Bridgeport Barrage Game Day Preview
July 26, 2002 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Philadelphia Barrage News Release
Barrage at a Glance: The Bridgeport Barrage will visit the Boston Cannons after losing to the Rochester Rattlers 16-12 on Thursday evening in Bridgeport at Harbor Yard. This will be the second time this season that the Barrage will square off against the Cannons after a loss at the hands of the Rochester Rattlers. In the 16-12 loss to Rochester, Bridgeport trailed 10-2 and 14-6 in the first half before using a stingy Barrage defense to hold the Rattlers to just two goals in the second half. That defensive effort was led by goalie Mark Spruyt who replaced Justin Cynar. Spruyt, the game's Sobe Iron Lizard Award winner, was spectacular in goal, making 14 saves. Cynar made his debut for the Barrage by making the start. He replaces Jim Mule on the active roster. Cynar made five saves while surrendering 14 goals. Matt Striebel paced the Barrage offensive attack with two goals. In two games vs. Rochester this season the Barrage managed to only score 14 goals. The Barrage have gone nearly a span of three straight games without having a lead. They have endured over two hours and forty-five minutes on the field without a lead. They last led Rochester on 7/12 in the first quarter after Keith Cromwell put the Barrage up 2-1 with 5:11 remaining in the opening quarter.
Cannons at a Glance: The Boston Cannons (3-5) need to win to keep pace with the Rochester Rattlers (4-5) for the final MLL Playoff berth. The Cannons have six wins since the team's inception last year. However, five of six of those wins have come at the expense of the Bridgeport Barrage. Boston's only other win came in their season-opener vs. Long Island, 16-15. Michael Watson (13g, 13a) and Mike Battista (18g, 3a) lead the Cannons offense.
Last Time They Met: The Bridgeport Barrage fell to the Boston Cannons 22-13 on 7/18 in a contest where they trailed throughout the entire game. Dan Denihan's four goal, one assist performance was a lost cause after Bridgeport was outscored in all but one quarter of play. In their first meeting Bridgeport lost Boston 19-18, in overtime in their home opener on Friday, June 15th. Bridgeport led 18-14 in the fourth quarter before Paul Gait netted two consecutive two-point shots to send the game into overtime. Boston's Mike Regan put the game away for the Cannons 26 seconds into overtime with his first shot of the game. The overtime loss for the Barrage was the first of three losses in overtime this season for a Bridgeport team that has never won a game in overtime (0-5).
2002 Barrage Results Date Opponent Score Barrage Leading Scorer
Sun. June 2 @ Long Island L 8-21 Roy Colsey (3g, 1 two point shot)
Fri. June 7 @ New Jersey L 7-12 Matt Panetta (3g)
Fri. June 15 Boston L 18-19 OT Matt Panetta (6g, 1a)
Fri. June 21 Baltimore L 7-15 Roy Colsey (2g)
Sat. June 22 @ Baltimore W 15-12 Blake Miller (3g)
Fri. June 28 Long Island L 20-21 OT Dan Denihan (3g, 4a)
Sat. July 6 New Jersey L 16-17 OT Keith Cromwell (5g, 1 two-point shot)
Fri. July 12 @ Rochester L 5-15 Dan Denihan (2g)
Thur. July 18 @ Boston L 13-22 Dan Denihan (4g, 1a)
Thur. July 25 Rochester L 12-16 Andy Towers (1g, 2a)
Roster Moves: For the Barrage game at Boston, Bridgeport has activated midfielder Thomas Naglieri (Adelphi, 2002), attackman Tom Kessler (Hofstra, 2002), Billy St. George (Syracuse, 2002) and attackman B.J. Prager (Princeton, 2002). In turn they have placed attackman Marc Morley (UMass, 2002), midfielder Matt Striebel (Princeton, 2001) and midfielder Dave Ulrich (Notre Dame, 2001) on the reserve squad.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 26, 2002
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