Jax Crush Rush, 14-8

February 17, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


PORTLAND, February 17, 2008 - Portland LumberJax forward Dan Dawson took center stage in front of the city of Portland on Sunday afternoon. In front of 6,793 energized fans, Dawson scored three goals, added six assists and became the 30th player in National Lacrosse League history to score 200 career goals en route to a 14-8 Jax (2-5) thrashing of the Edmonton Rush (0-5). The 14 goals were a season-high for Portland and the eight goals allowed were a season best.

The only thing Dawson didn't do was completely shut down the Rush on the defensive end. Instead, he left that to his goalie Matt King, who completely stonewalled Edmonton as he stopped 32 of the 40 shots he faced. Even defenseman Pat Jones dominated, winning 20 of 26 face-offs.

It was the first home win of the season for Portland, which began a three game homestand in good fashion.

Forward Ryan Powell (3 goals, 1 assist) kicked things off as he took a pass from Dawson and Spencer Martin (1 goal, 5 assists) and beat Rush goalie Matt Disher with 9:43 left in the first quarter. After an Edmonton goal, Portland scored the final two goals of the period. Martin hit a running shot with 1:46 left and then Dawson scored with 28.7 seconds left to give the Jax a 3-1 advantage after one quarter of play.

The Jax kept the momentum into the second as rookie forward Peter Jacobs took a pass from Powell and beat the shot clock on the power play to extend the lead to 4-1 with 12:25 left in the second quarter. Defenseman Brodie Merrill (3 goals, 1 assist) got into the act with 11:23 left in the half when he buried a shot past Disher to extend the lead to 5-1 in favor of the home team.

The Jax scoring run continued as Merrill scored on a one-on-one breakaway with 5:32 left in the half to extend the lead to 6-1. Palidwor was then summoned to try and stop the Portland scoring onslaught, but it was to no avail as Powell responded with his second goal of the game with 5:32 to play. Defenseman Mike Kilby and Martin assisted on the goal.

Edmonton finally put an end to the 6-0 run as A.J. Shannon scored with 3:07 in the half to make it 7-2.

The Rush continued their scoring run, scoring the first two goals of the third quarter before Portland returned with Dawson's second goal of the game with 5:47 left in the third quarter to make it 8-4. Powell completed the hat trick with 47 seconds left in the third to make it 9-4. 31 second later, forward Derek Malawsky (1 goal, 1 assist) beat an outstretched Palidwor to make it 10-4 heading into the fourth quarter.

After Edmonton scored the first two goals of the quarter, forward Scott Stewart (1 goal, 2 assists) beat Palidwor one-on-one with 8:24 to play to make it 11-6.

Next, Dawson scored his third and 200th career goal, beating Palidwor off passes from Stewart and defenseman Ray Guze (1 goal, 1 assist) with 4:28 to play to make it 12-6.

Before it was all said and done, Edmonton would score another two goals and the Jax would add goals from Merrill and Guze with 3:30 and 14 seconds to play, respectfully, to make it 14-8.

Notes: Portland is now 6-1 all-time vs. Edmonton...The Jax hold a +21 goal scoring margin over the Rush, the largest total of any opponent Portland has ever faced...Powell has scored in all 34 career regular season games with Portland...Powell has also tallied an assist in 33 straight regular season games...P. Morgan has scored in all 37 career regular season games he's appeared in with Portland...King is 3-0 vs. the Rush with the Jax...Dawson's nine points tied P. Morgan for a franchise-high.



National Lacrosse League Stories from February 17, 2008


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