Game of the Year #11 Bayhawks vs Cannons

I wrote about this matchup intensely leading up to the MLL semi-final between the Boston Cannons and Chesapeake Bayhawks. The Cannons were the best team in the league, with the MVP and goaltender of the year. The Bayhawks were the last seed in the playoffs and they barely snuck in with a winning record. I wrote at the time the only chance the Bayhawks had of beating Boston was if goaltender Chris Garritty stood on his head.
.... He did. Here is your 11th game of the year, the Bayhawks and the Cannons!
The Cannons came out firing in this win, winning the opening faceoff and scoring almost immediately. Max Quinzani, the rookie from Duke, scored the first goal of the game.
But Chesapeake came back moments later, when Bugs Combs scored a goal standing right in front of the crease and beating the goaltender of the year Kip Turner. Kevin Buchanan took the lead with his goal for Boston, but it would be their last lead of the game.
That is when the Bayhawks got hot, scoring five straight goals. The first of his three came from Ben Hunt, with his two pointer to give the Bayhawks a quick lead in the first quarter. After that Jeff Reynolds let one go inside the two point line, making it 4-2 Bayhawks after one quarter. Garrity played on his head that period, absolutely shutting down the Cannons.
The Cannons are a good defensive team, but they are mostly a running defensive team. Unless they score, they did not have much of a shot.
In the starting seconds of the second quarter Hunt strikes again, making it a 5-2 lead. Hunt also scored the next goal. The Cannons were having complete defensive breakdowns.
The last goal of their streak came from Jed Prossner beating Turner high. I was wondering why Turner wasn't pulled right there, when they have a good backup in Burke. But Boston stuck with the goaltender of the year, and eventually scored.
After a bad offensive sequence, Boston gets the ball and Buchanan makes them pay, slimming the lead to 7-3. But about one minute later that changed with Combs' goal.
Chesapeake would score two more times to make it 10-3 going into the half. I imagine the Cannons were stunned, but the Bayhawks really game planned for this one good.
The Bayhawks came out firing again, scoring twice sandwiching a Buchanan goal. Boston began their mini-comeback, scoring three straight goals to make it 12-7. That is when Kip Turner was pulled for Jordon Burke.
Into the fourth quarter, Ryan Boyle got a two point shot to make it 12-9. Burke did a terrific job, but Chesapeake scored one more to make it 13-9 which was the final. Boston had a few more possessions with chances to score, but could not, completing one of the biggest upsets in lacrosse this year.

Media Coverage:
Inside lacrosse
The Lacrosse Blog

Game #14- MLL All-star Game

This was another game that was special to me, as I attended it as well. But this was about as an exciting all-star game as you will see in any sport. It was not phony, like the NBA or NHL. The players didn't shoot it off, like the NFL, and it was not overboard like the MLB. No, the MLL did this right.
They selected the top players of the MLL that were not on Team USA, and pitted them against that team who was to go overseas in the next week to take on the FIL.
The MLL All-stars did give USA a scare. So let's revisit this game, as we count down our top 15.....
We had coverage of this game here in July, so here is the recap from it that I wrote at the time;

Team USA eked by the MLL All-Stars, 13-12, to finish their exhibition play.
The Bud Light MVP Brenden Mundorf scored six goals for USA and scored the game winner. Ryan Powell scored the goal that brought them within one and the game winner. For the MLL All-Stars, they put in a terrific effort, with Anthony Kelly, Kevin LeVeille, and Peet Poillon scoring two goals a piece.
The key to the game was the MLL All-Stars great defense that shut down Paul Rabil. The MLL All-Stars were projected to have great defense, but at times in the first half Team USA looked over matched. They dropped a lot passes and looked very sloppy on offense, and blew some coverages on defense. They ended up with the lead after two though, with a five goal second period.
The Halftime skills contest was spectacular. Paul Rabil defended his title as hardest shot, and tied his record shooting 111. Chicago rookie Ned Crotty won the two point contest, and Kevin Buchanan won the free style, scoring after running up a staircase made of people (including Anthony Kelly) balanced on the crossbar, and scored.
In the second half, the MLL All-Stars made a run and took the lead, 9-6. Matt Danowski scored on a two point shot to tie it and then the All-Stars scored three more goals. But Mundorf took over again and scored two goals before the end of the period to cut the lead to one going into the fourth quarter. Ryan Powell put in the game winner with 1:00 left.

