Cannons travel to Philadelphia for game two
June 28, 2006 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Boston Cannons News Release
Boston, MA (June 28, 2006) - The Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) will travel to Villanova Stadium to face the Philadelphia Barrage on Thursday, June 29 at 7:300 PM. This is the seventh game of the season for both the Cannons and the Barrage. The Cannons will provide local media outlets with a complete post-game summary following the conclusion of Saturday's contest.
This contest will be the second game in a home-and-home series between these two teams. Philadelphia suffered their first loss of the season last weekend at the hands of the Cannons in Boston. The victory by Boston puts both the Cannons and Barrage in a tie for first place, with an overall record of 5-1 and an Eastern Conference record of 3-1.
With their 16-15 win at Nickerson Field on Saturday, the Cannons lead the all-time series with the Barrage twelve games to six.
In a match-up of two tough defenses and two top goalies, Boston once again benefited from an explosive second half. This time, the Cannons big numbers came in the third as they put six goals past Philadelphia goalie Brian Dougherty during the quarter.
Cannons attacker Conor Gill was named Bud Light MVP for the second straight week. Gill led all players in the game with 6 points, scoring two goals and collecting four assists. Fellow attacker David Evans followed with five points (4 goals and an assist), and midfielder Chris Fiore added a hat-trick.
It was a relatively quiet game for midfielder Jonathan Christmas, scoring only two goals in the game. This was the first time in five weeks that Christmas had failed to gain four or more points. Also scoring for the Cannons were attacker Chazz Woodson, defenseman Chris Passavia, and midfielder Billy Glading. Two Cannons rookies, midfielder Matt Posaky attacker Brett Bucktooth, also scored.
Once again, the Boston defense held tough in the second half of the game, and allowed Boston's offense to put some number of the board. While Philadelphia clawed their way back in spite of Boston's third-quarter onslaught, the Barrage would only find the back of the net three times in the final quarter. In a contest that got rather physical at moments, Ryan Cutis completed yet another game without a penalty. Jamie Hanford laid a huge hit on Barrage attacker Will Phillips, who will no doubt be looking out for the Boston defender when they meet again on Thursday. And the Boston defense got in on the scoring action this week, with Chris Passavia netting a goal in the third.
In the end, the goalies may have been the deciding factor, with both men making fifteen saves a piece in the game. Boston's Chris Garrity came away with the win though. Garrity's fifteen saves came on thirty shots. For the season, Garrity has a 12.82 goals-against-average and has made a total of 109 saves.
The Barrage got much of their scoring help on the evening from their midfielders. Midfielder Justin Smith led Philadelphia with four goals and one assist and Matt Striebel had a hat-trick and added an assist. Barrage leading scorer Roy Colsey also scored two goals.
Attacker Will Phillips, defenseman Kyle Sweeney, attacker BJ Prager, midfielder Greg Peyser, and rookie midfielder Matt Zash rounded out the scoring for Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia defense still remains tough. Their 11.83 goals-against-average still top the MLL, and their 71 goals allowed in six games is second in the league. And despite the loss, Barrage goalie Brian Dougherty's numbers for the season remain among the best in the league. His 12.08 goals-against-average and 132 saves are good for first and second place respectively in the MLL.
The Cannons do not play at home again until Saturday, July 22 at 7:00PM when they host the Rochester Rattlers at Boston University's Nickerson Field. Boston travels to Baltimore on July 8.
Cannons Game Five Notes:
For several of the Cannons appearing on the scoring sheet, these were their first-ever points versus the Barrage...Billy Glading's goal and assist, Chris Mucciolo's assist, Chris Passavia's goal, Brett Bucktooth's goal, and Matt Poskay's goal on Saturday were their first points collected against Philadelphia...Dave Jenkins had an assist versus the Barrage, which marked his first point of the 2006 season...Conor Gill was named Bud Light MVP for the second game in a row, he had 2 goals and 4 assists...There were a total of 8 separate penalties assessed in Saturday's Boston-Philadelphia game...John Christmas had his streak of four-point games end at four as he was held to just two goals versus Philadelphia.
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Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 28, 2006
- Pride trade for machine midfielder Kevin Boland - New Jersey Pride
- Chicago Machine Trades Boland for Third Round Pick - Chicago Machine
- Chicago Machine 2006 Sweepstakes - Chicago Machine
- Cannons travel to Philadelphia for game two - Boston Cannons
- Barrage versus Cannons, Rematch at Villanova Thursday - Philadelphia Barrage
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