MLL Final Regular Season Results and Playoff Pairings

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MLL Final Regular Season Results and Playoff Pairings

Semifinal Pairings Set for MLL Championship Weekend

The Los Angeles Riptide and The Home Depot Center host the MLL New Balance Championship Weekend on Friday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 27. The MLL Semifinals take place on Aug. 25 at 6:00 and 8:30 p.m., with the Finals on Aug. 27 at 2:00 p.m. live on ESPN2.

Tickets for New Balance MLL Championship Weekend at the Home Depot Center are on sale now. Championship Packs begin at just $50 and include a ticket to each of the three games and an autographed action photo of Riptide attackman Michael Watson. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call toll free at 1-866-4-LAX-TIX.

"This is a great opportunity for sports fans in Los Angeles and all of Southern California to see the best teams in Major League Lacrosse showcased here at The Home Depot Center," Riptide General Manager G.W. Mix said. "It is great for the growth of lacrosse and really is something special for the fans of the game."

The Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Barrage will face the Boston Cannons in one semifinal game, while the Western Conference winning Outlaws will square off against the San Francisco Dragons, with the winners advancing to the championship on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2:00 p.m.

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Barrage Top Bayhawks 20-12, Clinch Conference Title

Baltimore, MD (August 12, 2006)-In front of 3,102 fans at Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland, the Philadelphia Barrage topped the Baltimore Bayhawks 20-12 to clinch the team's first ever division title. Ryan Boyle was named Bud Light MVP of the game for his six-point (4G, 2A) performance in the game.

Starting off the first quarter, Philadelphia went on an early three-goal run with goals by Justin Smith, Roy Colsey and Matt Striebel. Baltimore answered back with their own three-goal run with goals scored by Bill McGlone, Mike Mollot and Brenden Healy. Smith scored his second of the night with 2:17 left on the clock for the Barrage, followed by two goals by Ryan Boyle, both with under a minute left in the quarter. At 12:56 in the second quarter, MLL rookie, Michael Holloway scored his first goal of his career off an assist from Bobby Horsey, followed by a goal from Boyle, his third of the night.

Kyle Dixon scored for the Bayhawks, the first goal scored since 5:08 for Baltimore, ending Philadelphia's five-goal run. Boyle scored his fourth goal of the night, unassisted at 5:42. McGlone scored his second for the Bayhawks, leaving them trailing by four, but Colsey scored a two-point goal with 41 seconds left on the clock. Rookie Matt Ward scored off an assist from Tom Marechek with two seconds on the clock. The score at the end of the first half was Philadelphia 11, Baltimore 6.

With his third goal of the night, Smith added another one for the Barrage. Ward scored his second for the Bayhawks at 9:50, desperately trying to get his team back in the game. Colsey, with other plans, scored his third goal of the game, through his legs into the goal. Jude Collins scored his first goal of the game for the Bayhawks, followed by a goal from Mark Millon at 6:13. Philadelphia then went on another three-goal run, their second of the game, with goals by Michael Springer, Jed Prossner and Striebel, his second of the night. Mollot scored the final goal of the quarter for Baltimore at 2:17, leaving the Bayhawks trailing by six.

To start the fourth quarter, Philadelphia went on their third three-goal run of the night, with goals by Smith, Prossner and Holloway, his second of his MLL career. With 11:15 remaining, Philadelphia put in goaltender Kevin Keenan, replacing Brian Dougherty. Baltimore broke their three-goal scoring streak with two of their own by Casey Connor and Ward, his second of the night. At 1:41 left in the second half, Holloway scored his third goal of the night for the Barrage, off a Striebel assist, to end the game and clinch the Eastern Division Title.

The next game for Philadelphia will be the first round of the 2006 MLL playoffs. With a Denver loss, Philadelphia will clinch the number one seed in the playoffs; with a Denver win, Philadelphia will be seeded number two and will face the Boston Cannons in the first round.

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Rochester Knocks off Cannons in Season Finale

The Rochester Rattlers used a 7-0 second half run to get past the Boston Cannons 19-13 at PAETEC Park in Rochester, NY in the Cannons regular season finale. The Rattlers John Grant Jr. was named the game's Bud Light MVP scoring 3 goals, including a two-pointer and 3 assists. The loss drops the Cannons to 8-4 on the season. Boston will be the third seed at New Balance Championship Weekend. Both Denver and Philadelphia were winners this weekend, making the Outlaws the 1 seed and Barrage the 2 seed. The Cannons and Barrage will play while Denver gets San Francisco.

