MLL weekly

Published on July 25, 2005 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release

MLL Offensive Player of the Week

Casey Powell, Midfield, Rochester Rattlers, 6-1, 195, Syracuse (1998)

Powell scored a game-high five goals and added three assists as the Rattlers won for the third time in four games with an exciting 15- 14 victory over Long Island on Saturday night ... The win was Rochester's first at home this season ... Powell scored two of the five goals during a 3-0 run to start the third quarter, while brother Ryan scored the other tally in the spurt ... The former Syracuse attackman leads the Rattlers with 18 goals and 19 assists ... His 37 points tie him with Boston A Kevin Leveille for sixth in the league ... Powell has been named Offensive Player of the Week four times in his five-year MLL career.

MLL Defensive Player of the Week

Chris Passavia, Defense, Boston Cannons, 6-1, 210, Maryland (2004)

Passavia held Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle without a point for the first time in his MLL career in helping the Cannons take the season series from their American Division rival with an 11-10 win on Saturday night ... The pointless outing marks the first time Boyle has been held without a point in either his college or professional career ... Passavia earned his second Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season with his effort against Boyle.

Cascade MLL Rookie of the Week

Jarett Park, Midfield, Boston Cannons, 6-1, 200, Syracuse (2000)

Park scored his first professional goal during the third quarter of Boston's 11-10 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday night ... He becomes the 16th different player to score a goal this season for the Cannons ... Park was selected with the Cannons' third-round selection in the June 1 Collegiate Draft after completing a stellar career with the Orange ... This is Park's first Rookie of the Week honor this season.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

LIZARDS CAN RETURN TO CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND WITH WIN: With a win against the Philadelphia Barrage on Thursday night, the Long Island Lizards can return to New Balance MLL Championship Weekend after missing the playoffs last season ... Long Island would secure the third seed in the playoffs, which are scheduled for August 19-21 at Boston University's Nickerson Field ... Meanwhile, Baltimore can clinch the top seed in the playoffs with a win over Boston this Sunday afternoon, while the Cannons can clinch the American Division title with a win or a Long Island loss ... Rochester and Philadelphia are unable to clinch playoff spots this weekend, but can eliminate New Jersey from the playoffs with a win and a New Jersey loss.

LAST WEEK'S GAME RECAPS

JULY 23 - @ BOSTON 11, PHILADELPHIA 10: Boston GK Chris Garrity made 17 saves, including seven in the fourth quarter, to lead the Cannons to an 11-10 victory over the defending MLL champion Philadelphia Barrage at Nickerson Field on Saturday evening ... Garrity, who allowed 10 goals or fewer for the third time this season, was named the Bud Light MVP for the second time this season ... With the win, the Cannons were able to win the season series against Philadelphia for the first time in two years ... Boston A Mark Millon recorded the 40th hat trick of his MLL career with a three-goal, two-assist effort against the Barrage ... In three games this season against Philadelphia, Millon has scored nine goals with six assists, including a four-goal, four-assist effort in the season opener ... The league's all-time leading scorer, Millon is just 13 points shy of reaching 300 for his MLL career and just five goals away from becoming the first player to reach 200 career goals ... A Kevin Leveille scored the game-winning goal with 2:26 remaining in regulation, snapping a 10-10 tie ... It was his only goal of the game ... Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle was held without a point for the first time in his MLL career, snapping a 16-game streak ... In fact, Boyle had never been held without a point in his four-year Princeton career or his brief two-year MLL career ... Rookie M Jarett Park scored his first professional goal in the Cannons' victory ... He scored off a Conor Gill assist wth 3:57 remaining in the third quarter to give Boston an 8-6 advantage ... Philadelphia GK Brian Dougherty made 19 saves in a losing effort for the Barrage, while M Doug Shanahan won 14 of 24 face-offs ... A Michael Springer was held without a point for the second time this year ... The win was just the second for the Cannons in the last five meetings against the Barrage.

