Second Quarter Proves The Difference
June 8, 2007 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
New Jersey Pride News Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A good fourth quarter could not make up for a rough second period, as the Pride allowed Rochester to score nine goals in the second 15 minutes to create a deficit New Jersey could not overcome in a 21-14 Rattlers win.
The Pride have lost five straight in Rochester dating back to 2004, with the team's last win in upstate New York coming on July 12, 2003. Since that last win in 2003, the Pride are 1-8 against Rochester overall, the lone win coming on May 26, 2006 in New Jersey.
"We just didn't play well early in the midfield,'' said Pride head coach Peter Jacobs of his team's game in a driving thunderstorm. "That's what it comes down to.''
Casey Powell was named the Bud Light Game MVP with four goals and four assists.
Offensively, the Pride got a career day from Conor Ford, who scored five goals and assisted on another for a career high six points. Ford's previous career high was five points done a trio of times.
"Conor looked very good shooting the ball, but that's nothing we didn't know,'' Jacobs said. "He is a very good player and he's starting to show everyone that.''
Defensively, Ryan McClay led the Pride with seven ground balls, another game in which he played very well.
"Ryan has played like an All-Star for us,'' said Jacobs. "When you look at our record, people might look and say that our defense isn't playing well, and that's just not the case.''
The Pride simply didn't have an answer for the Rochester firepower of Casey Powell, who had four goals and four assists. One of the benefits of his play was Jeff Zywicki, who added four goals for the Rattlers.
The Pride held a 5-4 lead early in the second quarter after Conor Ford and Dan Chemotti opened the stanza with goals. Rochester, though, then went on a tear, scoring seven of the next eight goals to take a 12-6 lead with 5:50 to go before head coach Peter Jacobs called a timeout to talk about things.
The final five minutes of the second quarter were not as frenetic as the first 10, with the teams trading goals, as Urick and John Grant both finding the back of the net to make the score 13-7 in favor of Rochester.
The third quarter brought more of the same from Rochester, as the Rattlers outscored the Pride 5-3, nabbing the first three and last two of the period to take an 18-10 lead after 45 minutes. Kyle Harrison added his second goal of the game in that period, and Chris Unterstein found the back of the net for the first time in a Pride uniform.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 8, 2007
- Second Quarter Proves The Difference - New Jersey Pride
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- L.A. Riptide Look To Bounce Back Against Denver - Los Angeles Riptide
- Outlaws Look to Bounce Back vs. Riptide - Denver Outlaws
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