DRAGONS STOPPED BY PRIDE
June 22, 2008 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
San Francisco Dragons News Release
Dragons defense shuts outs Danowski
Piscataway, NJ - The San Francisco Dragons lost their third road game to the New Jersey Pride 10-7. The Dragons (1-4) stay in 3rd place in the Major League Lacrosse Western Conference ahead of Chicago Machine (1-5).
Rookie attackman Brenda Loftus led the Dragons in goals with two. Midfielder Tim Booth and attackman Jake Byrne each had two points (one goal and one assist). Rookie midfielders Ryan Cranston and Matt Lalli each contributed a goal to the team effort as did specialist Greg Gurenlian who was 10 for 20 in face-offs. Defenseman Eric Martin was good for one assist and three ground balls. Midfielders Todd Fairlie and Jarett Park led the team in ground balls with five apiece. Defenseman Kyle Hartzell and veteran midfielder Matt Ogelsby scooped up four each. Goaltender Matt Vallone had 13 saves.
Midfielder Matt Rewkowski led New Jersey with five points (three goals and two assists) and was named Bud Light MVP Player of the Game. The Pride's Jordan Levine and Merrick Thompson each had 2 goals with Levine adding an assist to his points. Pride goaltender Ron Scherr had 19 saves in the win as New Jersey's record is now 2-3.
The Dragons struck first with Jake Byrne converting a feed from Tim Booth in the second minute of the game. Pride then answered with Thompson scoring off a Rewkowski pass. Dragons' Cranston followed up by putting the ball past goalie Scherr. Thompson evened up the score with 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
The first half of the game was dominated by the Dragons defense keeping the Pride scoreless for 19 minutes. Captain Eric Martin completely shut down the Pride's heralded rookie and #1 draft choice, attackman Matt Danowski. Dragons pulled ahead in the 2nd quarter when Gurenlian took his face-off win straight to goal and fired into the net. As the Dragons defense pressure kept the Pride off the scoreboard, Loftus took his unassisted goal from the right side into the high left corner. Booth's unassisted goal came just before the half ended as he strong armed his way through Pride defenders.
New Jersey came into the second half with change in strategy. Instead of looking to feed their star players, the support crew stepped up and took it to the Dragons. Rewkowski took the transition straight to goal to pick up his first of the game. Levine brought the Pride within one shortly afterwards. Dragons' Loftus put the Dragons up by two with his unassisted goal. That was the last Dragons score until Lalli's goal in the 4th quarter as the Pride became aggressive on groundballs and taking the ball to the crease. The Dragons were outscored 7-1 in the 3rd quarter with each team managing to score only one goal apiece in the fourth quarter.
The San Francisco Dragons return home on Saturday, June 28th at 7:00 p.m. as they host the Boston Cannons at San Jose State University's Spartan Stadium. The game is Warrior Stick Night with special ticket packages including Warrior mini-sticks which can be purchased by calling the Dragons information and ticket hotline at 1 (877) 4 - MLL - TIX.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 22, 2008
- DRAGONS STOPPED BY PRIDE - San Francisco Dragons
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