JULY 23 - @ BALTIMORE 20, NEW JERSEY 10: Baltimore A Mikey Powell scored four goals and added two assists as the National Division champion Bayhawks extended their win streak to nine straight games with a 20-10 victory over the New Jersey Pride at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday evening ... The win was Baltimore's 11th straight regular season victory, dating back to last season ... The Bayhawks' last regular season loss came against the Barrage on July 31 of last season in a 17-13 loss at Unitas Stadium ... The victory also extended the Bayhawks' streak over the Pride to 11 straight regular season games and 12 games overall ... New Jersey's last win in the series came on June 29, 2002 in a 22-17 victory at Commerce Bank Ballpark ... Powell was one of three Bayhawks to record a hat trick, joining A Gary Gait and M Jeff Sonke ... Gait has scored a goal in 37 straight games after the three-goal, twoassist performance ... Baltimore A Tom Marechek scored two goals to become the seventh player in MLL history to score 200 career points and the fifth player this season to reach the mark ... New Jersey A Scott Urick led the Pride in the loss with a three-goal effort, while M Adam Doneger scored two goals, including a two-pointer ... Baltimore M Mark Frye recorded his league-leading ninth two-point goal of the season in the win for Baltimore, which has scored a league-best 15 two-point goals in nine games this season ... New Jersey GK Jay Pfeifer made the start for the Pride, but suffered a broken thumb midway through the first quarter and was lost for the rest of the game ... GK Scott Schroeder finished the game and allowed 17 goals while making 13 saves ... The Bayhawks improve to 5-0 this season at home and have won six straight games at home ... Baltimore has also won six straight National Division games.

JULY 23 - @ ROCHESTER 15, LONG ISLAND 14: Rochester A Andrew "Buggs" Combs scored the game-winning goal with just 20 seconds remaining to lead the Rattlers to their third win in the last four games with an exciting 15-14 victory over the Long Island Lizards at Bishop Kearney Field on Saturday evening ... The win was Rochester's first at home this season against three losses ... Combs, who has scored 17 goals this season, took a feed from M Sean Lindsay and tallied his fourth goal of the game to give the Rattlers their second straight win ... Combs was named the Bud Light MVP for the second straight game ... Rochester A Casey Powell scored five goals with three assists, recording his 150th career goal in the win for the Rattlers, while M Ryan Powell scored three goals in his return from a sprained ankle ... Casey also added three assists for a season-high eight points ... Long Island A Tim Goettelmann led the Lizards in the loss with a four-goal, two-assist effort ... M Blake Miller scored three goals with an assist for the Lizards as well ... Lizard D Nicky Polanco scored his first goal of the season at the end of the second quarter off a Goettelmann assist ... There were eight ties and four lead changes in the game, including four ties in the final 12 minutes of the game ... Rochester GK Tillman Johnson recorded his third 20-save performance of the season in earning the win for the Rattlers, while Long Island GK Greg Cattrano made 15 saves in the loss ... The win was just the second victory for the Rattlers in 10 all-time meetings against the Lizards.

MLL NEWS AND NOTES

CAN'T SWAT THAT BUG: During the last two games, Rochester A Andrew "Buggs" Combs has been a menace to opponents, scoring ten goals with an assist ... Entering the 2005 season, he had just one career goal ... This season, he has scored 17 goals in just five games ... Against Philadelphia, he scored a career-high six goals on seven shots in leading the Rattlers to a 14-10 win over the defending league champs ... Last week, he scored four goals, including the game-winner with 20 seconds left, to go with an assist ... The former Baltimore Bayhawk ranks fourth on the team with 20 points.

CAN WE TURN THIS AROUND?: Last year, the Philadelphia Barrage turned a 2-5 start into the MLL Championship by winning their final seven games, including both postseason games ... This season, Rochester started the season with a five-game losing streak, but have rebounded with three wins in the last four games ... With a 3-6 record, the Rattlers are still in the playoff spot and are in a tie with the Philadelphia Barrage for the fourth and final berth.

WHERE IS BOYLE?: Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle was held without a point for the first time in his brief two-year MLL career in the Barrage's 11-10 loss to Boston on Saturday evening ... In fact, he had not been held scoreless in a game during his four-year Princeton career which he ended last year ranked second on the school's career assists and points lists ... The reigning Cascade Rookie of the Year, Boyle ranks fourth in the league in points with 39 despite being shut out ... Boston D Chris Passavia was assigned to cover Boyle during much of the game.

