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Blazers Blast Wings Again

January 24, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Boston Blazers News Release


Boston, Mass. - Matt Lyons picked up where he left off Friday night in Philadelphia, once again leading the Blazers past the Wings - this time by a mark of 11-7 in front of 4,423 fans in National Lacrosse League action at TD Banknorth Garden.

Lyons, who scored two goals and notched three assists in the Blazers (2-2) first win in franchise history the previous night (a 13-11 victory at the Wachovia Center) started Saturday night's contest by scoring three times in the first quarter. He finished the night with a game-high five goals.

"I had a pretty slow start this year, the first two games I didn't do too much," said Dawson, who had two goals coming into the weekend. "It's nice, I had a couple in Philly last night and I was hitting the net tonight and just finding the rope. So it felt good to get a couple in front of the home crowd."

The Wings (2-2) were led by Mat Giles, who scored three goals, including one 38 seconds into the fourth quarter that cut the Blazers lead, 8-6.

With 9:43 left in the game, The Wings got within one when David Mitchell beat Boston goalie Anthony Cosmo. But Daryl Veltman scored his first goal of the night about three minutes later and he struck again with 4:28 remaining, scoring on a shot launched from just within the white line to secure the win. About two minutes later Veltman hit the back of the net again but the goal was called off due to a shot clock violation.

"I think out biggest challenge early on was to get guys to believe in ourselves," Blazers head coach Tom Ryan said. "I think the first couple games we were a bit nervous. And now we're really playing like we can play."

The first goal of Lyon's lot came 2:37 into the game when the forward's shot hit Philadelphia goalie Bob Blasdell's pads before trickling through his five-hole.

Lyons also scored the team's third and fifth goals of the opening stanza before the Wings finally got on the scoreboard at the 1:46 mark of the second quarter to cut the lead 5-1. But Lyons struck again exactly four minutes later to give the Blazers a 6-1 halftime advantage.

The Wings offense finally came alive in the third quarter just like it did Friday night. But unlike Friday night's third quarter, when Philadelphia took its first lead of the night, 9-8, thanks to a four-goal run, the Blazers were able to come out of the quarter with a 8-5 edge.

For a moment, however, it seemed like the Wings would mount another third-quarter comeback after they scored twice within the first five minutes of the second half off the sticks of Giles and Sean Thomson to cut the lead in half, 6-3, with 10:54 left in the third quarter. But the Blazers were able to bounce back with another Lyons goal a couple minutes later on a breakaway. Philly closed out the quarter with goals by and Drew Westervelt to trail 8-5 going into the final quarter.

Jason Bloom, Brendan Thenhaus and Dan Dawson all scored one goal apiece for Boston. Dawson, whose goal was scored shorthanded, added the first five assists of the game and finished with seven on the night. With 1:50 left in the game, Dawson's younger brother, Paul Dawson, added the final goal of the night on an empty net.

"It wasn't pretty in the end but to be able to pull it off and get two wins [this weekend], it couldn't be more important to the confidence and growth of our team," Ryan said.

Blazers Next Game: home vs. Portland Lumberjax on Jan. 31: Tickets for the Blazers-Lumberjax game are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting www.blazerslacrosse.com, and via Ticketmaster or the TD Banknorth Garden box office.



National Lacrosse League Stories from January 24, 2009


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