August 29, 2011
Cannons capture first MLL championship
by PR Wire Report/
Boston's Paul Rabil raises the Steinfeld Cup after the Cannons won their first-ever MLL championship on Sunday. (photo: Getty Images)
The Boston Cannons added to the Beantown trophy case on Sunday with a 10-9 victory over the Hamilton Nationals in the 2011 Major League Lacrosse championship game in Annapolis, Md.
Attackman Matt Poskay scored all three of his goals in the first half as the Cannons built a 6-3 lead en route to winning their first Major League Lacrosse championship with a 10-9 victory at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Playing in the MLL title game for the second time in their 11-year history, the Cannons held off a second-half surge by the Nationals to win the title.
After Boston attackman Ryan Boyle scored just 1:41 into the first quarter, the Nationals used back-to-back goals from midfielders Kevin Crowley and Cody Jamieson to take a 2-1 advantage with 7:12 left in the first quarter.
But Poskay scored twice in a four-minute span to take a 3-2 lead with 1:44 remaining in the period.
Hamilton attackman Casey Powell tied the game at 3-3 just over three minutes into the second quarter before the Cannons answered with three consecutive goals for a 6-3 lead.
After midfielder Mike Stone scored an unassisted goal, Poskay converted a Boyle feed to increase the lead to 5-3. Less than a minute later, midifelder Brad Ross took a pass from midfielder Paul Rabil and scored past goalkeeper Scott Rodgers, upping the Cannons' advantage.
Powell scored just over a minute into the third quarter to trim the deficit to 6-4 before Boston midfielders Pat Heim and Matt Smalley tallied back-to-back goals to increase the Cannons' cushion to 8-4.
The Nationals then scored three straight goals to narrow the margin to 8-7 with 13:56 left in the fourth quarter. Powell led the run by scoring two goals for Hamilton.
The teams traded goals before midfielder Kevin Buchanan gave Boston a 10-8 lead when he scored on a diving shot past goalkeeper Brett Queener with 3:03 remaining.
With 32 seconds left, Jamieson scored an unassisted goal to trim the margin to 10-9, but the Cannons won the ensuing face-off and ran out the clock to claim the championship.
Poskay led the Cannons with three goals, while Heim contributed a pair of goals for Boston, which outshot Hamilton by a 49-38 margin.
Boston goalkeeper Jordan Burke was named as the MLL Championships MVP after making nine saves in the championship game victory.
Powell scored a game-high four goals to lead the Nationals in a losing effort while Jamieson scored twice. Rodgers made 16 saves in the first half while Queener contributed four saves.