CAN WE STAY LONGER? I DON'T WANNA GO HOME: The Philadelphia Barrage have earned all three of their wins this season on the road ... However, the Barrage are 0-3 this season at Villanova Stadium after a 14-10 loss to Rochester on Thursday night ... Philadelphia just finished a five-game road trip with a 3-2 record, including back-to-back wins against Boston and Rochester.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO HOME: For the second weekend this season, all three teams won home games ... The other time this season in which the home team went 3-0 came on June 25 and 26 when Boston defeated New Jersey by 19-14, Baltimore handed Rochester a 22-13 loss and Long Island picked up an 18-12 win over the Barrage ... Home teams this season have a combined record of 12-15 (.444) in the first 27 games of the schedule.

DO YOU WANT TO GO OUTSIDE?: The Philadelphia Barrage have scored just one two-point goal in nine games this season ... M Doug Shanahan scored the Barrage's lone two-point goal in their win over Rochester on July 9 at Bishop Kearney Field ... Baltimore leads the league in two-point goals scored with 15 in nine games ... The Barrage have allowed seven two-point goals this season, which is the most allowed by a team in the league this season.

MARECHEK JOINS THE PARTY: A week after being held without a goal, Baltimore A Tom Marechek became the seventh player in MLL history to reach 200 career points with a two-goal effort against New Jersey on Saturday night ... Marechek, who has spent his entire five-year career with the Bayhawks, has scored 141 goals with 59 assists during his tenure at Baltimore ... He becomes the fourth player this season to reach the milestone, joining current Baltimore teammate Gary Gait, Boston A Conor Gill, and Rochester A/M Ryan Powell ... Boston A Mark Millon is the career leader with 287 points in five seasons.

NOT TOO MUCH LONGER FOR YOU: Long Island M Jay Jalbert is just one point shy of joining Baltimore A Tom Marechek as the latest members of the 200-point club ... After scoring a goal with an assist in Long Island's 15-14 loss to Rochester on Saturday night, Jalbert now has 199 career points ... The 2003 MLL MVP has scored 14 goals, including a two-pointer, and 11 assists this season in nine games for the Lizards.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Two of the three games last weekend were decided by a single point ... Boston rallied to take an 11-10 victory over Philadelphia at Nickerson Field, while Rochester earned a hard-fought, 15-14 win over Long Island at Bishop Kearney Field ... All three of the Cannons' games with the Barrage this season were decided by one point ... Overall, there have been a total of six one-goal games this season in the first 10 weeks.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, PART TWO: With their 11-10 win over Philadelphia on Saturday night, the Boston Cannons played in their 24th one-goal game in team history ... The Cannons are 13-11 all-time in one-goal games, including a perfect 3-0 record this year ... Boston's lone one-goal game in postseason play came during the 2001 season when Baltimore defeated the Cannons by a 12-11 margin.

INTER-DIVISION SUCCESS: The Boston Cannons have won four of their five meetings with National Division opponents this season with only loss coming against the Bayhawks two weeks ago ... Boston swept the season series with Rochester and New Jersey ... Boston's final National Division match-up comes against Baltimore this weekend at Unitas Stadium.

MAYBE I SHOULD SIT THIS ONE OUT: In the Rochester Rattlers' three wins this season, Rattler A John Grant, Jr. has scored just three goals with four assists ... On the season, Grant has scored 13 goals, including a pair of two-point goals, to go with 13 assists ... Grant made a return to Major League Lacrosse after sitting out the previous three seasons while staying in his native Canada to play box lacrosse.

OVER THE HILL: Boston A Mark Millon recorded the 40th hat trick of his MLL career in the Cannons' 11-10 win over Philadelphia on Saturday night ... Millon is the league's career leader in hat tricks while New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard stands in second place with 38 career three-plus goal games.

GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, OLD FRIEND: New Jersey A Josh Coffman will get to play against his old Rochester teammates this weekend when the Rattlers and the Pride square off ... Coffman played in six games for Rochester before being placed on waivers on July 12 ... He scored four goals during those six games ... Coffman registered an assist for New Jersey in the Pride's 20-10 loss to Baltimore ... It was his first appearance in a New Jersey uniform.

OUCH! THAT SMARTS: New Jersey GK Jay Pfeifer dislocated his thumb during the Pride's 20-10 loss to Baltimore on Saturday night ... He allowed just one goal and made two saves during the first quarter before he suffered the injury ... Pfeifer did not return to the game and is doubtful for this week's game against Rochester ... GK Scott Schroeder finished the game and allowed 17 goals while making 13 saves ... Pfeifer played in four games this season and stopped 43.5 per cent of the shots he faced while allowing 18.1 goals per game.

