 4 points by way of 2 assists and his 5th two-pointer of the season. Also not to be overlooked was Paul Cantabene's night, winning 14 of 24 faceoffs and scoring a goal. (M) Ben Defelice made his debut with the Baltimore Bayhawks, winning 3 of the 6 faceoffs he took.
The Bayhawks will meet the Rattlers again on Sunday, June 26 at home in Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium at 4 pm.
About the Baltimore Bayhawks The Baltimore Bayhawks were founded 1999 by Dave Pivec, owner of Pivec Advertising; Chris Hutchins, owner of Bacharach Raisin; Ray Schulmeyer, owner of Schulmeyer Animal Hospital in Baltimore, MD; and Gordon Boone of Ryan Commercial Real Estate. The Bayhawks were the MLL Champions in 2002 and have made the MLL playoffs in every season of the League's operation.
The Bayhawks play their home games at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University in Towson, MD. The Bayhawks 2005 season begins in Seattle, Washington on May 28th against the New Jersey Pride; the 2005 home schedule will consist of 6 games beginning on June 5th against the New Jersey Pride. For more information about the Bayhawks, visit www.baltimorebayhawks.com
About Major League Lacrosse 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 has teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, (Montclair) New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester. The 2004 MLL season concluded with the Philadelphia Barrage winning the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game on Sunday, August 22 at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass. The 2005 season is slated to begin the weekend of May 20-22, 2005. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 19, 2005
- Barrage Break Losing Streak - Philadelphia Barrage
- Bayhawks stage comeback win in Rochester - Chesapeake Bayhawks
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