Blog: Lizards vs Cannons May 27th

5/28/10 2:34 PM

 

Cannons vs Lizards Game Blog

Derek McLean

 

Pregame

 

Welcome to LaVelle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York. The Long Island Lizards are about to ready to face off against the Boston Cannons. It’s a beautiful night here in Long Island. The rain has held up so far. This is a crucial game for the Lizards as they look to prevent a 0-3 start. Unfortunately however they are going up against, what some consider the best team in Major League Lacrosse, the Boston Cannons. Led by attack Paul Rabil, the Cannons, relentless offense has helped the Cannons get off to a 2 -0 start.

Just how good is the Cannons offense you ask? The Cannons have 5 players with three or more goals. Midfielder Matt Poskay has 8 goals so far this year. The Cannons will look to take a flurry of shots, from all angles, against the Lizards young goalie Drew Adams, who is making his third career start.

 

The Lizards, offense has been disappointing so far this season to say the least. They have scored a league low, 18 goals, so far this season. Not a good number from an offense which is led by the duel of Matt Danowski and Zach Greer. The former Duke teammates were considered one of the best college attack combinations in NCAA history.

 

The stagnant Lizards offense can be attributed to their inability to gain possession of the ball. Penalties, mediocre face-off totals, and the inability to clear the ball have given the offense little chance to score. “You got to handle, you got to clear the ball, of course,” says Lizards head coach Jim Mule. “As long as we make saves and we make stops, I think we will be okay getting transitions from D to O.”

 

Veteran midfielder Stephen Berger summed up the Lizards attack pretty simply. “Dodge the score, dodge the score, dodge the score, and then once we do that we can have some teams respect us a little bit,” says Berger. “When we don’t have it we need to move the ball to the backside, dodge the score, and dodge the score.” It will be interesting to see if the Lizards can get the offensive opportunities, they’re hoping for. If they can they will become a serious threat to the Cannons unblemished record.

 

Quarter one

 

15:00 Peter Vlahakis is taking the faceoff for the Lizards against the Cannons’ Chris Eck who is 24 of 64 on faceoffs in the season. Vlahakis is 9- 14 on the season and has split time with midfielder Greg Gurenlian on the season.

 

14:09 Vlahakis won the face- off and the Lizards march right down the field and score first. Hofstra University’s own Anthony Muscarella gets his third goal of the season.  1-0 Lizards.

 

12:09 There has been some great pressure by the Lizards early on. A shot by Chris Fiore was saved by the Cannons goalie Kip Turner. Good sign for the Lizards offense.

10:03 Ryan Boyle with a blistering shot, off a pass by Rabil, is saved by Adams off his chest protector.

 

9:25 Cannons score. Matt Poskay puts it away with a rocket. The game is tied up 1-1.

 

8:57 Vlahakis with another face off win and Danowski puts it away. 2-1 Lizards.

 

8:33 Can you say “Sports Center”? Greg “the beast” Gurenlian wins the face off and takes down the field himself. He then makes a diving circus shot and scores. 3-1 Lizards.

 

5:24 Justin Smith scores for the Cannons with a sniper. There was lots of pressure from Boston on the last possession. They had a shot go off the post a few seconds earlier from Kevin Buchanan. 3-2 Lizards.

 

3:51 The Cannons win the draw and Matt Poskay scores again. They are showing their offensive fire power and right now, the Lizards have no response for them. Tough spot for goalie Drew Adams who is seeing shots buzz by his head left and right. Tie game 3-3.

 

3:21 Another shot by Smith, is saved by Adams.  The Lizards need to figure out a way to regain possession or else this is going to become a long game.

 

1:07 Some careless turnovers by both teams. The Lizards got called for a needless off sides. Down the other end the Cannons Justin Smith dropped a pass, which went right at his stick.

 

0:01 Dan Cocchi gets called for a one minute, push from behind penalty, then tempers begin to flair, between the Lizards defenseman Brian Spallina and the Cannons, Matt Poskay. No penalties were called. There was just a little bit of pushing and maybe a, “yo’ mama” comment or two.

 

Quarter two

 

12:20 Paul Rabil with a shot from the center is saved by Drew Adams. He’s made a couple of nice saves early in the quarter.

 

11:34 Lizards score!!!! The shot was a two pointer by Chris Fiore. That’s lacrosse’s version of “from downtown.” He let that one go from a good 6 or 7 feet behind the arc. 5-3 Lizards.

