Cannons Beat Barrage 16-15
Published on June 24, 2006 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Boston Cannons News Release
Boston, MA - In one of the most anticipated match-ups of the early season, the Boston Cannons hosted the Philadelphia Barrage in a game that had Eastern Conference bragging rights on the line. With 6,190 Cannons faithful filling Boston University's Nickerson Field, the Cannons took down the MLL's top team 16-15, thanks in large part to the effort of Conor Gill, who scored two goals and had four assists while being named Bud Light MVP for the second game in a row.
With the victory, the Cannons improved their season record to 5-1, and have won five straight games. Philadelphia suffered its first loss of the season and, with a 5-1 record of its own, is now locked in a tie for first place with Boston. Despite the loss, the Barrage managed to keep things close once again, as they have now played five one goal games this season.
Gill led all Cannons scorers with six points, and was helped by David Evans (4G, 1A), Chris Fiore (3G), and John Christmas (2G). Chris Garrity had 15 saves for Boston. For Philadelphia, the midfield was the name of the game. Of the Barrage's 15 goals, 11 were scored by midfielders. Justin Smith led the way for Philadelphia, scoring four times and assisting once, and he was followed by Matt Striebel (3G, 1A), Roy Colsey (2G) and B.J. Prager (2G). Brian Dougherty had 15 saves in the losing effort.
Boston got things started with just 1:29 gone by in the game. Midfielder Chris Fiore rolled past Matt Zash and found himself alone in front of Dougherty. Dougherty dipped his left shoulder and Fiore buried the ball high, giving the Cannons a 1-0 edge. Just two minutes later the Cannons built the lead to two, as David Evans converted a fast break from the right wing, sticking the ball top right on Dougherty off a nice feed from Chris Mucciolo. Boston clung to the two goal lead for the next four minutes, but the Barrage found the net with 6:03 left in the quarter. On a quick roll dodge behind the cage, Philadelphia attackman Will Phillips snuck around the left side of the crease and put the ball over Garrity's shoulder, cutting Boston's lead to 2-1.
It didn't take long for the Cannons to build the lead back to two. On a quick roll dodge to his right, Bill Glading freed his hands enough to feed Matt Poskay on the crease, and Poskay snapped a behind the back shot by Dougherty that gave Boston a 3-1 advantage. That was as good as it got for the Cannons in the quarter, though. Philadelphia finished the first on a three goal run. Matt Striebel started the streak feeding B.J. Prager, who scored his first goal of the game and cut the Boston lead to 3-2. Justin Smith followed with an unassisted goal with 2:29 remaining in the quarter, and 26 seconds later defenseman Kyle Sweeney gave the Barrage a 4-3 lead on a fast break goal.
The score held at 4-3 through the remainder of the first quarter, but Boston struck quick to open the second. With 1:21 gone by in the quarter, Gill notched his first goal of the game on a quick split from behind the cage. Gill beat his defender to the left and stuck a one handed shot to tie the game at 4-4. But Philadelphia answered once again with its second three-goal spurt of the game.
After a loose ball scramble at the top of the Cannons two-point line, the Barrage's Greg Peyser picked up the ground ball and dodged to his left, beating Garrity with a left handed shot on the run to give Philadelphia the 5-4 lead. Matt Striebel followed Peyser, scoring two straight goals over the span of a minute to build Philadelphia's lead to 7-4.
After Striebel's goal, the game began to get a little testy. Philadelphia's Joe Ceglia picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with just under four minutes remaining in the half, and John Christmas quickly converted the man up chance for the Cannons, cutting the Barrage lead to 7-5. Just 40 seconds after Christmas scored, Philadelphia's Brian Spallina and Boston's Drew Pfarr picked up matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and Chris Fiore scored from just inside the two-point line 37 seconds into the five-on-five to get Boston back within one, 7-6.
Boston wouldn't get any closer the rest of the half. With time ticking down, Philadelphia's Matt Striebel scored his third goal of the game, building the Barrage lead to 8-6 heading into halftime.
Philadelphia picked up where it left off in the first half, getting a goal from midfielder Justin Smith with 1:12 gone off the clock. The goal gave the Barrage a 9-6 edge and things looked dreary for Boston, but the Cannons were set to explode. Over the course of the next seven minutes of play, Boston scored six straight goals to take a dominant 12-9 advantage with 6:07 left in the quarter.
The streak got started off the stick of veteran attackman David Evans, who scored on an inside roll to get the Cannons to within two goals, 9-7. With less than a minute gone by from the Evans goal, Bill Glading took a feed from Gill to get Boston within one, and then Brett Bucktooth got his only goal of the game, off another Gill assist, to tie the game, 9-9. Just 10 seconds after Bucktooth connected, Dave Jenkins took the face off and dished the ball to Evans on the right wing. Evans buried the shot to give Boston its first lead since the end of the first quarter, 10-9. Chris Passavia continued the scoring with 6:47 left in the quarter, and Christmas followed the defenseman with a highlight reel goal. Coming from behind the cage, Christmas dove to his left and put a backhand shot by Dougherty, giving the Cannons the 12-9 edge.
The Barrage regained their bearings, though, and went on another three-goal spurt, their third of the game. B.J. Prager started the scoring, and Justin Smith and Roy Colsey followed, tying the game at 12-12 to end the third quarter.
The fourth quarter began the same way the third started, on a Colsey goal that gave Philadelphia a 13-12 lead. Boston got the answer it was looking for from Fiore, who scored less than a minute after Colsey to tie the game at 13-13. Boston got another quick goal from David Evans, who beat Dougherty with 11:21 remaining in the game to give the Cannons a 14-13 advantage.
Once again, though, Philadelphia would answer. Justin Smith, who gave the Cannons trouble all game, tied the game at 14-14 on a quick move from behind the cage for his fourth goal. After Smith's tying goal, the game went back and forth for three minutes, with both Dougherty and Garrity coming up big in goal, but game MVP Gill gave Boston the lead once again with 7:35 remaining in the game. Gill beat Brian Spallina from behind the cage, and dove in front of the crease to beat Dougherty for his second goal of the game.
Philadelphia was quick to tie the game up once again, as Matt Zash scored just 25 seconds later, but Boston had the final laugh. With 4:10 remaining in the game, Cannons midfielder Chazz Woodson beat his defender from up top and bounced the game winner by Dougherty.
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