Powell named MLL Offensive Player of the Week
June 12, 2006 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
San Francisco Dragons News Release
San Francisco, CA - In Saturday's thrilling 20-25 victory over the Denver Outlaws (3-1), many of the San Francisco Dragons (2-1) players posted some substantial numbers. However, one player stood out in a game that saw 45 points scored, and today, he was honored by Major League Lacrosse.
Dragons Attackman Ryan Powell, the game's MVP, had an astonishing 9 goals and 3 assists for a total of 12 points and was named MLL Week 4 Offensive Player of the Week. The 9 goals (a hat trick three times over) tied him with three others (Tim Goettelmann, Kevin Leveille and Mark Millon) for the most goals in a single game in MLL history. The 12 points were good enough to tie Millon for second-most points scored in an individual game. The first time these two teams met, Powell did not dress because of prior professional commitments, and one can only speculate how the first meeting would have been different had he played. What is not left up to speculation, however, is how Powell's presence in the Dragons lineup affected Saturday's meeting.
The award, announced today by MLL, marks the first time in the short history of the Dragons franchise that a player has been named Player of the Week. Dragons GM Doug Locker on Powell's historic performance; "Ryan was simply unstoppable - a great effort. Big time players step up in big time situations and Ryan certainly did that for the team on Saturday night."
A big time situation is a fitting way to describe Saturday's game against the Outlaws. In their previous meeting, Denver beat San Francisco 15-11, but it was the only win of Denver's this season (or for that matter in franchise history) that was not a blow-out. In Week 1, the Outlaws beat the Chicago Machine 24-14, and in Week 3 slammed the Baltimore Bayhawks with the same score of 24-14. Coming into the contest, Denver was undefeated.
New to the San Francisco roster since the first Dragons/Outlaws showdown was recently drafted Joe Yevoli, who behind Powell, was a strong contributor to the Dragons offense. The rookie out of Syracuse tallied 3 goals and 2 assists, for 5 points total, while Australian Peter Inge added a hat-trick and an assist for 4 points total. Midfielder Chris Rotelli also contributed a hat trick to the 25 point total, and midfielder Tom Zummo had 2 goals and one assist. One of the two goals was a two-pointer; the first in Dragons history, giving Zummo 4 points total.
Dragons Goalie Alex Cade played the entire game in the net, garnering 18 saves, while Outlaws Goalie Trevor Tierny also played the entire 60 minutes of the game, netting 15 saves. Denver's high scorer was Attackman Matt Brown, who scored 5 times, one of the goals a 2-pointer.
The Dragons will face the Outlaws one more time this season, June 24th at Denver.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 12, 2006
- Powell named MLL Offensive Player of the Week - San Francisco Dragons
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