High Scoring, Fast Moving, Hard-Hitting Action Adds Playoff Tension

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

Boston, MA (July 22, 2004) – Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premiere professional outdoor lacrosse league, is overflowing with high scoring, fast moving, hard-hitting action in Week Nine, with four games that all have playoff implications. The attention-getter this week is a home-and-home series between the Baltimore Bayhawks and Long Island Lizards, playing for the first time since Long Island's thrilling overtime win in the 2003 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game. The two will meet on Friday in Long Island to make up a Week Six game postponed by severe weather, then travel to Baltimore for the second act on Saturday. The Saturday match-up is the eighth installment of the Major League Lacrosse "Game of the Week" and will air nationally on ESPN2 on Tuesday, July 27 at 4:00 p.m.

Also in Week Nine, the Philadelphia Barrage, now in the thick of the playoff race, travel to Boston for a Thursday night meeting with the Cannons. The Barrage are fighting for a seat at the post-season table, while Boston is the only team to have clinched a playoff birth. On Saturday night, the New Jersey Pride try to right the ship when they visit the Rochester Rattlers. The Pride have lost seven straight since a season-opening victory, and they'll have a tough time against the Rattlers, who surged into first place before a heartbreaking Week Eight loss in overtime at the hands of the Cannons.

Long Island Lizards (4-4) vs. Baltimore Bayhawks (4-3)

Friday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Long Island & Saturday, July 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Baltimore

Long Island and Baltimore square off in a rematch of the 2003 title game, the first time the two have met since Kevin Lowe's dramatic championship-winning goal. This time around, though, the Lizards will have to go without Lowe after the league's number two assistman suffered a season-ending knee injury during Thursday's loss to Philadelphia. Head coach Vinnie Sombrotto noted Lowe's absence severely hinders an already struggling Lizards offense, leaving the team hard-pressed to find a successful replacement. "Kevin's injury is a devastating one for us," said Sombrotto. "He was so good with the ball for us in many different situations. I don't know if we have anyone who can do it nearly as well as him."

With Boston the only team assured a playoff spot and New Jersey all but eliminated from the race, Long Island and Baltimore are two of four teams challenging for the three remaining post-season spots. Last week, Long Island had an opportunity to knock Philadelphia further away from their first postseason appearance, but they couldn't hold off a late Barrage run and lost, 18-17. Lowe, the Lizards leader in assists the past two seasons, accounted for five helpers before his fourth quarter injury. Tim Goettelmann (1G, 3A) and Chris Massey (3G) were the Lizards' other top scorers.

The loss to the Barrage makes this pair of games against Baltimore even more important; a Long Island sweep could put them as many as three games ahead of Philadelphia, but a Baltimore sweep, coupled with a Barrage win, would put Philly and Long Island in a tie for second place in the American Division. The back-to-back nature of these two games makes preparation for the weekend that much more difficult, especially for a veteran team like the Lizards. But Sombrotto has no intention of saving players for the second contest on Saturday. "We won't save anything," said Sombrotto. "If we can take one to the bank on Friday, we will."

Baltimore jumped back into the familiar position of first place in the National Division with a Week Eight victory at New Jersey, 16-14, coupled with a Rochester loss. The win improved the Bayhawks road record to 4-0, a stark contrast to their 0-3 mark in Baltimore. Goalie Rob Scherr, who expected to play just the second half of the Pride contest, came in late in the first quarter for a flustered Mike Levin with the Bayhawks down 8-2. He made 18 saves the rest of the way and sparked a Baltimore comeback, earning Bud Light Game MVP honors. As a result, player-coach Gary Gait will give the starting nod to Scherr for the weekend series. Gait has constantly juggled the lineup this season, using 32 different players—six more than any other team—but he found what he was looking for this past weekend. "We finally began to jell after the first quarter," said Gait.

This newfound chemistry will be put to the test with a pair of games against their arch-rivals in little more than 24 hours. The Bayhawks have split six all-time regular season games with the Lizards, but they're 1-2 against Long Island in the post-season. A sweep this weekend—which constitutes the entire season series—would not be unprecedented in this rivalry. In 2001, Baltimore won both regular season meetings, and then Long Island turned the trick in 2002. Oddly enough, though, a season series sweep is not a harbinger of post-season success. In both instances, the squad that was swept came back to win the MLL title: the Lizards in 2001, followed by the Bayhawks in 2002. Nevertheless, Gait knows there's very little either coach has to do to inspire his team. "We won't need to do a lot of motivating for this one," he said. "Guys are very excited to get after it."

Philadelphia Barrage (3-5) at Boston Cannons (7-1), July 22 at 7:30 p.m.

When the Barrage lost their first three games of the season, the post-season was the last thing on their minds. But after going 3-2 in their last five games, a win this weekend could put them in position to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Last week they knocked off the defending champion Lizards, 18-17, when B.J. Prager completed a hat trick by netting the game-winner with 1:24 remaining. Keith Cromwell's six-point performance (3G, 3A) earned him Bud Light Game MVP honors for the second time in three weeks. Ryan Boyle also registered one goal and five assists for the third straight game, earning the Cascade Rookie of the Week award for the third time in four weeks. Despite playing in only half as many games as most other players, Boyle has already climbed to fourth in the MLL with 17 assists. Blake Miller added four points (3G, 1A) for his sixth hat trick of the season, tying him with Rochester's Casey Powell for the league lead in that category.

