Rattlers Travel To Long Island For Season Opener
Published on May 15, 2008 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Dallas Rattlers News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Rattlers will open their 2008 Major League Lacrosse season with a road contest on Saturday, May 17th against the Long Island Lizards at 7:00 p.m. at Mitchel Field. The game is the first of two games against the Lizards. The game will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com.
The Rattlers Rowdies will hold a Viewing Party at Nathaniel's Pub (251 Exchange Blvd.) to watch the Rattlers battle the Long Island Lizards. The contest, from Mitchel Field, will be televised locally live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Channel 26). At the Viewing Party, fans can meet members of the Venom Dance Team and win prizes throughout the evening.
Rochester has a career record of 5-9 against the Lizards. Last season, the Rattlers swept the two-game series, winning 13-7 on July 5th and 17-10 on July 14th. The win on July 5th ended a six-game losing streak on Long Island for the Rattlers.
Long Island (5-7) finished the '07 season in a three-way tie for third place in the Eastern Conference. The Lizards concluded last season with a victory over New Jersey to end a four-game losing streak. Tim Goettelmann led Long Island with 38 points (28+10). Goalie Nick Murtha, despite going 4-6, was fourth in the MLL with a 12.74 goals-against average. The Lizards are trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
The Rattlers (9-3) finished the 2007 season with a trip to the MLL Semifinals, but dropped a 15-14 decision to the LA Riptide. During the regular season, the Rattlers finished second in the Eastern Conference and set a franchise record with nine wins.
John Grant led the Rattlers en route to 2007 league MVP and scoring champion honors. The league's Offensive Player of the Year set a franchise record with 44 goals and established a league record with 71 points. Jeff Zywicki also finished tied for fourth in goals (31) and points (48). Joe Walters was tied for sixth in goals (29) and 10th in points (41). The trio made Rochester the highest scoring team in the league with a franchise-record 208 goals.
The team also set a MLL record with 129 assists. Further, the Rattlers also broke the league record with 34 power-play goals. Defensive Player of the Year Brodie Merrill led the MLL with 101 ground balls and was the top scoring defenseman with 14 points (5+9). Rookie of the Year Alex Smith ended his first season tied for second with 79 ground balls and led the league with 190 faceoff wins. Goalie Mike Levin was tied for the league lead with nine wins and was third with a 12.35 goals-against average.
Rochester's Casey Powell enters the game just 11 points away from breaking Mark Millon's all-time points record. Millon had 356 points in his MLL career. Last season, Powell registered 19 goals and 22 assists in eight games this season to give him 182 goals and 160 assists for 346 points in his career.
The Rattlers' home opener is set for Saturday, May 31st against the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Barrage at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com.
SNAKE BITES: Rattlers acquire Hall: On May 9th, Rochester traded midfielders Brian Clayton and Matt Dasinger, and a 2008 third-round Collegiate Draft Pick (30th overall) to the Chicago Machine for midfielder Jordan Hall. Hall broke into the MLL with Chicago in 2007 and scored one goal and added four assists in six games. He was drafted by the Machine in the second round (11th overall) of the 2007 MLL Collegiate Draft. Hall played his college lacrosse at the University of Delaware, where he played alongside Alex Smith to help the Blue Hens reach the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Final Four. In 2005, he was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. He played in 66 career games with 61 starts and recorded 140 points (85+55) and scooped up 184 ground balls. Hall is ranked No. 13 on the all-time UD list for assists and points and No. 17 for goals. The native of Surrey, BC, also won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2006 World Field Lacrosse Championships.
The 'Original Rattler': Chris Schiller is the only player that has been with the team since Day One. He is the team's all-time leader with 86 games played, 307 ground balls and 50:30 penalty minutes. The Penfield native is also tied for first in MLL history in games played, sixth in ground balls and second in penalty minutes.
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 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), A.J. Shannon (Philadelphia), Joe Smith (Buffalo) and Jeff Zywicki (San Jose). Merrill is still playing in the NLL Playoffs and is expected to play for the Portland LumberJax on Saturday as they battle the Buffalo Bandits in the Champion's Cup Finals.
Oh, Canada! Rochester has the most Canadian-born players in the MLL. The Rattlers have six players that hail from Canada and, coincidently, all six were named to the 2006 World Field Lacrosse Championships. Doyle, Grant, Hall, Merrill and Zywicki all won gold for Canada. Shannon was unable to play in the tournament because of an injury.
O'Hara made history in 2007: B.J. O'Hara enters his fifth season as the all-time winningest coach in Rochester Rattlers history. Last season, he guided the Rattlers to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference with a 9-3 record. The nine wins set a single-season franchise record as Rochester qualified for the playoffs for the third time in four seasons under O'Hara. The 2007 season also included a team record eight straight wins as O'Hara improved his all-time record to 27-21 and passed Guy Van Arsdale (19 wins) for the most wins in team history.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from May 15, 2008
- Boston Cannons Announce Fan Activities For Home Opener On Saturday - Boston Cannons
- Chicago Machine Signs TV Deal with Comcast SportsNet - Chicago Machine
- Rattlers Travel To Long Island For Season Opener - Dallas Rattlers
- MLL Fantasy Challege Begins this Weekend - MLL
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