Dixon, Vlahakis, Garrity, Podgajny Honored With Weekly MLL Awards
June 9, 2008 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release
BOSTON, Mass. - Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Monday its weekly award winners for the week ending June 8, 2008, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. Washington Bayhawks midfielder Kyle Dixon was named as the League's Offensive Player of the Week while Long Island Lizards midfielder Peter Vlahakis has earned the Defensive Player of the Week award for the second week in a row. In addition, Washington goalkeeper Chris Garrity was selected as the Goalkeeper of the Week while San Francisco midfielder Mike Podgajny was honored as the Cascade Rookie of the Week. Dixon scored five goals with an assist to lead the Bayhawks to a 14-11 victory over the Rochester Rattlers in a game, which was stopped late in the third quarter due to inclement weather. The win snapped the Rattlers' three-game win streak. Dixon scored four of his five goals in the first half as the Bayhawks won their third straight game. With 20 points, Dixon ranks second among MLL midfielders in scoring. He has scored 14 goals, including a pair of two-point markers, with four assists in four games. Vlahakis earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor for the second straight week after leading the Lizards to a 22-12 victory over the defending MLL champion Philadelphia Barrage. He won 24 of 36 face-offs while recording a game-high 10 ground balls. Vlahakis has won 87 of 139 face-offs so far this season and leads the league with 34 ground balls. In the last two games, he has won 52 of 76 face-offs and has 23 ground balls along with two goals and an assist. Garrity helped the Bayhawks to their third straight win with a 20-save performance against the Rattlers on Saturday evening. He posted 16 of those saves in the first half as the teams battled to an 8-8 tie. He also had five ground balls in the victory. Garrity, who has played every minute of the Bayhawks' four games so far this year, has stopped 56.8 per cent of the shots he has faced while allowing 15.37 goals per game. Making his Major League Lacrosse debut, Podgajny scored the game-winning goal in the Dragons' 15-14 overtime victory against the Chicago Machine on Saturday night. He converted a feed from Liam Banks just 49 seconds into the extra session as the Dragons snapped a two-game losing streak. The seventh overall pick in the Collegiate Draft, Podgajny scored two goals with three assists in the victory and was named as the Bud Light MVP.
About Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse, a 10-team professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded in 1999 by fitness entrepreneur Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global L.L.C., and founding 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; 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; and Jim Davis, Chairman of New Balance. The MLL commenced play in June of 2001. The MLL is comprised of two conferences. The Eastern Conference contains the original six teams, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Rochester and Washington. The Western Conference debuted in the 2006 season with MLL expansion franchises Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 9, 2008
- Dragons Mike Podgajny Named MLL Rookie of the Week - San Francisco Dragons
- Dixon, Vlahakis, Garrity, Podgajny Honored With Weekly MLL Awards - MLL
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