"Well fell apart a little bit in the third," said Bill Daye, Cannons head coach. "We let them go on a run. We dug ourselves a big hole and we couldn't get out of it. They came out and played well and we couldn't match that."

The Rochester run began in the third quarter. After exchanging goals with the Cannons to start the third quarter the Rattlers exploded scoring 6 unanswered points including a two-pointer by John Grant Jr. After Bucktooth scored his fourth at the 8:08 mark Rochester went to work. Peter Milliman netted consecutive goals. Grant Jr. then fired what appeared to be a pass from beyond the two-point arc. The shot bounced between a Cannons defender and a Rattlers attacker untouched and past a screened Chris Garrity. Stephen Hoar and Joe Kostolansky finished the third quarter scoring. The Rattlers led 14-9 after three quarters.

The teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter. Boston mounted a brief charge following Conor Gill's fifth two-pointer of the season. Rochester scored two unanswered after that to close out the Cannons. In all Rochester outscored Boston 11-5 in the second half. The Cannons had big games from their rookies. Matt Poskay and Brett Bucktooth each scored 4 goals to lead Boston. Gill registered 5 points on a two-point goal and 3 assists. In addition to Grant Jr., two Rattlers recorded hat tricks. Milliman and Kostolansky had 4 and 3 goals respectively.

Both offenses started the game hot. The teams scored a combined 10 points in the first quarter. Poskay netted three in the opening quarter for Boston with Bucktooth adding a pair. The Rattlers opened the scoring with a 2-0 before the Cannons came back. Boston closed the quarter on a 4-0 run. The second quarter was dominated by the defenses. Rochester scored three times while Bucktooth tallied the only goal of the quarter for the Cannons. The teams went to the locker rooms tied at 7. Garrity made 12 first half saves.

With the regular season over the Cannons shift their focus to New Balance Championship Weekend. The Cannons appear in the MLL's postseason for the sixth consecutive season, a league record. New Balance Championship Weekend takes place at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, CA. The semi-finals are on August 25 with the finals taking place live on ESPN2 at 2PM PT (5PM ET) on Sunday August 27.

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Lizards Wrap up Season with Dramatic OT Win

UNIONDALE, NY -- The Long Island Lizards defeated the New Jersey Pride in the season finale, in dramatic fashion, as Bud Light MVP Keith Cromwell turned a 14-12 deficit with eleven seconds remaining into a 15-14 overtime victory.

With the Lizards trailing 14-12, and the 2,319 fans beginning to head to the exits, Cromwell, a native of Hicksville, blasted a two-point goal past Pride goalkeeper Matt Hunter to notch the game at 12 goals apiece.

Cromwell then put the finishing touches on the Lizards season, breaking a four-minute long overtime standoff with a diving goal.

The Pride, who were still in playoff contention heading into tonight's game, finish the season at 5-7, one game behind the San Francisco Dragons for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Tim Goettelmann scored five goals to lead the Lizards offense. Cromwell (3 goals, 1 two-pointer, 1 assist), Massey (1 goal, 1 assist), Stephen Berger (1 goal, 1 assist) and John Orsen (1 goal) added goals, while Lizards rookie attackmen Pat Walsh (1 goal, 1 assist) and Andrew Lucas (1 goal) each scored their first career goals.

Pat McCabe, playing in his final professional lacrosse game, recorded two assists and scooped three loose balls in the win. McCabe played his entire six-year MLL career with the Lizards. The Elmont native had his #29 jersey retired in a presentation before the game.

Greg Cattrano finished with a season-high 28 saves.

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UNIONDALE, N.Y.-For the second time in 2006, the New Jersey Pride lost in overtime on a questionable call.

With 4:07 remaining in overtime, Long Island's Keith Cromwell streaked in from behind the goal and dove with what looked like a foot in the crease and beat Matt Hunter to give the Lizards a 15-14 win in the final game of the season.

"It's tough to lose any game,'' said Pride head coach Peter Jacobs, "but to lose another game like that when it looked like we were going to win it is very tough. Especially to lose it that way is difficult to take.''

The Pride also lost a game in overtime in San Francisco in which it looked like Ryan Powell was in the crease on a similar play. In all, New Jersey played four games in overtime this season, losing three.

The game meant nothing in terms of playoff positioning, since San Francisco defeated Chicago earlier in the day to earn the fourth seed in the postseason. In that game, Chicago lost a six goal lead in the second half. Had San Francisco and Los Angeles both lost and the Pride had won, New Jersey would have reached the postseason.

"We would have loved to make the playoffs,'' said Pride General Manager Trey Reeder. "We are going to remember this season and come back next year with a purpose.''