INCHING AWAY: Rochester A Casey Powell continues to have a hold of the lead on the MLL all-time assists list with 127 career helpers ... Meanwhile, Boston A Conor Gill is five away with 122 after a one-goal, two-assist performance on Saturday night against Philadelphia ... Gill has recorded 106 assists in the last three seasons, including a league-record 40 assists in each of the last two seasons ... Gill is the league leader with 26 assists this season.

WHAT A RETURN: Since missing three straight games during the middle of the season, Rochester A Casey Powell has returned looking like a player on a mission ... In the last five games, the former Syracuse star has scored 13 goals with 18 assists, leading the Rattlers to a 3-2 record ... Powell leads the team with 18 goals and 19 assists.

HOW ABOUT A PLANE ON THIS TRIP?: Two of Rochester's three wins this season have come by means of flying ... The Rattlers took a plane to their trips to Philadelphia two weeks ago in addition to their June 30 win against New Jersey ... Rochester is 0- 3 when travelling this season by bus ... Rochester's travel plans for this week's game against New Jersey is via bus.

NOT YOU AGAIN: Rochester GK Tillman Johnson has had some success against the New Jersey Pride in his young MLL career, winning all four meetings against the National Division rival ... In the Rattlers' 17-11 win on June 18 of last season, Johnson made a career-high and a then-league record 31 saves ... Johnson has stopped 68.4 per cent of the shots he has faced against the Pride while allowing 10.8 goals per game ... Johnson allowed a season-low eight goals against the Pride in the Rattlers' 18-8 win on June 30.

HOW ABOUT SOME HELP?: The Philadelphia Barrage had an assist credited on just one of their 10 goals in the 11-10 loss to Boston on Saturday night ... For the season the Barrage have had 60 assists in nine games, an average of 6.67 per contest ... Baltimore is leading the league in assists with 102 in nine games, averaging 11.33 assists per game ... New Jersey has the fewest assists in the league with just 48 this season, an average of 5.33 per game.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: For the first time this season, the Bayhawks allowed the first goal of the game in their win over New Jersey on Saturday night ... Rookie M Kyle Harrison scored to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead with 13:07 left in the first quarter ... Baltimore had scored the first goal in each of its first eight games this season.

WHAT AN ATTACK: The Baltimore attack trio of Gary Gait, Tom Marechek and Mikey Powell have combined for 81 goals and 46 assists this season, which is more than any other starting attack unit in the league ... Gait and Marechek hold the top two spots in the league in points and goals while Powell ranks eighth in points (36), seventh in goals (22) and fifth in assists (14) ... The trio scored nine goals with four assists in Baltimore's 20-10 win over New Jersey on Saturday night.

GET THAT BALL FOR THE MANTLE: Boston rookie M Jarett Park and Baltimore D Casey Connor each scored their first career goals in their team's respective wins over the weekend ... Making his professional debut, Park scored his first MLL goal in the third quarter of the Cannons' 11-10 win over Philadelphia ... Meanwhile, Connor returned from an injury to score his first career goal in Baltimore's 20-10 win over New Jersey ... It was his first MLL goal in 37 career games between Rochester and the Bayhawks ... Connor has played for the Bayhawks in each of the last three seasons.

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, RIPKEN: Three players in MLL history have played in all of their team's regular season games since the inception of the league five years ago and two of those players are playing against each other this weekend when Philadelphia takes on Boston ... Boston D Ryan Curtis and New Jersey A Scott Urick have played in every game for their respective teams, while Philadelphia D Brian Kuczma spent three seasons in a Cannons uniform before going to Philadelphia prior to last season.

GETTING CLOSER TO 300: Boston A Mark Millon is getting closer to becoming the first player in MLL history to record 300 career points ... Millon is now just 13 points shy of reaching the milestone ... In addition, Millon is just five goals away from becoming the first player in MLL history to reach 200 career goals ... During the 2002 season, Millon was the first player to reach 100 career points ... Millon is in his first season with Boston after playing for Baltimore during the last four years ... He is a two-time Warrior Offensive Player of the Year award winner, winning the award during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

TURF TROLL AT IT AGAIN: Baltimore M Paul Cantabene has returned to his face-off form of a year ago as he currently stands as the league leader in ground balls, face-off wins and face-off percentage ... Cantabene has won 160 of 267 draws he has taken, winning 59.9 per cent ... Meanwhile, he has also recorded 75 ground balls in nine games, including a league-high 15 loose balls against Long Island in Week Seven ... Last season, Cantabene set the single-season league record for face-off wins and ground balls with 238 and 156, respectively ... Cantabene holds the career lead in ground balls (491), face-off wins (910) and face-off win percentage (.551) ... Cantabene missed most of the Bayhawks' win over Boston with a cut over his left eye and a concussion.

