Rattlers Travel To Washington For Showdown With Bayhawks
June 5, 2008 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Dallas Rattlers News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Rattlers travel to Fairfax, Va., to meet the Washington Bayhawks at George Mason Stadium on Saturday, June 7th at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com. The contest will also be televised tape delayed on Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Channel 26) on Sunday, June 8th at 6:30 p.m.
Since the Bayhawks moved to Washington, Rochester is 1-1 against the Bayhawks after splitting the season series in 2007. When the Bayhawks resided in Baltimore, the Rattlers were 5-13 against the club.
The Rattlers are in first place in the Eastern Conference and are the only undefeated team remaining in Major League Lacrosse. Rochester improved to a franchise record 3-0 with a 22-9 win over the Philadelphia Barrage last Saturday at PAETEC Park.
John Grant led the way with four goals, two two-pointers, and three assists en route to his second straight Offensive Player of the Week award. He also became the Rattlers' all-time points leader, passing Ryan Powell. With his second straight nine-point performance of the season he now leads the MLL with 22 points (15+3+4). Casey Powell (355) also scored his first three goals of the season and added two assists to move within two points of passing Mark Millon as the league's all-time points leader.
Goalie Mike Levin made 12 saves to move into second place on the team's all-time saves list. He climbed within eight saves of passing Brian Dougherty for first place. Levin leads the league with an 11.44 goals-against average.
Joe Walters (6+1) and Jeff Zywicki (4+1) also had big nights for the Rattlers and are currently tied for third place in the league with 14 points each. Walters, who led all midfielders in scoring last season, is tied for points among midfielders in 2008.
Washington enters the game 2-1 and is tied for second place with Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference. The Bayhawks used a nine-point fourth quarter to defeat the Chicago Machine Sunday, 18-14. Kyle Dixon (5+1+1) and Conor Gill (2+4) led the Bayhawks to their second straight win of the season. Dixon is tied for third in the league with 14 points, while Gill is close behind with 13. Washington is tied for third in the MLL with 44 goals, but has allowed the second most goals in the league with 46. On Tuesday, the Bayhawks activated veteran defenseman Casey Connor. Connor is entering his eighth season in the MLL and began his career in 2001 and 2002 with the Rochester Rattlers.
Rochester returns home to play the New Jersey Pride on Saturday, June 14th at 7:30 p.m. The contest at PAETEC Park will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM, wysl1040.com and ESPN360.com. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Channel 26).
Prior to each Rattlers home game, Foodlink, along with Bud Light, will present the official pregame party with live music from Burn Unit. The first 1,000 fans will receive a frisbee, courtesy of Invisible Fence. The postgame party is at The Distillery at 1142 Mt. Hope Ave.
SNAKE BITES:
Newcomers get rave reviews: Brett Bucktooth and Brett Queener both had impressive Rattlers debuts last Saturday. Bucktooth, who was acquired from Boston, netted one goal and added one assist against the Barrage. Queener, who was drafted on May 28th, faced five shots and made five saves in his professional debut.
Fourth-quarter magic: Rochester has outscored its opponents 17-1 in the fourth quarter this season, which includes a 5-0 final stanza against Philadelphia last week.
Rattlers get âlocal': The Rattlers drafted four players with ties to Western and Central New York. The Rattlers started adding local players with the selection of defenseman Kyle Gaudagnolo (Jordan, NY) from Syracuse University in the second round. The Rattlers then tabbed Orchard Park native and Duke defenseman Nick O'Hara with the 22nd overall pick (third round). Rochester ended the draft by picking 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 two goals on 18 opportunities (88.89 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 at Long Island.
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 12 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), A.J. Shannon (Philadelphia), Joe Smith (Buffalo) and Jeff Zywicki (San Jose).
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.
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Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 5, 2008
- Barrage Fall To Lizards, 22-12 - New York Lizards
- Dragons Look to Take Win in Second Home Game - San Francisco Dragons
- Boston Cannons Visit New Jersey Pride On Friday - Boston Cannons
- Rattlers Travel To Washington For Showdown With Bayhawks - Dallas Rattlers
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