Bridgeport Barrage Game Day Preview
June 11, 2003 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Philadelphia Barrage News Release
Barrage at a Glance: The Bridgeport Barrage are set for their game against the Baltimore Bayhawks. The Barrage are a total of 2-2 against the Bayhawks in their brief two year history. Top players for Bridgeport include MLL All-Star Roy Colsey, World Championship MVP Doug Shanahan, top Barrage goalie Mark Spruyt and the number one draft pick of the College Draft, Chris Rotelli.
Honoring the Greatest: The Barrage will take time to honor Jack Emmer the most successful coach in Division I Collegiate Lacrosse history. While coaching the Black Knights of Army, Emmer surpassed Dick Garber with a total of 305 wins over his 34 seasons coaching. Bridgeport will present Emmer with a citation and award during the game to recognize his lifelong commitment to the game of lacrosse at every level. Emmer coached a total of 14 current MLL players as the head coach of the 2002 USA National Team Coach, including Bridgeport's own, Doug Shanahan and Matt Striebel.
The Best of the Best: When looking at the Barrage roster this season, one fact stands alone, Bridgeport is the only team in the MLL to have two Tewaaraton Award winners play for them. MLL Rookie, Chris Rotelli, a 2003 graduate of the University of Virginia was recently named the 2003 winner of this prestigious award. He joins teammate Doug Shanahan, the 2001 winner, as the second Barrage to be recognized as the nations top player.
Blake's Back: Midfielder Blake Miller has come alive for the Barrage in the past two games of the season, and is currently tied with Roy Colsey for points, after scoring a career high five goals against Boston on June 6. Blake's previous game high came in 2002 when he scored his sole hat trick of the season against Baltimore early in the season. Miller had a career high 29 points in 2001 for the Barrage and seems to be on a similar pace to push past that mark this year.
Familiar Faces: Two former Bridgeport players will be returning home for the first time since being traded to Baltimore, Jamie Hanford, a Darien native, and Brian Langtry. Both players had been with the Barrage since the beginning in 2001 before making the move to Baltimore.
The Task Ahead: Baltimore brings a majority of their Championship team back for this season including MLL MVP and Goalie of the Year Greg Cattrano, who has yet to leave the goal in the 120 minutes the Bayhawks have played this season. Attackman Mark Millon, who was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2002, recently tied a Bayhawks high with eight points against New Jersey this past Thursday, earning him the Offensive Player of the Week recognition. Player/Coach Gary Gait will be anchoring the midfield along with Josh Sims.
The X-Factor: This season the Bridgeport Barrage are hoping for an offensive spark from midfielder Doug Shanahan. He was originally drafted by Bridgeport in the 2002 MLL Supplemental Draft with the first overall selection, but did not ply for the Barrage because he spent the summer in training camp with the New York Jets and playing for Team USA in the World Lacrosse Championships in Australia. Shanahan was named MVP of the World Championships after scoring four goals in the Championship while pacing Team USA with a total of 16 goals. The three-time First-Team All-American at Hofstra was named the nation's top collegiate lacrosse player in 2001. Shanahan was also a two-time Division 1-AA All-American strong safety at Hofstra.
Two-Point Threat: Bridgeport's Roy Colsey leads the MLL with 12 all-time two-point goals. He netted seven two-point shots for the Barrage in 2002. Attackman Keith Cromwell recently joined Colsey as the only other Barrage player to score more than one two-point goal, as his second all-time came against Boston this past Friday night.
In the Crease: Mark Spruyt emerged as the most successful goalie for the Barrage during the 2002 season. While he was in the crease, the Barrage posted a 3-2 record while recording back-to-back wins for the first time in franchise history. Spruyt boasted a .590 save percentage (13.3 goals against) and coincidentally was named the Bud Light MVP in each of the three Barrage wins in 2002. So far this season the goaltending duties have been split pretty evenly between Spruyt and Justin Cynar, who have combined for a .425 save percentage.
Connecticut Connections: Marko Lujic, a native of Hamden, Conn. and a Yale graduate, was acquired by the Barrage from the MLL player pool during the 2003 off-season. He was an honorable mention All-American with Yale during his 2002 senior campaign. Lujic also played high school lacrosse at Hamden Hall where he captained both the lacrosse and soccer teams. Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.) returns to the Barrage for he 2003 season. Adams played high school lacrosse at Wilton High School (class of '97). Barrage midfielder Roy Colsey currently works as a Physical Education teacher at Bedford Middle School in Westport, Conn.
And Then There Were Three: Only three players open the 2003 season on the active roster who have been with the team since the onset of Major League Lacrosse in 2001. They include midfielders Roy Colsey and Blake Miller as well as attackman Scott Hochstadt. Defenseman Harold Drumm and midfielder Jim Gonnella are also original members of the Barrage, but open the season on the injured reserve.
Last Time They Met: The Barrage defeated the Baltimore Bayhawks 15-12 at Baltimore on June 22, 2002. The Barrage fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the first quarter and remained tied at halftime 6-6. A large third quarter led by Keith Cromwell (2g,3a) pushed the Barrage to their second win over the Bayhawks in two years. In their four games against Bridgeport, the Bayhawks have averaged almost 12 goals per game. Throughout the two-year history of these two teams meeting, the Barrage have yet to beat the Bayhawks more than once in a season, but will look to do just that in 2003.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 11, 2003
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- Bridgeport Barrage Game Day Preview - Philadelphia Barrage
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