Media Coverage:
Inside Lacrosse
NESN

Player Preview: Casey Powell

Casey Powell is arguably the best player in lacrosse. He is the reigning NLL MVP, and was acquired by the Boston Blazers in the Orlando Titans dispersal. Powell finished only 14th in scoring, but he is going to be playing side by side with the man who finished first, Josh Sanderson.
Powell is coming into a great situation in Boston, playing with two former MVPs in Sanderson and Dan Dawson. How will this affect Powell's numbers? It should in ways both good and bad. His point totals will go up, but his goal totals may go down. He will be double covered more than Sanderson or Dawson, but his assist numbers will go through the roofs playing with a finisher like Sanderson. But how did this all begin for Powell? How did he become the best player in the NLL?
Let's take a first look at his MLL career. In 2001 he was drafted by the Long Island Lizards, and led the Lizards to the first ever MLL championship. He led them to a championship again in 2003, and was then sent to the Rochester Rattlers in a blockbuster deal. In 2005, Powell was named offensive player of the week three times in the final four weeks of the season.
Powell was named MLL offensive player of the year in 2007. Powell is considered the best player in MLL history.
In the NLL, Powell has also had a storied career. Powell was drafted by the Rochester Knighthawks in 1998, and was traded to Buffalo two years later. He never reported, and was then traded to the Anaheim Storm where he made his mark. Powell was selected by the Portland LumberJaxx in the Storm dispersal, but elected again not to play. Powell was later traded to the New York Titans, and eventually Boston when the Orlando Titans dispersed.
His career year points wise in the NLL was 2008 when he scored 86 points. Something tells me he might overtake that mark this season in Boston.

Lax Links- 10/6

Paul Dawson traded again? This time to Philadelphia- NLL Insider

Watch the new Nike commercial featuring Max Seibald- Inside Lacrosse

An interveiw with Ned Crotty and Ken Clausen- Inside Lacrosse

Iroquois Nationals set rosters for Hawaii inventational- Inside lacrosse

Watch the best games on the year in the MLL- majorleaguelacrosse.com

Lax Links- 9/22

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, the combination of computer problems and another project are the reason for that. I promise to get a Minnesota Swarm preview up before next week. but let's do Lax Links for now.

Great article here from Lax Magazine- Lacrosse Magazine

Inside Lacrosse podcast talks to Tom Ryan- NLL Insider

Rabil added to Bowhunter cup- NLL Insider

Lax Links- 8/3

Here are your Lax Links for this Friday afternoon.

MLL All-star game to return to Boston- Inside Lacrosse

Goettelman to return- Lacrosse Magazine

A review of the champions- majorleaguelacrosse.com

Wings hire new GM- NLL.com

Lax Links-8/18

Here are your Lax Links, with MLL Championship Weekend only three days away....

Matt Poskay named Offensive Player of the year. MVP next?- Inside Lacrosse

How the Two-Point shot has separated the MLL from the rest- Lacrosse Magazine

The Lizards look to make some noise in the playoffs- Lacrosse Magazine

What is the severity to Bill Dee Smith's injury?- NLL Insider

Lax Links- 8/3

Here is your Lax Links and discussion topic of the day. Who will win it all in the MLL playoffs? There will be a bigger post up today hopefully.

Award winners for week 11- Inside Lacrosse

Goettelman breaks MLL scoring record- Lax United

Could Matt Poskay be MLL MVP?- Lax Magazine

Bandits re-sign two players- NLL.com

MLL Team Reviews: Bayhawks

With the season soon drawing to a close, I'm going to look at every team in the MLL. I will look at the present, past, and future of each team and judge their playoff hopes (If they are in!).
First up is the Chesapeake Bayhawks. They will enter the tournament as the #4 and last seed, playing the Boston Cannons. That will be a challenge, no doubt, but they may have the home crowd on their side playing in Annapolis, Maryland.
In general, I don't see the Bayhawks getting very far in the playoffs. I thought Chicago was a much better team wit scorers like the Leveille's, Ned Crotty, and Chris Roetelli. The Bayhawks top scorer, Peet Poillon, can put the ball in the net and ranks third in the MLL in points behind only Matt Poskay and Matt Danowski. But their next leading scorer is Kyle Dixon with 33, and then Danny Glading with 26. They are third in the league in goals for, behind only Toronto (non-playoff team) and surprisingly Denver, though they made the playoffs solely on defense and goal tending. They do, however, lead the league in 2pt field goals with 16.
Chesapeake can make the playoffs at best a .500 team and at worst 5-7. The Bayhawks are also a mere 3-3 at home and 2-3 on the road, and travel to Boston t end their season next week, so that home field advantage ma be non-existent.
If one player can help the Bayhawks do teh unlikely and beat Boston in the playoffs, it would be either Dixon or Garrity. Chris Garrity, at 5-4 on the season, is fourth in the league with a 12.84 GAA, but has been lights out several occasions, including last week vs the Machine, who they beat by four goals to advance. Garrity is also third in the league in goal tending minutes with 579, behind only Kip Turner and Drew Adams, so the Bayhawks will be relying on him over Boston native and 0-2 goaltender Mike Levin.
For Dixon, he is going to need a performance smiler to Saturday, scoring four points in the Bayhawks win. Th Bayhawks will need more than just their stars in Dixon and Poillon, however, if they want to beat the goal scoring powerhouse that is Boston. They will need Danny Glading and Brian Vetter on their A game as well.
The Bayhawks are an interesting team as a whole, with not much scoring potential but they find a way to put the ball in the net enough. With young players like #1 draft pick Micheal Kimmell and hometown player Brian Carrol, the Bayhawks may make a bit of noise this Championship Weekend for the first time since 2005. But my opinion? Good ride, bu the 'Hawks will not get by Boston.