Di Miller, Lacrosse Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photos Courtesy of Pretty Instant
The 2020 MLL Season was in full swing with the second contest set. The Boston Cannons (1-0) would go up against the New York Lizards (0-1). On a hot day in Annapolis; and in a completely different format with each team on opposite sidelines and no fans in the stadiums, the teams would face off for Game Two of the 2020 Season. The victor, the Boston Cannons would score first at the 3:27 mark to take the lead and wouldn’t go ahead again until there was only 1:44 left in the contest. They would not relinquish the lead again and would walk away with the win. Final Score: Cannons 16—Lizards 14.
Boston Team Captain, Mark Cockerton (4g) would score first with 3:27 having ticked off the timer. New York would answer back with two in a row, the first from Brendan Kearns (1g) at 5:02 to tie it up at 1-1; and the second from Colin Burke (3g) at 6:17 putting them up 2-1, a lead they held up until the last minutes of the game. Bryce Wasserman (4g) would notch the equalizer on a man-up goal with 6:36 left in the frame. But once again, the Lizards would tally two. Connor O’Hara (3g, 1a); and Andrew Pettit (1g) would put New York back up 4-2. But Boston wasn’t ready to sit back just set and Challen Rogers (1g, 1a) would notch another with 2:19 remaining closing the gap 4-3. Unfortunately the one goal gap was short lived as the Lizards would put it back to two when Burke would notch another with 1:13 on the buzzer. Shots on Goal: New York 5—Boston 8; GB: New York 9—Boston 7; Face-offs: New York 2-9 Boston 7-9; Saves New York 5—Boston 0; TO New York 4—Boston 5. Score at the end of One: Lizards 5—Cannons 3.
New York would take their momentum into the second and Mark Ellis (1g) would get them on the board 1:41 in 6-3 Lizards. And Boston would erase that goal with one of their own by Ben Spencer (1g) at the 3:38 mark. It took only 17 seconds for the Lizards to return the favor and erase the Cannons goal with one from Mark Andrejack (1g). It would go back and forth like this for two minutes with each team answering goal for goal. Until Wasserman would hit back-to-back tallies for the hat-trick getting the Cannons to within one 8-7. But that was short lived as it only took 13 seconds for the Lizards to go on a four-goal run. Burke; Nicky Galasso (2g) with two; and Dylan Molloy (2g, 1a) on the man-up to give them a three goal lead heading into the half. Shots on goal: New York 10—Boston 9; GB: New York 11—Boston 11; Face-offs: New York 5-12 Boston 7-12; Saves New York 3—Boston 3; TO: New York 3—Boston 5. Score at the end of Two: Lizards 12—Cannons 9.
Boston would begin to turn the tables in the second half as they would outscore New York 3-2 in the third and would not allow them to score after the 6:40 mark in the frame. Mark Cockerton got the Cannons started with back-to-back markers getting them back to within one 12-11 with 7:56 remaining. But just as quickly as Boston closed the gap, New York opened it back up with Molloy and O’Hara notching two more 14-11 but that would be it. The Cannons would fire on all cylinders for the remaining 21 minutes shutting out the Lizards. The last goal in the frame was a thing of beauty. Kyle Jackson (2g, 1a) would get the feed from Randy Staats and with the no look behind-the-back shot in front of the crease blew it by an unaware Austin Kaut for the final goal in the frame at 5:01. Shots on goal: New York 10—Boston 4; GB: New York 14—Boston 7; Face-offs: New York 5-6 Boston 1-6; Saves: New York 1—Boston 6; TO: New York 6—Boston 7. Score at the end of Three: Lizards 14—Cannons 12.
It was all Boston in the fourth. Randy Staats (1g, 4a) opened it up 4:49 in the frame to get them within one 14-13; and it took less than a minute for the Cannons to tie it up. Jackson would notch his second with another assist to Staats at the 5:29 mark. The net-minders were spectacular for the next eight minutes. And Boston’s Mark Cockerton would be the one to break through and would again score to give the Cannons their second and most important lead with 1:44 remaining. They used good clock management and put the insurance goal on the board with the fourth from Wasserman and 43 seconds remaining. Final Score: Cannons 16—Lizards 14.
TEAM STATS:
New York: SOG-28; GB—46; Saves 12; FO 14-32; TO—16
Boston: SOG—28; GB—31; Saves 14; FO 18-31; TO—20
NET MINDER STATS:
New York—Austin Kaut: SOG—12; GA—12; Save% .444
Boston—Nick Marrocco: SOG—14; GA—12; Save% .500
MVP of the Game:
Mark Cockerton: 4G; 1st go ahead goal; 2nd go ahead goal
NEXT UP:
The Boston Cannons (1-0) will face the Chesapeake Bayhawks (1-0) on Monday July 20, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
The New York Lizards (0-1) will host the Chesapeake Bayhawks (1-0) Sunday July 19, game time 1:00 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on ESPN2
Di Miller, Lacrosse Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©