Pride Head West for Showdown with Dragons
Published on June 30, 2006 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
New Jersey Pride News Release
SAN FRANCISCO - The travel arrangements will be different, the venue new and the opponent and expansion team, but the goal for the Pride this weekend remain the same: perform well for four quarters and earn a win.
New Jersey gets on a plane for the first and only time this season and travel to San Francisco for a matchup with the expansion Dragons on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT, looking for their fourth win of the season in seven games.
"We need to play a bit more consistently, and if we do that, we will be a good team,'' said Pride head coach Peter Jacobs. "Offensively, we need to put the ball in the back of the net.''
The Pride played perhaps their best defensive game of the season against Rochester last week, allowing only four second half goals, but could not come away with the win thanks in part to their offense only scoring four goals in that span as well.
Combine that with injuries to face off men Andy Corno and Joe Ghedina and the Pride had to fight hard to get the ball.
"We kind of got used to getting the ball on what seemed like every draw,'' Jacobs said. "Andy got in such a rhythm there early in the season that we took that for granted. We had to earn it a little bit more out there, but we're scrappy and we're going to fight for every ground ball and on every possession.''
The team will try to avoid what has been a spotty past against anything that has to do with the west coast. The Pride are 0-2 in games played in a time zone other than Eastern, losing twice to Baltimore in games played in 2004 and 2005 as a part of the MLL's Wild West Tour. New Jersey has also lost at home to the expansion Denver Outlaws in the only matchup between the Pride and any of the 2006 expansion teams.
"Our record going out west isn't very good,'' said Pride General Manager Trey Reeder. "But it's not like these are skeletons in our closet that affect the way we are going to come out and play this game.''
The contest will be played at Kezar Stadium, the former home of the San Francisco 49ers which was remodeled and now seats a capacity near 10,000.
The Pride will have to stop former Rattler Ryan Powell, who earlier this season tied the MLL single-game record for goals in a game with nine in a win, as well as deal with rookies Joe Yevoli (attack) and Stephen McElduff (defense).
"They have a good core of young talent,'' Reeder said of the Dragons. "They are a good team. We'll have to play well this week if we want to win.''
The Pride will be led by A.J. Haugen, who had his best game as a member of the Pride last week when he scored four goals. Adam Doneger also had his fifth straight hat trick last week.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 30, 2006
- Pride Head West for Showdown with Dragons - New Jersey Pride
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.