For the second time in three weeks, the Barrage will visit the team with the best record in the MLL. The Cannons won the last meeting, 20-18, but Philadelphia will be hoping to turn the tables with another stellar performance from Boyle. He may have to outshine Cannons attackman Conor Gill, who blazed the trail Boyle is following. Both Boyle and Gill are known for their ability to take control of the offense and create scoring opportunities, leading to gaudy assist totals. Gill is averaging 6.25 points per game this season, while Boyle averages 5.75, but Boyle's career is off to a hotter start. In his first four games, Boyle already has 23 points, while Gill had just three points in the first four games of his 2002 season, in which he earned Cascade Rookie of the Year honors. Repeat performances from Miller and Cromwell would also go far for the Barrage. In the Week Seven loss to Boston, Miller lit up the Cannons defense for six goals and seven points, and Cromwell chipped in with a hat trick and two assists.

The Cannons are off to their hottest start ever and are two wins short of the MLL's best-ever start, set by Long Island in 2002. But it took a remarkable performance from goalie Kevin O'Brien, just two games removed from the bench, to get Boston's seventh win. O'Brien tied a week-old MLL record by making 33 saves in the Cannons' 18-17 overtime win over Rochester last week, including a stunning stop on sniper Casey Powell in the closing minute. His performance may have been spurred by Boston's acquisition of all-star goalie Trevor Tierney, who was picked up just days earlier from the Pride. Mike Battista's goal 2:20 into overtime, his first point of the night, gave the Cannons the victory and clinched the MLL's first post-season birth for 2004. Michael Watson scored six goals and added an assist to earn MLL Offensive Player of the Week honors. He received the same award following his five-goal, one-assist performance against the Barrage in Week Seven, becoming the only player this season to receive a Player of the Week award in consecutive weeks.

A win against the Barrage on Thursday will give Boston four straight victories, tying a franchise record they also matched earlier this year. Recent history bodes well for the Cannons, who are currently riding a four-game win streak over their American Division foes that dates back to 2002. In the Week Seven victory over Philly, Gill netted a hat trick and three assists, a career day for many players but simply a routine outing this season for the MVP candidate. Gill has hat tricks in three straight games and has yet to tally less than five points in a single game in 2004. With 21 goals and a league-best 29 assists, Gill remains on pace to break the MLL records for points (70) and assists (40) in a season.

New Jersey Pride (1-7) at Rochester Rattlers (4-4), July 24 at 6:00 p.m.

The Pride are hoping to play the spoiler in the crowded race for the playoffs, while also trying to avoid a dubious achievement of their own. This weekend's match-up in Rochester is an important one for the Rattlers, but an eighth straight loss by the Pride would tie the Barrage's record for the longest losing streak in MLL history. In Week Eight, the Pride got out to an 8-2 lead before wilting in the Sprague Field heat and falling to the Bayhawks, 16-14. There were some promising performances in the game, though. Rookie Walid Hajj had the best game of his young career with four goals and an assist. After goalie Trevor Tierney was sent to Boston in a deadline deal last week, Scott Schroeder became only the third goalie in Pride history to start between the pipes. He responded by tying the New Jersey record for saves in a game with 26.

The Pride will be visiting Rochester for the second time this season. In Week Five, New Jersey fell to the Rattlers, 17-11, in Rochester goalie Tillman Johnson's record-setting 31-save performance. Pride opponents seem to have discovered that the key to holding off New Jersey is neutralizing Jesse Hubbard, who still leads the MLL in goals despite being held to just one tally against Baltimore. The Pride hope to get some production from Liam Banks, whom they claimed this week off waivers. Banks began the season with a bang, picking up an MLL season-high six assists for the Barrage in their season opener against New Jersey. But Philadelphia's acquisition of Ryan Boyle made Banks expendable, so the Syracuse grad hasn't even dressed for a game since Week Four.

Rochester was riding high, winners three of their last four games, before losing in overtime to Boston last week. Casey Powell had a chance to steal a victory with 20 seconds remaining in the contest, but he was stonewalled in close by Cannons netminder Kevin O'Brien, sending the game into overtime. The match-up of division leaders turned into a chippy affair that featured 27 penalties and two ejections. Casey Powell was Rochester's leading scorer with six points on a hat trick, including a two-pointer, and two assists. Josh Coffman (3G, 1A), Sean Lindsey (3G, 1A) and Ryan Powell (1G, 3A) each had four points.

The loss put Rochester one-half game behind Baltimore for first place in the National Division. The Long Island-Baltimore home-and-home series will have a big impact on the Rattlers' standing, but they must take care of business against the Pride, with whom Rochester has two games left to play. Down the stretch, the Rattlers will depend on the Powell brothers, who continue to rank among the league's statistical leaders. Ryan Powell is second in the MLL in points (41), two places ahead of Casey (36). As important as the Powell tandem is to the Rochester offense, though, rookie goalie Tillman Johnson is equally as important to their defense. He had 31 saves the first time Rochester faced New Jersey and continues to make a strong case for Cascade Rookie of the Year. Leading the Rattlers on a stretch run toward the playoffs would certainly strengthen Johnson's argument.

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, Friday, August 20 and Sunday, August 22 at Nickerson Field in Boston, Mass. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.

Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 22, 2004

• Records fall as Barrage Defeat Boston, 29-20 - Philadelphia Barrage
• High Scoring, Fast Moving, Hard-Hitting Action Adds Playoff Tension - MLL

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