Cannons blow away Pride
June 6, 2008 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Boston Cannons News Release
BOSTON, MA - Friday, June 6, 2008 - Midfielder Matt Poskay (Virginia '06) netted five goals to earn Bud Light MVP honors as the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) crushed the New Jersey Pride by a score of 17-8, in front of 2,674 fans at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Friday night.
With the win, the Cannons increased their record to 2-2 on the season. With the loss, the Pride remains winless in 2008 with a record of 0-3.
The opening quarter of the contest closely mirrored the first time the Cannons and Pride met in 2008 in the season-opening game at Harvard Stadium on May 17, as the Pride owned a 4-2 lead at the end of the quarter. As with the first match-up, the Pride got the better of their scoring chances early and took a 4-0 lead over the Cannons until attackman John Christmas (Virginia '05) tallied the team's first goal of the game at 12:41. Midfielder Kevin Dougherty (Syracuse '04) earned the assist on the marker. Poskay, a native of nearby Clark, New Jersey, cut the Pride lead in half in front of his hometown crowd with his first goal of the game at 14:39, assisted by midfielder Tom Zummo (NYIT '05).
The Pride collected the initial goal of the second frame to push their lead to 5-2, but the rookie midfielder Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins '08) answered back with the first goal of his MLL career in his MLL debut at 8:04. Poskay's second goal of the game brought the Cannons within one point at 10:35, with midfielder Joe Kostolansky (Hofstra '03) earning the helper. The Pride found the net again to regain a two-goal advantage at 6-4, but it was short-lived as the Cannons went on a three-goal run to take a 7-6 lead. Attackman Sean Morris (UMass '06) scored an unassisted marker at 13:00, attackman Matt Alrich (Delaware '04) found the back of the net with help from Christmas at 13:41 and Christmas picked up his second goal of the game at 13:55. Midfielder Ben DeFelice (Towson '04), who won 12 of 16 face-offs for the Cannons in the first half, assisted on the goal by Christmas. The half ended with the score locked at 7-7 after another goal from the Pride to close out the quarter.
The Cannons took control of the game in the third stanza with a goal from Kostolansky to take an 8-7 lead at 3:56, and Alrich padded the lead with his second goal of the game, a man-up goal at 5:35. Morris was credited with the assist on Alrich's tally. The Pride narrowed their deficit to one goal, but it ended up being their lone tally of the quarter. Alrich turned the game back to the Cannons' advantage with his third goal of the game, another man-up tally assisted by midfielder AJ Shannon (Virginia '03), at 13:57 to give the Cannons a 10-8 lead heading into the final 15-minute segment of play. The assist was the first point in a Cannons uniform for Shannon, who was acquired in a trade from Rochester on June 5.
The Cannons maintained their second-half dominance in the final frame as they scored seven goals and kept the Pride off the board during the segment. Poskay collected his third and fourth goals of the game, at 38 seconds and 2:06, respectively, to give the Cannons a 12-8 lead and continue to excite his hometown crowd. Christmas earned his second assist of the game on Poskay's fourth goal. Alrich collected his fourth goal of the game, with Christmas earning his third assist, at 3:26 and Zummo increased the Cannons' lead to 14-8 with his power play goal at 6:31. The visiting team didn't let up as Shannon collected his first goal as a Cannon to take a 15-8 lead at 7:22, with Christmas assisting on the goal for his fourth helper of the game. Poskay netted his fifth goal of the game to double the Cannons lead over the Pride at 8:36 and Christmas finished off the scoring with his third tally of the game at 13:42 to give the Cannons a 17-8 victory.
Goalie Kip Turner (Virginia '04) earned the win for the Cannons, his second of the season, with 13 saves on the 21 shots he faced in the contest. Pride goalie Rob Scherr (Johns Hopkins â03) made 26 saves on 43 shots for the loss.
The Cannons were 3-for-3 on the power play, while the Pride went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage.
DeFelice won 19 of 28 face-offs (67.9 percent) for the Cannons in the contest.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 6, 2008
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- Boston Cannons Trade For Midfielder AJ Shannon - Boston Cannons
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