August 21, 2010
Cannons ready for MLL semifinals
by Staff Report/
Paul Rabil and the Cannons will face Chesapeake in the MLL semifinals on Saturday. (photo: Major League Lacrosse)
The Boston Cannons will return to action on Saturday, Aug. 21 against the Chesapeake Bayhawks as Major League Lacrosse’s Championship Weekend kicks off.
The Cannons, the No. 1 seed for the MLL playoffs, will face No. 4 Chesapeake at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., at noon. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Boston closed the regular season with an 8-4 record, but fell short of a perfect home record at Harvard Stadium when Chesapeake picked up a 16-15 overtime win against the Cannons in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Boston/Chesapeake winner will face either Denver or Long Island in the MLL championship game on Sunday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m.
Boston is seeking its first MLL title.
Of the Cannons’ four losses this season, two have come against Chesapeake.
“They’re definitely going to bring it; they’ve got a lot of good middies. But we know what they have now,” Boston rookie Max Quinzani said in a Major League Lacrosse press release.
The Cannons are led by MLL Offensive Player of the Year and MVP Matt Poskay, who scored a league-leading 45 goals and 52 points in 12 games for Boston. The attackman has now scored a team record 140 goals in 51 career games and set the Cannons’ single-season team record at 45 goals.
In addition to Poskay’s honors, Boston’s Kip Turner was named MLL Goalkeeper of the Year.
With a 7-2 record, he was a key component in leading the Cannons to an overall regular season record of 8-4 and the No. 1 overall seed in the MLL postseason.
Completing his fourth season in Boston, Turner has a career goals-against average of 12.85 and a .595 save percentage.
Also, Cannons coach Bill Daye was second in the Coach of the Year voting and Quinzani tied for second in the Rookie of the Year vote.
The Cannons have enjoyed an outstanding season, but know what lies ahead of them.
“Sometimes you become overzealous when things are going well, which is a good problem to have because that means we’re doing well,” Boston midfielder Paul Rabil said in an MLL press release. “Each playoff game is sort of its own championship, eventually you want to be the last man standing.”