The Pride end the season 5-7 having lost three games in overtime and another by a goal. In 2005, the Pride finished 2-10 and went 1-11 in 2004.

The Pride led 14-12 with under a minute to play before Cromwell used a pick to get free and drill an 18-yard 2-pointer to tie the contest. Andy Corno won the ensuing face-off but couldn't get a shot before time ran out on regulation.

Jesse Hubbard, Conor Ford and Scott Urick all scored three goals to lead New Jersey. For Hubbard, it was the second time this season he had a hat trick. Ben Grinnell added a pair for New Jersey Kevin Boland and A.J. Haugen added single tallies. Seven of the Pride's goals were assisted, with Haugen having a pair of first quarter assists to lead the way.

The Pride took a 4-2 lead after one quarter thanks to four assisted goals, two helpers coming from A.J. Haugen. Jesse Hubbard, Ben Grinnell, Conor Ford and Scott Urick all scored in the first 15 minutes of play.

The Lizards ran off four straight goals in an 11:42 stretch to pull ahead of the Pride 6-4, but New Jersey got within a goal at halftime at 6-5 thanks to a Ford goal off a broken play that saw Hubbard and Urick make nifty passes to get their teammate the ball. Ford's goal broke a streak of 17:14 in which the Pride did not score in the first half.

The Pride trailed 12-10 before running off four straight before Cromwell's heroics at the game's end.

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Outlaws Wrangle Riptide, Playoffs Next

Jeff Zywicki scored three consecutive goals in the final quarter to propel the Outlaws (10-2) to a 13-9 victory over the Los Angeles Riptide (6-6) Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Zywicki's performance earned the newest Outlaw MVP honors as his four-goal game (4-0--4) helped Denver to complete its inaugural regular season with a league-tying best 10-2 record.

Denver held a slim lead heading into the final stanza. Sean Lindsay's two-point shot just over two minutes into the final quarter tied the game at 9-9 as the Riptide looked to ride the hometown support. However Zywicki netted the next three goals followed by Josh Sims' (1-1--2) lone score of the night as Denver closed out the game-extending its season-high winning streak to six games. The Outlaws also completed the 2006 schedule with an undefeated road record (6-0).

Matt Rewkowski's goal and three assists (1-3--4) tied him with Zywicki for the team lead in points with four, while Hunter Lochte added a pair of scores and an assist (2-1--3). Trevor Tierney was tough in the pipes as he stopped 20-of-28 shots-on-goal.

Michael Watson led Los Angeles with a duo of goals and assists, while Anthony Kelly won 20-of-25 face-offs. The loss eliminated the Riptide from playoff contention.

The Outlaws return to the L.A.-area on Aug. 25 for the New Balance Championship Weekend. Denver's win, coupled with San Francisco's 16-15 nail-bitter over Chicago, clinches the final playoff spot for the Dragons. The Philadelphia Barrage and Boston Cannons complete the four-team title tournament.

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CARSON, CALIFORNIA-Saturday, August 12, 2006-The Los Angeles Riptide saw its inaugural Major League Lacrosse season come to an end today with a 13-9 loss to the Denver Outlaws at The Home Depot Center Track and Field Stadium. Needing a victory to advance to the playoffs, the Riptide (6-6) was unable to overcome the first place Outlaws (10-2). However, the Major League Lacrosse season will continue in Southern California, as the Riptide and The Home Depot Center hosts the MLL New Balance Championship Weekend on Friday, Aug. 25 and Sunday, Aug. 27. The MLL Semifinals take place on Aug. 25 at 6:00 and 8:30 p.m., with the Finals on Aug. 27 at 2:00 p.m. live on ESPN2.

Needing a victory against the Outlaws to extend its season on Saturday, the Riptide played Denver tough throughout, tying the game at 9-9 on a two-pointer by Sean Lindsay with 12:07 remaining. However, the Riptide was not able to overtake Denver, as Jeff Zywicki netted three straight goals to give the Outlaws a 12-9 advantage with 4:53 left. Josh Sims scored the final tally for Denver with 1:43 remaining to put the final touches on the Riptide season.

"We didn't capitalize on our offensive chances. I thought we did a good job defensively most of the game," Riptide head coach John Tucker said. "They were a tough team to play, but to finish the season like this is of course disappointing."

Michael Watson, Lorne Smith and Andrew Combs led the Riptide with two goals each, and Spencer Ford and Sean Lindsay each scored one goal. Goalkeeper Tillman Johnson faced 35 shots on goal and made 22 saves for Los Angeles, but the Riptide could not keep Denver off the board in the final eight minutes of the game, allowing the Outlaws to score the final four goals of the affair and secure the number one overall seed in the MLL Playoffs.

