August 6, 2009
Cannons lose their grip again
by Kevin Henkin/
What began as a laugher became a heartbreaker.
After leading by five goals at the end of the third quarter, the Boston Cannons fell victim to a furious rally by the Washington Bayhawks and lost, 14-13, on Thursday night in front of 9,340 in their regular-season finale at Harvard Stadium.
Softening the blow for the Cannons (6-6) was the fact that their playoff spot was already clinched heading into the game. Such was not the case for the Bayhawks, who needed the win to keep their playoff hopes alive. If the Long Island Lizards lose Saturday, the Bayhawks (5-7) will claim the fourth and final playoff spot.
The Boston scoring effort was led by Paul Rabil (3 goals, 1 assist) and Matt Poskay (4 goals). The goal that counted the most, however, was the one that was scored by Peet Poillon with three seconds remaining in the game.
On the tough loss, Poskay blamed a lack of consistent play in the second half.
"We've got to play a full game,'' he said. "Throughout the year, there have been spurts where we've played a good quarter but we haven't always put them together. As you saw tonight, we played a great first half then struggled a little bit in the third and let them back in it. That's what this game is about. It's about runs and we gave them one and then we couldn't stop it and they were able to capitalize. If we were able to get on our own run, the game probably would have been over.''
The game opened with tightly contested play. Washington pulled ahead, 2-1, but Rabil tied the score with his second goal of the game. With the goal, Rabil became the first MLL player to reach 50 points this season.
In the second quarter, the Cannons shot ahead by scoring all four goals in the frame – including a highlight-reel worthy behind-the-back feed by Rabil to Greg Downing – and took a 6-2 lead into halftime.
In the third, the Cannons picked up where they left off and scored three more early goals, bringing the stretch of consecutive goals to eight – and pushing the lead to 9-2. The Bayhawks, with their season on the line, responded with three quick goals. The Cannons gave themselves daylight again with a pair of goals at the end of the frame, which ended with Boston ahead, 11-6.
The Bayhawks opened the fourth quarter with two goals, reducing the Cannons' lead to 11-8. Rabil gave Boston some brief separation again when he ripped a two-point goal from just outside the circle on the left side of the cage 3:34 into the quarter. It would prove to be Boston's last goal of the evening, as Bayhawks goalie Chris Garrity (19 saves) shut down the Cannons from that point and fueled his team's comeback.
Said Boston coach Bill Daye: "Chris Garrity is a very good goalie. He's an All-Star. He had a couple big saves, they got the momentum and were right back into the game.''
The leading scorers for Washington were Kyle Dixon who scored a momentum-changing 2-pointer in the middle of the fourth) and Poillon, each of whom netted three goals.
Each of the Cannons' six losses this season was by one goal.
It was the second straight late collapse by Boston, which squandered a six-goal, fourth-quarter lead in its previous game, an overtime loss to Toronto.
Poskay shrugged off concerns about his team's ability to close out games.
"We've just got to continue to press and continue to run our offense and stick to what's working,'' he said. "I think sometimes we lose that a little bit. We're trying new things instead of staying normal and playing good lacrosse. We're trying new things and that's ended up hurting us. If we stick to our game plan and do what we were doing early, it usually ends up being a good result.''
Poskay is looking forward to playoff weekend in Annapolis, Md., Aug. 22-23.
"I think (our chances are) excellent,'' he said. "We can play with anyone in the league. Our losses are all one-goal losses. That's how this league is. Everybody's good, but I think if we play a complete 60 minutes, I don't think we'll be disappointed at the end of the game."
Daye will have plenty of time to prepare his squad.
"Basically we have to understand what to do to be successful,'' the coach said. "It's time to go to work for the next week and a half and guys need to take it upon themselves and get to work, come down to Annapolis and be ready to go.
"We've talked about it all year. We need 60 minutes of solid execution, smart lacrosse on both ends of the field, and hopefully we can pull it together for the playoffs.''
