Gait, Millon Leads Bayhawks to 22-19 Win Over New Jersey
Published on June 6, 2004 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Chesapeake Bayhawks News Release
Denver, Colo. (June 5, 2004) â Midfielder Gary Gait scored five goals and added an assist to lead the Baltimore Bayhawks (2-1, 2-0 National) to a sweep of the Major League Lacrosse Wild West Tour with a 22-19 victory over the New Jersey Pride (1-2, 0-1) in front of 8,137 at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Saturday evening.
In recording their second win of the season, the Bayhawks set a team record with third straight game of 20 or more points. Baltimore had scored back-to-back 20-plus point games on two different occasions.
Attackman Mark Millon gave the Bayhawks a quick 1-0 lead just 29 seconds into the first quarter, scoring an unassisted tally past Trevor Tierney. New Jersey countered with back-to-back goals from midfielder Austin Garrison and attackman Scott Dooley to take a 2-1 advantage.
After midfielder Mark Frye tied the game at 2-2 off a Brian Langtry assist, attackman Scott Urick regained the Pride lead with the first of his three goals on the evening. Jesse Hubbard was credited with the assist.
Millon and Gait scored consecutive goals, giving the Bayhawks a 4-3 advantage with 5:03 left in the first period, but Hubbard scored back-to-back goals to give New Jersey a 5-4 advantage with 2:39 left in the opening stanza. Baltimore used goals from Langtry and Gait to end the first quarter with a 6-5 advantage.
Attackman Tom Marechek extended the Bayhawks' cushion to 7-5 before Garrison scored his second goal of the game, cutting the deficit to 7-6. Attackman Bobby Benson scored his first goal of the season before Millon fired home his second career two-pointer, expanding the Bayhawk margin to 10-6 with 7:11 left in the first half. Hubbard countered with the first of two two-point goals, narrowing the margin to 10-8 before Urick answered to narrow the gap to 10-9.
Millon and Benson found the net to give the Bayhawks a 12-9 lead before Curry and Hubbard countered to return the margin to one at 12-11 in favor of the Bayhawks at the end of the second quarter.
Baltimore and New Jersey traded a pair of goals to start the third quarter before the Bayhawks went on a 3-0 run, which was capped off by Benson's third goal of the game. With 14:11 left in the game, defenseman Christian Cook scored his first goal of the season, snapping the Bayhawks' spurt and cutting the Pride deficit to 17-14.
Millon and Frye extended Baltimore's lead to 19-14 by scoring back-to-back goals with 11:24 left in regulation. Hubbard cut the Bayhawk advantage to 19-16 with his 13th goal of the season before midfielder Jeff Sonke scored his second goal of the game with 8:31 remaining. Dooley and midfielder Adam Doneger countered by scoring a pair of goals, including Doneger's second two-pointer of the season, to narrow the gap to 20-19, but that was as close as the Pride got. Marechek and Benson added late goals to seal Baltimore's fifth straight regular season victory over its National Division rival.
Baltimore midfielder Paul Cantabene set a Major League Lacrosse record by winning 29 of 40 face-offs in the victory. He set another league record by recording 22 ground balls, shattering the previous mark held by Long Island's Jay Jalbert.
Making his first MLL start just two days after being drafted in the second round of the MLL Collegiate Draft, goalkeeper Mike Levin made 16 saves in a winning effort for the Bayhawks. Tierney stopped 23 shots for the Pride, including 14 in the third period, as the Bayhawks held a 64-48 advantage on shots.
Baltimore returns home to face the Rochester Rattlers on Sunday, June 13th at 4:00 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Rattlers lost to Boston by 21-19 earlier on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Pride hosts Philadelphia on June 12th in New Jersey's first real home game of the season.
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 Weekend, Thursday, August 19 and Sunday, August 22. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 6, 2004
- Aggressive Play By Brian Dougherty Halts the Barrage's Success - Philadelphia Barrage
- Finneran leads Lizards to 14-12 win in Philadelphia - New York Lizards
- Gait, Millon Leads Bayhawks to 22-19 Win Over New Jersey - Chesapeake Bayhawks
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