July 8, 2010
Team USA rallies past MLL All-Stars
by PR Wire Report/
Boston's Paul Rabil and Team USA defeated the MLL All-Stars on Thursday, 13-12. (photo: Boston Cannons)
Team USA rallied to defeat the Major League Lacrosse All-Stars on Thursday, 13-12, in front of 11,771 fans at Harvard Stadium.
Denver’s Brendan Mundorff, playing for Team USA, was named Bud Light MVP for his six-goal performance.
The first quarter of the contest was a hard-fought defensive struggle as the MLL received two goals from Team USA alternate Kevin Leveille and 2009 Cascade MLL Rookie of the Year Dan Hardy to take an early 2-0 lead.
Team USA responded quickly in the second quarter, notching two straight goals from the Cannons’ Ryan Boyle to tie the score 2-2.
Max Seibald of the Denver Outlaws rifled home a top shelf tally with 7:54 remaining to give Team USA its first lead of the contest, 3-2.
Chesapeake’s Peet Poillon ran past Team USA’s defense and tied the game with 5:26 remaining in the half. The game remained close until the end of the quarter as Mundorff scored two goals with under a minute left to give Team USA a 5-3 lead heading into the locker room.
The second half began with Mundorff scoring his third goal of the game to give Team USA a 6-3 lead. Shifting momentum, the MLL All-Stars scored five consecutive goals from Berger, Leveille, Poillon and a 2-point laser by Anthony Kelly to take a 9-6 advantage.
Long Island midfielder Matt Zash broke the MLL scoring streak, zipping a goal home with 55 seconds left to bring Team USA within two.
Mundorff responded just over 30 seconds later, notching his fourth goal of the game to bring the game within one goal at the end of three.
Mundorff continued his stellar game by tying the contest with 12:37remaining in the fourth quarter before Brode Merrill notched a wide open tally to put the MLL All-Stars back on top 10-9.
Kelly and Boston’s Matt Poskay scored back-to-back goals to open up a three-goal advantage for the MLL squad at 12-9.
Powell and Seibald responded for Team USA, bringing the score within one before Mundorff tied the game with 1:57 remaining to notch his sixth tally of the night. Powell, the only player to win the MLL MVP award twice, put home the decisive goal with a minute remaining to give Team USA the 13-12 victory.
“These two teams battled tonight, they came at us with a really tough zone defense which we haven’t faced a whole lot of,” said Mundorff. “We made some adjustments after the half and found some opportunities open up for us and we took advantage. This victory was a total team effort. It’s amazing to win MVP honors but I have to give all the credit in the world to this great team. We were cheering each other on from the first minute and played a complete game.”
Team USA now heads to Manchester, England, for the FIL World Championship July 15-24.
Team USA won six consecutive world titles before falling to Canada in the 2006 tournament.
At halftime, the Bud Light Skills Competition took center stage as a pair of Boston Cannons wowed the hometown crowd by taking home the Fastest Shot and Freestyle crowns.
Chicago Machine rookie and 2010 first overall pick Ned Crotty used his marksmanship skills to come out on top in the 2-point shot accuracy contest.
In the fastest shot competition, Seibald and Rabil were tied at 111 mph after the first round and went to a shootout where Rabil once again posted 111 mph to take home the victory.
A fan favorite, the Freestyle Competition allows players to come up with unique trick shots to win accolades from fans and teammates.
Defending champion Brett Queener took the early lead with a soccer style header after Boston’s Kevin Buchanan could not complete an over-the-back-of-the-net shot and Chris Rotelli was stopped on a rotating 360 attempt.
Long Island’s Stephen Berger started off the competition with a bicycle kick goal and in the second round used an assist from the Bud Light hospitality zone from Matt Bocklet to notch a behind-the-head score.
Buchanan, determined to pump up his home crowd, reattempted his over the net trick, this time leaping over the backs of two teammates and a coach landing on the crossbar and diving forward while putting home a goal to take home the title.