MORE ON THE TURF TROLL: Baltimore M Paul Cantabene is reaching some career milestones that could be obtained this season ... The former Loyola Greyhound is just nine ground balls away from 500 for his career, while he is 90 face-off wins away from 1,000 for his career ... Entering this week, Cantabene has a career face-off percentage of .551, which is first on the all-time list.

MR. CONSISTENCY: For the last 37 games, the Baltimore Bayhawks have been able to count on one player to score at least once - A and Player-Coach Gary Gait ... The 1991 Syracuse graduate has scored in every game since July 18, 2002 against the New Jersey Pride ... He is just under a season away from reaching the league mark of 46 straight games with a goal, set by New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard ... Gait's former teammate, Boston A Mark Millon, is also approaching Hubbard's mark ... He has scored a goal in 33 straight games, dating back to the beginning of the 2003 season ... He ranks third on Baltimore's all-time list for games with a consecutive goal behind Gait and A Tom Marechek ... New Jersey A Scott Urick was held scoreless for the first time in 25 games against the Bayhawks on June 5 ... His streak ends as the sixth longest in MLL history ... The streaks do not include postseason games.

WE'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER: For the New Jersey Pride, their most difficult games have been against the Baltimore Bayhawks ... Baltimore has defeated their National Division rival 12 straight times, including wins in all three games this season ... The Bayhawks opened their season with a 21-12 win over New Jersey in Seattle on May 28 and continued their streak with a commanding 24-8 win the following week at Unitas Stadium ... New Jersey's last win in the series came on June 29, 2002 in a 22-17 decision at Commerce Bank Park ... Baltimore leads the all-time series by a 13-3 margin.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Long Island Lizards are in the midst of a five-game road trip and fell to 1-2 on the five-game swing after their 15-14 loss to Rochester on Saturday night ... Long Island plays at Philadelphia this week in the rematch of the 18- 12 win over the Barrage on June 25 at Mitchel Athletic Complex ... It is the Lizards' lone trip to Philadelphia this season.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: For the first time in MLL history, a team made a coaching change during the regular season ... New Jersey Coach Ted Georgalas and his assistant Frank Vitolo were relieved of their coaching duties and replaced with former Boston Cannons midfielder Brian Silcott prior to the Pride's 19-14 loss to Long Island two weeks ago... Georgalas had coached every game in the Pride's history prior to being fired ... He had a career record of 24-35 (.406), but had won just two of the team's last 18 games ... He was the last coach still in the league from the inaugural 2001 season ... Silcott has lost his first two games as the Pride's coach, including a 20- 10 defeat on Saturday night against Baltimore.

CAN WE PLAY ALL OF OUR GAMES IN MAY?: After splitting their two games in the month of May, the New Jersey Pride had a tough month of June, losing all four games during the month and dropping their record to 1-5 ... In fact, New Jersey has not won in the month of June since June 27, 2003 against the Boston Cannons in a 17-13 triumph, a stretch of eight games ... The last July win for the Pride came during the 2003 season as well when New Jersey handed Bridgeport a 22-14 defeat on July 31, 2003 ... New Jersey has lost 19 of its last 21 games over the last two seasons.

NEW BALANCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND MAKES RETURN TO BOSTON: For the second straight season, the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend returns to Boston University's Nickerson Field on August 19 and 21 ... Last year, over 15,000 fans came to home field of the Boston Cannons for three games, including an MLL-postseason record crowd of 8,273 for the title game between the Philadelphia Barrage and the Cannons ... The format for selecting the teams will remain the same for the 2005 season, as the two division champions and two teams with the next best records (regardless of division) advance to play for the league championship ... The championship game will air live on ESPN2 on Sunday, August 21 at 1:00 p.m. in the finale of the MLL Game of the Week package.

