June 26, 2010
Cannons rally past Lizards
by PR Wire Report/
The Boston Cannons extended their home winning streak to four games in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, completing an improbable comeback to defeat the Long Island Lizards, 17-14 at Harvard Stadium.
The Cannons improved to 5-2 in the Major League Lacrosse standings as they rallied from an eight-goal deficit to defeat the Lizards (2-5).
Boston goalkeeper Jordan Burke was named Bud Light MVP for helping to jump-start his team, stopping seven out of eight Long Island shots he faced as a second-half substitute.
Matt Poskay increased his MLL goal-scoring lead by notching six goals, giving him 34 points on the season.
Paul Rabil opened the scoring for the Cannons, rifling home a long distance goal under a minute into the contest to give Bostona quick 1-0 lead.
Stephen Berger retaliated almost immediately for Long Island, scoring his eighth goal of the year to even the score.
The Cannons then scored three consecutive goals, two from team co-captain Poskay and another by Kevin Buchanan to race out in front 4-1.
Stephen Peyser cut the Boston lead in half by scoring with just 47 seconds left in the first quarter, leaving the score 4-2 in favor of the Cannons.
The Lizards carried over their momentum from the end of the first by scoring three unanswered goals from Tim Goettelmann, Matt Danowski and Zach Greer to jump out to a 5-4 lead.
Max Quinzani scored Boston’s lone goal of the quarter, taking advantage of a Long Island penalty to tie the score 5-5. Greer, who proved to be a thorn in the Cannons’ side, scored two consecutive goals after Boston’s tally to give Long Island a two-goal advantage.
The quarter ended with Long Island’s Joel Dalgrano and Greg Gurenlian both scoring with under a minute to play to give the Lizards a 9-5 lead heading into halftime.
The second half opened with the Lizards scoring four consecutive goals from Dalgarno, Greer (two) and Mike Ward to open up a commanding 13-5 lead.
Burke took over in net for Kip Turner and turned away the Lizards, giving the Cannons a lift.
Boston’s offense fed off of Burke’s efforts and closed out the quarter by scoring seven points on two Rabil 2-point goals and tallies from Ryan Boyle, Poskay and Buchanan to come within one, 13-12.
Mitch Belisle scored just over one minute into the fourth quarter to complete the Cannons’ comeback, tying the game at 13-13.
Buchanan followed that goal with one of his own, giving Boston a lead it would not relinquish, 14-13. Poskay scored the Cannons’ final three goals, the first of which capped a 10-0 Boston run.
Greer scored the only Long Island goal to give him six on the evening.
Burke saw his first extended playing time of the season and said it was a team effort that led to the Cannons’ comeback.
“We were all unbelievable out there, it was great getting the call to go out there and help my team, but I have to give all the credit to this team, we didn’t fold when the going got tough,” he said.
The Cannons will return to action when they travel to Toronto on Thursday, July 1 to take on the Nationals at 7 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet New England.
