Rattlers Battle Philadelphia Saturday In North Carolina
June 19, 2008 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Dallas Rattlers News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Rattlers travel to play the Philadelphia Barrage on Saturday, June 21st in Cary, NC. The 7: 30 p.m. contest will be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. The Rattlers will hold a Viewing Party at The Distillery (3010 Winton Road South). The game also will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com.
In the first meeting, the Rattlers blasted the Philadelphia Barrage 22-9 at PAETEC Park on May 31st. A win Saturday would give the Rattlers their first series sweep of the Barrage since 2003. Rochester is 4-5 against Philadelphia and has won the last two contests. However, the Rattlers were 8-0 against the Barrage before they moved to Philadelphia.
The Rattlers (3-2) enter the week in a four-way tie for first place in the Eastern Conference, despite dropping its second straight contest. Rochester suffered a 16-12 loss to the New Jersey Pride on June 14th. John Grant led the Rattlers with three goals and one assist, while Brett Bucktooth chipped in with a pair of goals and assists on the night. Goaltender Mike Levin took the loss with nine saves, 15 goals against, and only 51:27 minutes played, before being relieved by rookie goaltender Adam Fullerton early in the fourth quarter. Fullerton completed his professional debut with two saves and one goal against.
Grant leads the MLL in scoring with 20 goals and 28 points. Brodie Merrill also leads all league defensemen with seven points (3+4). Further, midfielder Alex Smith is tied for the MLL lead with 36 ground balls.
Philadelphia broke its two-game losing streak with a 12-11 overtime win over the Chicago Machine last Saturday. Roy Colsey forced overtime with five seconds to play and Seth Goldberg won it at 1:42 of OT. Goldberg finished the game with three goals and one assist.
Goldberg is tied for third in the MLL with 15 goals. Goalie Brian Dougherty is 3-2 this season and is the league's all-time leader in wins with 51. Kyle Sweeney is second in the league in scoring among defensemen with five points (3+2).
The Rattlers return home on Saturday, June 28th at 7:30 p.m. as they host the Los Angeles Riptide at PAETEC Park. The game is a rematch of the 2007 MLL Semifinals, which was won by LA 15-14 last August. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Brodie Merrill player card, courtesy of Bud Light. Fans can arrive early and enjoy the pregame party with live music from Shelflyfe. After the game, the Rattlers' official postgame party will be held at The Distillery at 1142 Mt. Hope Ave.
SNAKE BITES:
Grant top scorer in MLL: Rochester's John Grant has the most goals (92) in Major League Lacrosse in the past three seasons. Here is a breakdown of the Top 10:
1. John Grant (ROC) -- 92 goals
2. Kevin Leveille (CHI) -- 80 goals
3. Matt Brown (DEN) -- 79 goals
4. Brendan Mundorf (DEN) -- 70 goals
5. Seth Goldberg (PHI, ROC) -- 64 goals
6. Andrew Combs (WASH, ROC, LA) -- 62 goals
7. Roy Colsey (PHI) -- 61 goals
8. Scott Urick (NJ) -- 61 goals
9. Michael Watson (LA) -- 60 goals
Viewing Party: The Rattlers will hold a Viewing Party at The Distillery at 3010 Winton Road South on Saturday, June 21st. The festivities will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. Rattlers fans can meet members of the Venom Dance Team and sign up to win team merchandise and tickets.
Bad things come in threes: Rochester is in jeopardy of losing three straight games for the first time since July 8th to August of 2006. The Rattlers have lost two straight games after starting the season 3-0.
Rattlers get âlocal': The Rattlers drafted four players on May 28th with ties to Western and Central New York. The Rattlers started adding local players with the selection of defenseman Kyle Guadagnolo (Jordan, NY) from Syracuse University in the second round. The Rattlers then tabbed Orchard Park native and Duke University defenseman Nick O'Hara with the 22nd overall pick (third round). Rochester ended the draft with the picking of goalies Adam Fullerton (Liverpool, NY) from Army and Brett Queener (Penn Yan, NY) from Albany.
âGet shorty': Rochester leads the league in penalty-killing efficiency, holding opponents to four goals on 30 opportunities (87 percent). Rochester has also scored one short-handed goal this season.
Joe knows championships: Rattlers defenseman Joe Smith has now won back-to-back National Lacrosse League championships, following the Buffalo Bandits' victory over the Portland LumberJax on May 17th. Smith also won a Champion's Cup with the Rochester Knighthawks in 2007. Smith, however, was not in Buffalo for the title game because the Rattlers needed him on defense in their season opener.
Rattlers add another Orange: On May 28th, the Rattlers acquired midfielder Brett Bucktooth from the Boston Cannons for the eighth-overall pick in the 2008 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft. Bucktooth is in his third season of professional lacrosse. This season, he played in one game with Boston and posted a goal and one assist against Rochester last Friday. In 2007, the midfielder recorded 22 goals and seven assists. He joined the Cannons after being drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft. The Syracuse native played his college lacrosse at Syracuse University (2003-2006). He won a national championship in 2004 and was a Second Team All-American in 2006 and an Honorable Mention All-American in 2005. In 2008, he won his first National Lacrosse League championship with the Buffalo Bandits. Bucktooth also won a silver medal with the Iroquois Nationals at the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships.
From indoors to outdoors: The Rattlers have 11 players that spent the last five months playing indoors in the National Lacrosse League. The players that will now shift their talents to the outdoor game include Brett Bucktooth (Buffalo), Colin Doyle (San Jose), John Grant (Rochester), Jordan Hall (New York), Brodie Merrill (Portland), Casey Powell (New York), Gavin Prout (Colorado), Jack Reid (Rochester), Chris Schiller (Rochester), Joe Smith (Buffalo) and Jeff Zywicki (San Jose).
Oh, Canada! Rochester has the most Canadian-born players in the MLL. The Rattlers have five players that hail from Canada and, coincidently, all five were named to the 2006 World Field Lacrosse Championships. Doyle, Grant, Hall, Merrill and Zywicki all won gold for Canada.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 19, 2008
- Cannons win in slugfest - Boston Cannons
- Denver Outlaws Announce 4th of July Game Details - Denver Outlaws
- Chicago Machine Looking for "Mile High" Win Over Denver Outlaws - Chicago Machine
- Rattlers Battle Philadelphia Saturday In North Carolina - Dallas Rattlers
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