MLL RETURNS TO ESPN2 FOR 2005: For the third straight season, Major League Lacrosse returns to ESPN2 as the "Game of the Week" package features 12 exciting games during the season ... Games will air on Tuesday afternoons beginning at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise designated ... The Barrage take on the Cannons this week in the third and final game of their American Division series at Nickerson Field ... Each team will appear on the broadcast at least three times during the regular season ... The defending MLL champions will appear four times.

TEAM NEWS AND NOTES

BALTIMORE BAYHAWKS (9-0): Baltimore continues to win after their 20-10 victory over New Jersey on Saturday night ... The win extended several streaks for the Bayhawks ... They have won nine straight games this season, while winning their last 11 regular season games ... In addition, the Bayhawks have defeated the Pride 12 straight times, including 11 straight regular season meetings ... M Mark Frye scored his ninth two-point goal of the season in the win over New Jersey and is now two shy of tying the singleseason mark held by Boston M Mike Regan ... A Gary Gait took over the league lead for goals and points with a three-goal, two-assist performance against New Jersey ... Gait has scored 32 goals with 15 assists this season and has matched his single-season total of a year ago, which was the best in his MLL career ... His 47 points also match his total of a year ago ... A Mikey Powell scored four goals and added two assists in earning his first regular season Bud Light MVP award of his career ... He was named the Bud Light MVP in the All-Star Game on July 2 ... It is the third time he has scored four goals in a game this season, matching a career-high ... A Tom Marechek scored just two goals in the win over the Pride, but became the seventh player in MLL history to record 200 career points and the third player to reach the milestone in a Baltimore uniform ... A Mark Millon registered 249 points during his four-year tenure with Baltimore, while Gait accomplished the feat earlier this season ... Marechek ranks second on the Bayhawks' career list behind Millon in points ... D Casey Connor scored the first goal of his MLL career in the fourth quarter of the win over New Jersey ... Connor has recorded one assist in his five MLL seasons ... The Bayhawks can clinch the top seed in the New Balance MLL Championship Weekend with a win over Boston on Sunday night.

BOSTON CANNONS (7-2): The Cannons rebounded from their three-point loss to Baltimore with an exciting 11-10 win over Philadelphia on Saturday at Nickerson Field ... The victory snapped a two-game home losing streak and allowed the Cannons to win the season series over the Barrage for the first time since the 2003 season ... D Chris Passavia held Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle, the league's third-leading scorer, without a point for the first time in his brief MLL career, snapping a streak of 16 straight games with a point ... Boyle had never been held without a point in his college career either ... A Mark Millon scored three goals with two assists to record his 40th career hat trick ... He is the league's all-time points leader in addition to career hat tricks ... GK Chris Garrity was named the Bud Light MVP for the second time this season after making 17 saves while allowing just 10 goals in the win ... He also held Rochester to just 10 tallies during the June 4 win ... All three of the Cannons' games with the Barrage this season were decided by one point ... M Chris Fiore had his streak of consecutive games with a goal snapped at 20 straight after being held to no goals on five shots ... A Kevin Leveille made his only goal of the game the most important one, scoring the gamewinning goal with 2:26 left in the fourth quarter ... Rookie M Jarett Park scored his first career MLL goal in the third quarter of the win to give Boston an 8-6 advantage ... He was making his MLL debut ... The Cannons can clinch the American Division title with either a win or a Long Island loss ... It would be the second straight American Division title in Cannons history.

LONG ISLAND LIZARDS (4-5): Long Island missed its first chance to clinch a playoff spot with a 15-14 loss to Rochester on Saturday night ... A Tim Goettelmann scored four goals with two assists to lead the Lizards in the loss ... He extended his streak of consecutive games with a goal to 24 straight games ... Over the last five games, Goettelmann has scored 15 goals with six assists ... M Blake Miller scored three goals along with an assist to extend his streak of consecutive games with a goal to 23 straight ... M Jay Jalbert scored one goal with an assist to extend his streak of games with a point to 55 consecutive games, which is a league record ... However, the former league MVP is shooting just 20.0 percent this season ... The Lizards are 1-3 in their last four games ... The team is continuing to struggle at the face-off "X," winning just 41 per cent of the draws ... Rookie M Jack deVilliers won 14 of 30 face-offs in the loss to Rochester ... Long Island will get another chance to clinch the third playoff spot when they take on Philadelphia this Thursday night ... The Lizards have won both prior meetings with the Barrage this season.

