Conor Gill Earns Major League Lacrosse\'s Top Individual Honor

Published on August 22, 2004 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release

Boston, Mass. (August 22, 2004) – Major League Lacrosse, the premiere professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Saturday that Conor Gill of the Boston Cannons has been named the 2004 Bud Light Season MVP. The award was based on votes submitted by the General Manager and the Head Coach of each of the six MLL teams. In order to be considered for the Bud Light Season MVP, a player must have been named Bud Light Game MVP during the regular season. Gill, along with other MLL honorees, was acknowledged on Saturday at the 2004 Major League Lacrosse Awards Luncheon.

On the season, Gill led the league in both points and assists, tying the MLL record he set last season with 40 helpers. Were it not for a knee injury that knocked him out of the regular season finale, Gill may have broken Casey Powell's league record for points in a season. He finished the campaign with 67 points.

The 2004 season continued the evolution of Gill into an unstoppable offensive force in the MLL. The 2002 Cascade Rookie of the Year, he set rookie records in goals (20), assists (16) and points (36). Last season, he upped his goal total to 23, while his assists made the quantum leap to their record level of 40. His 63 points in 2003 ranked fourth in the league.

Gill made his mark on the season early and often. In Week Two, he counted two late tallies among his three goals and three assists, giving Boston a shootout victory over Baltimore and earning his first of three Bud Light Game MVP awards. The following week, Gill scored a season-high four goals and added three helpers to earn a 21-19 win in Rochester. In Week Six, the former Virginia Cavalier registered his third seven-point game of the season when his hat trick and four assists helped Boston down the New Jersey Pride.

Gill scored five or more points in ten consecutive games to open the season, including a streak of five weeks with at least six points. He was on pace for much of the season to surpass Powell's scoring record, set just last year. Gill entered the final week of the season having tied his assists mark and needing just four points to equal Powell's record of 70 points. Only a knee sprain kept him from attaining what for much of the season appeared to be a foregone conclusion.

The litmus test of an MVP is not so much individual performance, but how he improves those around him and helps the team as a whole. This is an especially good barometer for a player like Gill, whose role it is to distribute the ball on offense. Including Gill's 27 tallies, nine different Cannons scored more than ten goals, tops in the league. Of the eight players besides Gill, seven of them improved their goal totals from a year ago, led by Kevin Leveille's 21-goal jump (27 this season, 6 in 2003), Chris Fiore's 12-goal improvement (17, from 5) and Michael Watson's 8-goal leap (39, from 31). Of those seven players, five set career highs for tallies in a season. As a result, the Cannons as a whole improved, from a mere playoff qualifier in 2003 to this season's American Division champion and postseason number one seed.

A native of Lutherville, Md., Gill starred at Virginia before the Cannons selected him in the first round (third overall) of the 2002 Collegiate Draft. A three-time All-American, he was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1999 when he helped the Cavaliers capture the NCAA Championship. After scoring five goals in the first quarter of the semi-final against Johns Hopkins, Gill was the first freshman named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championships.

Bud Light has been the official beer sponsor of Major League Lacrosse since the league's inaugural season in 2001. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. is the leading U.S. brewer and holds a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. In a survey of 10,000 business leaders and securities analysts, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. ranked first overall in quality of products and services among nearly 600 companies researched in FORTUNE magazine's 2004 "America's Most Admired Companies" listing. The company also is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or www.budlight.com.

Major League Lacrosse, a six-team professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded in 1999 by fitness entrepreneur Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global L.L.C., and partners Dave Morrow, a former champion lacrosse player and now CEO of Warrior Lacrosse, a leading global provider of innovative and high performance lacrosse equipment; and Timothy B. Robertson, former CEO of The Family Channel and the current chairman of Bay Shore Enterprises, L.L.C., an investment holding company with activities in international media and Internet technology ventures. The MLL commenced play in June of 2001 and enters this season with teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, (Montclair) New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester. The 2004 MLL season began on Saturday, May 22 and concludes with the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game on Sunday, August 22 at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.

Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 22, 2004

• Barrage Complete Miracle Season, Win MLL Title - MLL
• Barrage Attackman Boyle Garners Cascade Rookie of the Year - MLL
• Warrior Players of the Year, Coach of the Year Announced - MLL
• Conor Gill Earns Major League Lacrosse's Top Individual Honor - MLL
• Inaugural All-MLL Team Recognizes Season's Best at Each Position - MLL

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