Cannons Rock Nats for Third Straight Win
from press release
The Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) earned their
third consecutive win as they defeated the Toronto Nationals,
19-15, in front of 7, 532 fans at Harvard Stadium on Thursday
evening. Attackman Sean Morris (UMass '06), a native of Marshfield,
Massachusetts, earned the game's Bud Light MVP award for his seven
point effort, including four goals and three assists. With his
seven-point night, Morris also took over the Cannons scoring lead
with 28 points (14G, 14A) so far this season.
With the win, the Cannons improved their record to 4-3 this season
to move into third place in the league standings, while the
Nationals saw their record fall to 4-3.
The Cannons picked up where they left off as they collected the
first goal of the game, from Morris, at 2:04. Rookie attackman
Brandon Corp (Colgate '09), named as the MLL's Rookie of the Week
for his two point performance against the Washington Bayhawks on
June 19, earned the assist on Morris' goal. Toronto answered to tie
the game at 1-1.
The Cannons then went on a three goal run to take a 4-1 lead with
goals from attackman Matt Alrich (Delaware '04), assisted by
midfielder Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins '08), at 5:15, midfielder Greg
Downing (Fairfield '07) at 7:31 and Corp at 10:11. Midfielder Matt
Poskay (Virginia '06) assisted on Corp's first goal of the game.
The Nationals collected one more tally in the quarter at 14:21, but
Corp countered for the Cannons with his second goal of the game, at
14:52, to push their lead to 5-2 at the end of the first
quarter.
The Nationals opened the second frame with a goal off the face-off
just seven seconds in, however the Cannons immediately stopped any
chance of a Toronto run with four unanswered goals to take a 9-3
lead. Midfielder Matt Casey (Ithaca '05) scored at 59 seconds,
Morris collected his second goal of the game at 3:51, Poskay netted
a goal, assisted by Morris, at 4:36 and Corp scored his third
marker of the contest at 7:37.
Corp's third goal was scored shorthanded. Toronto cut the Cannons'
advantage with a tally at 8:47, but the Cannons answered with
Morris' third goal of the game, on the power play at 10:25, to
capture a 10-4 advantage at halftime. Poskay earned the assist on
the third goal by Morris.
Downing got the scoring going in the third quarter with his second
goal of the game at 22 seconds, but Toronto rallied back with goals
at 4:18, 4:32 and a two-pointer at 4:57 to cut the Cannons' lead to
11-8. Poskay got some momentum back for the Cannons with his second
goal of the game at 7:29 and then Rabil added a goal at 8:16 to
increase the home team's advantage to 13-8. Morris earned his
second assist of the contest on Poskay's second goal.
The Nationals got the two goals back when they found the back of
the Cannons' net at 10:12 and 12:27, but the Cannons responded with
a three-goal run to end the quarter. Face-off specialist Chris Eck
(Colgate '08) scored after winning the face-off at 12:36, Corp
collected his career-high fourth goal of the game at 13:44 and
Downing tallied his third goal of the game, with a man-advantage,
at 14:48. Poskay earned his second assist of the game on Downing's
goal.
Nationals face-off specialist Geoff Snider (Denver '06) opened the
final 15-minute segment with two goals at 1:48 and 2:14, his fourth
and fifth goals of the game, to cut the Cannons' lead to 16-12. The
Cannons regained a six-goal advantage, however, with goals from
midfielder Kevin Cassese (Duke '03), assisted by defenseman Kyle
Sweeney (Georgetown '03) at 3:15, and Morris at 6:19, his fourth of
the contest.
The back-and-forth action continued as the Nationals netted a goal
at 8:18, with Rabil countering for the Cannons at 9:38 for his
second tally of the game. Downing earned an assist on Rabil's goal.
Toronto tried to collect some momentum in the final minutes with
goals at 12:10 and 13:22, but it wasn't enough as the Cannons held
on to secure their third straight win by a score of 19-15.
Cannons goalie Mike Levin (Brown '04) made 18 saves on the 32
shots he faced to earn his fourth win of the season. Nationals
rookie goalie Doc Schneider (UMass '09) took the loss with 10 saves
on 21 shots in 29:44 of playing time before being replaced by
goalie Brett Queener (Albany '08) who stopped 12 of the 20 shots he
faced in 30:16 of playing time.
The Cannons will return to action when they travel to Colorado to
take on the Denver Outlaws at INVESCO Field at Mile High on
Saturday, July 4 at 9:00 (ET).