NEW JERSEY PRIDE (1-8): The Pride lost their eighth straight game with a 20-10 loss to Baltimore on Saturday night ... The loss was the 19th in the last 21 games for the Pride, who have not won in 66 days ... A Scott Urick led the Pride in the loss to Baltimore with three goals, while M Adam Doneger scored twice, including a two-pointer ... A Josh Coffman made his New Jersey debut after playing in six games with Rochester ... He was put on Rochester's practice squad that afternoon and claimed by the Pride within hours ... Coffman recorded his first assist of the season in the loss to the Bayhawks ... GK Jay Pfeifer made his fourth straight start in goal, but left during the first quarter with a dislocated thumb when making a save ... He is out indefinitely pending further evaluation ... GK Scott Schroeder played the remainder of the game and made 13 saves, while allowing 17 goals ... The Pride scored the first goal of the game on a goal from rookie M Kyle Harrison, marking the first time Baltimore has allowed an opening goal ... The Bayhawks responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 advantage and never trailed from there ... The Pride host the Rochester Rattlers this weekend in the ESPN2 Game of the Week ... It is the Pride's second appearance on the league TV schedule, while two of their three games against Baltimore were televised on WMAR-TV in Baltimore ... New Jersey is 0-3 in televised games this season.

PHILADELPHIA BARRAGE (3-6): The Barrage fell into a tie with Rochester for the fourth and final playoff spot after their 11-10 loss to Boston on Saturday night ... It was the second one-goal game the Barrage have been involved in this season ... However, the Barrage hold the tie breaker with Rochester as a result of their 26-15 win on June 16 at Rochester ... A Ryan Boyle was held without a point for the first time in his brief two-year MLL career ... Boyle had scored a point in every game during his four-year career at Princeton and had recorded a point in his first 16 MLL games before the shuout ... A Michael Springer was also held without a point in the loss to Boston ... M Matt Striebel led the Barrage offense with three goals in the loss on eight shots ... GK Brian Dougherty made 19 saves in the loss against Boston, marking the second time in three games he has stopped 19 shots ... The Barrage host Long Island on Thursday night, marking the third time this season they have played on Thursday night ... They are 0-2 so far in Thursday night games.

ROCHESTER RATTLERS (3-6): Rochester has won three of its last four games to improve to 3-6 and move into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot ... With their 15-14 victory over Long Island on Saturday, the Rattlers have their first winning streak of the season at two games ... The victory on Saturday night also was the first win at home this season in four attempts ... The 15- 14 win was also the first one-goal game the Rattlers have been involved in this season ... The Rattlers also won for the second straight time at Bishop Kearney Field over the Lizards ... Both of Rochester's wins in the all-time series have come at Bishop Kearney Field ... A Andrew "Buggs" Combs has exploded for 10 goals and an assist in two games ... He scored four goals, including the gamewinner with 20 seconds remaining, in the Rattlers' win over Long Island ... He was named the Bud Light MVP for the second straight game ... A Ryan Powell made his return to the team after suffering a sprained ankle two weeks ago and scored three goals in the win over Long Island ... A John Grant, Jr. scored a goal with two assists in making his first appearance of the season at midfield ... He has scored just three goals with four assists in Rochester's three wins this year ... D John Glatzel played in his 38th game as a Rattler, moving him into sixth place on the team's career games played list ... A Casey Powell scored his 150th career MLL goal in the win as part of his five-goal, three-assist effort ... He ranks third on the MLL career goals list ... M A.J. Shannon saw an end to his six-game points streak against the Lizards ... During the streak, Shannon scored 13 goals, including a pair of two-pointers, with eight assists ... The victory over the Lizards marked the first time Rochester has won this season when trailing at the half ... Rochester entered the game with an 0-4 mark when trailing after 30 minutes ... Rochester scored a season-high six goals in the fourth quarter ... Rochester ends its season with a road game against New Jersey on Thursday night followed by a pair of home games against New Jersey and Baltimore ... The Rattlers are still in the playoff hunt and can eliminate the Pride with a win and a Philadelphia win on Thursday night. 2005 Major League Lacrosse Weekly Release • July 25, 2005 www.majorleaguelacrosse.com

Major League Lacrosse Stories from July 25, 2005

• Rochester edges Long Island, 15-14 - New York Lizards
• MLL weekly - MLL

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.