 

10:30 The Lizards win the draw, march down the field, and scores again. This time by John Glynn, who dove across the side of the net and made a shot that hit the inside of the post. 6-3 Lizards.

 

8:58 A bad penalty was handed to the Lizards Donny Moss, getting called for an illegal shove. He hit Rabil after the play was over, and the ref decided that he should think about what he did, for a minute. Long Island continues to beat themselves with needless penalties.

 

5:53 Cannons midfielder, Brad Ross took a series of shots, both saved by Adams. The young goalie has made a few good saves in this one.

 

5:02 Cannons score!!! Mike Stone puts it away after some good pressure by the Cannons. 6-4 Lizards.

 

3:24 The Lizards’ Nicky Polanco takes a distant shot with his Long pole. The shot was saved fairly easily by Kip Turner, but interesting attempt, at the least.

 

2:15 Cannons are down a man thanks to an illegal body check by Jack Reed.

 

1:45 Matt Danowski makes the Cannons pay, with a goal. He made a nice shot, off a pass from Berger 7-4 Lizards.

 

1:05 Another goal by the Lizards. Stephen Peyser makes a beautiful shot. The Cannons retaliate by pushing and shoving. The game is getting a little chippy, but the Lizards are suddenly cruising. 8-4 Lizards.

 

Halftime

 

A good 30 minutes by the Lizards, who did just about everything right in the first half. Long Island has controlled possession a good majority of the half and has controlled the play. The Cannons have found themselves taking bad shots, and at times running around. Towards the end of the half, they began to get frustrated and it was evident. The Cannons got a few stupid retaliatory penalties, which led to Lizards goals.

 

The best news for the Lizards is they have been able to keep the Cannons offense in check. Long Island this year, would often go through streaks, where they would get dominated for a long period of time, sometimes allowing 6 or 7 unanswered goals. While the Cannons did have some pressure in the game, the Lizards did a good job in not letting that pressure escalate into multiple goals.

 

Part of the reason the Lizards won that half was by some outstanding play on the face-offs. The Lizards won 11 of the 13 face-offs in the half. Peter Vlahakis and Greg Gurenlian have been outstanding. The Cannons Chris Eck has not been getting it done so far this season. Boston will need a better half by him if they want to slow down this stellar Lizards play.

 

Long Island will need to continue to do a good job on clears. They have been limiting the Cannons to just one or two shots on goals. This has been their best game clearing the ball, so far this season. Stephen Berger says before the game, “We have some of the best D middies in the game transitionally wise.” So far Berger is looking pretty smart.

 

Quarter 3

 

14:19 Tim Goettelmann takes a shot which somehow slips through Kip Turner. The Lizards are continuing what they started, right out of the gate, in the second half. 9-4 Lizards.

 

10:23 I can’t keep up! Peter Vlahakis scores a goal. Then less than 12 seconds later Goettelmann gets another one. The Lizards have already beaten their season high for goals in a game and we’re only in the third quarter. 11- 4 Lizards.

 

8:04 Paul Rabil with one of his patented blistering shots, is saved by Adams. For only his third career start, the kid out of Penn State is playing like a 5 year veteran against one of the best offenses in the league.

 

6:29 Kevin Buchannan dives across the net with a shot. Adams turns him away. On the way down he is hit hard by Brian Spallina. Nothing is going right for the Cannons.

 

 

5:20 Paul Rabil with a shot and another beautiful save Adams. So far Rabil is scoreless.

 

3:39 Goettelmann hit Turner who was out of the net hard. Jack Reid retaliated by throwing punches and grabbing. Reid received a six minute penalty for unnecessary roughness. The Cannons are have lost one of their best defenders for 6 minutes.

 

2:07 The Lizards Frank D’ Agostino gets the penalty for an illegal hit. Immediately after, Poskay gets a shot, on net, which was saved by Adams. The shot however was a close range shot which hit Adams’ chest. He will most likely feel that one in the morning.

 

1:17 The Cannons are another man down. This time Paul Rabil is the culprit with a slash. The Cannons are now two men down for a minute.

 

0:00 Long Island just outshot the Cannons 11-4 in the third quarter. The Lizards are not taking their foot off the pedal in this one. They are playing some inspired lacrosse tonight. Someone needs to give the Cannons directions to the stadium because they have not showed up tonight.