Benson Erwin started the scoring off for the Outlaws at the 12:44 mark of the first quarter, but just a minute later Smith evened the game on a brilliant goal. After a Zywicki goal for Denver, Smith again tied the game on a goal with 7:06 remaining in the first. The Riptide took its first lead of the game on Ford's goal with 5:27 remainings in the first, but Hunter Lochte tied the game at 3-3 just before the end of the quarter.

After Denver scored two quick goals to take a 5-3 lead to start the second quarter, Combs found the back of the net with 11:08 left in the half to bring the Riptide to 5-4. Lochte put another goal past Johnson to give Denver a 6-4 lead, but Combs struck again with 1:02 remaining in the half to make it 6-5 at the break.

The Riptide tied the game at 6-6 on Michael Watson's first goal of the game with 11:34 left in the third quarter, but then Denver scored three straight goals from Geoff Snider, Brendan Mundorf and Matt Brown to push the lead out to 9-6. Watson scored again with 3:02 left in the third to bring the Riptide to 9-7 entering the fourth quarter.

With the Riptide desperately attempting to get back into the game and push its way into the playoffs, Lindsay ripped a two-pointer from the center of the field with 12:07 left in the game to tie it at 9-9. However, that was as close as Los Angeles would get, as Zywicki went on his goal-scoring binge down the stretch and the Riptide could not beat Denver goalkeeper Trevor Tierney, who finished with 20 saves.

Denver will return to The Home Depot Center for the New Balance MLL Championship Weekend on Friday, August 25 and Sunday, August 27. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call toll free at 1-866-4-LAX-TIX.

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San Francisco Roars Back in Second Half to Shut Down Chicago

San Francisco, CA-The Chicago Machine fought bravely for sixty six minutes and forty-one seconds but failed to slay the San Francisco Dragons, ending their inaugural season without a victory, a first for Major League Lacrosse. San Francisco (7-5) scored a dramatic come from behind victory against the Chicago Machine (0-12), 16-15, Saturday, August 12th, at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. San Francsico Dragon Kyle Dowd scored the game winner with 3:19 left to play in a ten minute sudden death fifth period.

The game started slowly with the teams trading goals and sparring, the first quarter ending with the score tied 3–3. The Machine got in gear early in the second quarter as Sean Morris scored two goals before five minutes had clicked off the clock. Doug Shanahan netted a two pointer at the ten minute mark while the Machine was man-up, the ball blasting through goalie Alex Cade's stick.

Joe Yevolli of the Dragons answered with a man-up goal with 3:45 to play and Jarrett Park scored with 23 seconds left in the second quarter, the half finishing with the Machine leading 7–5. San Francisco mid-fielder Nate Watkins scored the first goal of the second half closing the lead to one, but the Machine was just beginning to get their engine in a higher gear as Doug Shanahan, Brad Heritage and Kevin Leveille scored the next three goals. The Dragons interrupted the Machine run with a goal by attackman Matt Alrich with just over three minutes left to play in the third quarter but the Machine rolled for three more goals in the last minute of play to end the third with a score of 13-7.

Brad Heritage padded the Machine lead with grinding run to the goal giving the Machine their biggest lead of the game, 14-7. It looked like the Machine would slay the Purple Dragon and get their first victory, but the Dragons fire was not yet extinguished. On the ensuing face off the Dragons roared to life with a two point goal by mid-fielder Tim Booth. The next five minutes saw the Dragons fire melt the Machine as San Francisco closed the gap with goals by Chris Rotelli, Nate Watkins and a two-pointer by Matt Alrich.

The Machine looked to be breaking down but Sean Morris answered the Dragon onslaught with a great shot assisted by Dan Paccione with 4:33 left to play in the game. The Dragons had enough fire left to bring the Machine to a halt as Chris Rotelli scored at the four minute mark and Brad Reppert's goal at point blank range tied the game with just 1:04 left to play. Reppert's goal was assisted by Ryan Powell, who had gone 59 minutes with out a point as Machine rookie Michael Culver covered the Dragons All-Star Powell like a blanket of fog over Kezar Stadium.

The overtime saw a blitzkrieg of shots by the Dragons, all but one defended in spectacular fashion by Machine Goalie, Mike Gabel. The Chicago Machine season ground to a halt at the 3:19 mark of the fifth period with a final score, Dragons 16, Machine 15.