August 1, 2010
Cannons earn top seed for MLL playoffs
by PR Wire Report/
Max Quinzani and the Boston Cannons earned the top seed for the upcoming MLL playoffs with a 16-5 win at Denver on Saturday. (photo: Boston Cannons)
The Boston Cannons earned the top seed for Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend with a dominating 16-5 victory over the Denver Outlaws at Invesco Field in Denver on Saturday.
The teams entered the contest with identical 7-3 records, but Boston’s victory secured the No. 1 seed for the playoffs.
The win was also the Cannons’ third of the season over the Outlaws.
MLL Championship Weekend will be held Aug. 21-22 in Annapolis, Md.
Cannons goalie Kip Turner was named Bud Light MVP for holding the Outlaws to just five goals while making 17 saves on the night.
The battle for first place saw a back-and-forth first quarter. The Cannons notched the first two goals of the game as Justin Smith and Pat Heim opened the scoring. The Outlaws responded with two goals of their own just over a minute apart to tie up the score at 2-2.
Turner made two point-blank saves in the final two minutes of the opening quarter and Ryan Boyle turned the first into a Cannons goal at the other end as Boston led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The offenses for both teams struggled to start the second quarter. Boston’s Brad Ross finally opened the scoring with a blast 7:24 into the quarter. Max Quinzani scored with 4:37 left in the half and Heim followed with his second goal on the night less than a minute later to extend the Cannons lead to 6-2.
The Outlaws finally got on the board when defender Matt Bocklet scored with just over three minutes left in the half and the Cannons led 6-3 at the half.
The Outlaws scored first in the third on a power-play goal, but Turner and the Cannons defense would hold Denver scoreless the rest of the quarter.
The Cannons responded to the Outlaws goal with back-to-back goals 27 seconds apart. Ryan McClay collected a ground ball off a face-off and went down the field uncontested to score the Cannons’ second goal in less than 30 seconds. Quinzani scored a power-play goal, his third of the night, two minutes later to give Boston a 9-4 lead.
Matt Poskay scored his first goal of the night with just 2 seconds to go in the quarter to give the Cannons a six-goal lead with one quarter to play.
Paul Rabil got on the scoreboard four minutes into the fourth quarter and then Poskay added back-to-back goals 69 seconds apart as the Cannons put the game out of reach early in the quarter with a 13-4 lead.
Dan Hardy ended a 22-minute scoreless streak for the Outlaws, but Heim became the third Cannon with a hat trick to make it 14-5 with just over 4 minutes to play. Rabil scored the final goal for the Cannons for the 16-5 final.
NOTES: Boston’s Chris Eck won 19 of the 24 face-offs in the game. … Poskay’s first goal of the game broke the Cannons’ single season goal record of 39 (he now has 42). … The Cannons held the Outlaws’ top two goal scorers (Brendan Mundorf and Thomas Westervelt) off the scoreboard. … The Cannons defense held the Outlaws to just one goal in each of the second, third and fourth quarters. … The Cannons now have 2 three game winning streaks this season. … Boston will close the regular season with a home game against the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday, Aug. 7 (7 p.m.).