 

Quarter four

 

13:38 Matt Poskay scores. That is the first goal of the second half by the Cannons. They have a lot of work to do. 11-5 Lizards.

 

13:12 Here comes the Cannons!!!! The shot was a two point goal by Brad Ross. The Lizards better be careful because the Cannons just found there way to the stadium. There is a little momentum for the struggling offensive juggernaut. 11- 7 Lizards.

 

11:38 Brian Spallina will be sent to the box. He got called for a slash after sending Justin Smith to the floor. This is a big opportunity for the Cannons to get this game within three.

 

9:32 Stephen Peyser responds for the Lizards, after charging towards the net and putting it away with a diving shot. 12-7 Lizards.

 

8:31 Paul Rabil throws the ball away for the Cannons. The Lizards have been double teaming Paul Rabil all night and he has gotten nothing going. This has been a tough night for the 2009 Major League Lacrosse MVP. He has been victimized by a good veteran defense, which is not letting him breathe.

 

 

7:35 Goettelmann puts a shot off the post for the Lizards. They are doing a great job responding after the three straight goals by the Cannons.

 

5:38 Stephen Berger scores a goal. He made a fantastic dive to the net from the veteran midfield leader. The goal gives the Lizards a very comfortable lead down the stretch. 13-7 Lizards.

 

3:08 There is nothing going right for the Cannons. Michael Stone ripped a shot which bounced off the post.

 

2:59 Matt Poskay scores for the Cannons. That’s his fourth of the game, 12^th of the season, and he is now number three on the Cannons all time scoring list. 13-8 Lizards.

 

2:28 Kevin Buchanan scores a two pointer. The Cannons are back within three. The Lizards need to win this face-off, because the Cannons are still in this, and have got some serious momentum. 13-10 Lizards.

 

1:49 Don’t blink!!!! Ryan Boyle scores for the Cannons and would you know it? We have a one possession game. 13-11 Lizards.

 

0:28 The Cannons can’t successfully clear the ball and the Lizards will run out the clock. A little bit of pushing and shoving at the end of the game between Polanco and Reid. The final Score is 13-11 Lizards.

 

Postgame

 

Tonight’s MVP goes to Drew Adams. In just his third start he held the Cannons to just 11 goals, while making 14 saves on the night. The Lizards needed a strong start by Adams, against the highly skilled Cannons offense. This was by far the best game of his young career.

 

Along with making some incredible saves, especially down the stretch, Adams was able to successfully clear the ball throughout the game. On most possessions, the Cannons were limited to only one or two shots on net, before the Lizards moved the ball down field. In the previous two games, this aspect killed the Lizards, which led to long possessions and multiple, unanswered goals.

 

The Boston Cannons were never really able to get their offense going, until late in the fourth quarter. The Cannons put up seven points late in the game, cutting a seemingly insurmountable lead down to two. However they were only able to score four goals in the first half and were scoreless in the third. The only player on the Cannons to score more than one goal was Matt Poskay, who finished with four, and moved up to third on the Cannons all-time scoring list. Paul Rabil was no where to be found in the game, finishing the night with no points. He was consistently double teamed by the veteran and hardnosed Lizards defense.

 

The Lizards offense played their best game of the season. Long Island moved the ball well and spread out the scoring. Eight different players scored for the lizards, four of them scoring two goals. The Lizards finished with 30 shots on goal and put constant pressure on Kip Turner.

 

The Lizards dominated the possession battle thanks to a dominating face-off effort and some careless play by the Cannons. Peter Vlahakis and Greg Gurenlian won 17 of the 25 face-offs. Chris Eck of the Cannons struggled against the two, which led to not just Lizards possessions, but fast-break goals as well. The Cannons committed some sloppy turnovers throughout the game. While many of the turnovers were caused by great defense from the Lizards, others were simply because the Boston was careless with the ball. The Cannons would often drop easy passes or lazily and unsuccessfully try to scoop up ground balls.

 

The game can be wrapped up simply. The Long Island Lizards were desperate for a win and they played like it. They did everything they needed to do, to not just shut down a powerhouse offense, but create scoring opportunities for themselves. The cannons came into the game 2-0 and did not play inspired lacrosse against a team, who was 0-2 to start the season. The Lizards showed up to play and the Cannons did not.

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