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07/05/05 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)

MLL Offensive Player of the Week

A.J. Shannon, Midfield, Rochester Rattlers, 6-0, 210, Virginia (2003)

Playing against his former team, Shannon scored six goals and added an assist to lead the Rattlers to their first win of the season, an 18-8 victory over New Jersey on Thursday evening ... Shannon scored three of his goals in the first 17 minutes of the game as Rochester never trailed en route to their first win since last year's regular season finale ... With his six-goal effort, Shannon tripled his goal output for the season from three goals to nine goals ... In six games this season, Shannon has scored nine goals with six assists.

Cascade MLL Rookie of the Week

Jason Doneger, Attack, Rochester Rattlers, 6-1, 205, Princeton (2005)

Doneger scored a career-high three goals to go with the first two assists of his brief MLL career as the Rochester Rattlers won their first game of the season, an 18-8 victory over the New Jersey Pride at Sprague Field on Thursday evening ... Doneger doubled his season total for goals with his first professional hat trick ... Facing his older brother, New Jersey M Adam Doneger, for the first time in his professional career, Jason won the battle as Adam was held to just one goal ... Jason was selected in the second round by Rochester with the 11th overall selection in June's MLL Collegiate Draft.

MLL Defensive Player of the Week

Brian Spallina, Defense, Philadelphia Barrage, 6-1, 198, Hofstra (200)

Spallina held Boston A Conor Gill without a point for the first time since the 2002 season in Philadelphia's 15-14 win over the Cannons on Thursday night ... The scoreless outing snapped the reigning Bud Light MVP's 38-game streak with at least one point (goals or assists) ... Spallina held Gill to just two shots as the Barrage beat the Cannons for the third time in the last four games ... The win snapped Boston's five-game win streak to start the season.

LAST ONE STANDING: At the midway point of the season, there is only one undefeated team left in Major League Lacrosse ... The Baltimore Bayhawks have won their first six games, setting a league record for the best start to a season ... In addition, they have now won eight straight regular season games, which is also an MLL record ... Baltimore has a chance to clinch a playoff spot this weekend with a victory over Long Island and a loss by either Rochester or New Jersey ... Boston fell from the unbeaten ranks with a 15-14 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday night.

JUNE 30 - PHILADELPHIA 15, @ BOSTON 14: Philadelphia A Michael Springer scored the game-winning goal with 12 seconds left in regulation as the Philadelphia Barrage won their third straight game over the Boston Cannons with a 15-14 decision at Nickerson Field ... The loss snapped Boston's team-record five-game win streak and was the Cannons' first loss of the 2005 season ... Springer took a feed from M Matt Striebel and scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds remaining to give Philadelphia its second win of the season ... A Ryan Boyle scored five goals with an assist to lead the Barrage in the win, while three other Barrage players scored twice ... Making his return from a broken thumb, Barrage GK Brian Dougherty made 22 saves, including a point-blank stop to set up the gamewinning goal ... He was named the Bud Light Game MVP ... Boston M Chris Rotelli scored four goals, including a two-pointer, in the loss for Boston while three other Cannons scored twice ... A Mark Millon scored two goals to extend his consecutive games with a goal streak to 30 straight, ranking fourth on the MLL all-time list ... GK Chris Garrity made a season-low eight saves in goal for the Cannons while allowing 15 goals ... Making his 2005 debut, Boston M Peter Inge won 14 of 17 face-offs and recorded seven ground balls.

JUNE 30 - BALTIMORE 21, @ LONG ISLAND 15: Baltimore A Tom Marechek scored three goals and added two assists as the Bayhawks exploded for eight goals in the third quarter to break away from a 10-9 lead en route to their sixth straight win, a 21-15 victory over the Long Island Lizards at Mitchel Athletic Complex ... Marechek, who was named the Bud Light Game MVP, was one of three Bayhawks to score three goals in the victory ... M Mark Frye recorded a hat trick, which included his league-leading sixth two-point goal of the season, while M David Curry also added three goals ... The victory was Baltimore's eighth straight regular season win, setting a new MLL record ... Baltimore is also the first team to go 6-0 in a season ... A Tim Goettelmann scored four goals and added three assists to lead the Lizards while M Jay Jalbert scored three goals ... Making his MLL debut, rookie M Chris Cara scored two goals to go with an assist ... GK Greg Cattrano made 17 saves in a losing effort for Baltimore, while Trevor Tierney made 16 saves between the pipes ... Baltimore A Gary Gait scored two goals and added an assist to extend his goalscoring streak to 34 straight games, which is second on the league's all-time list ... The visiting team has now won four of the last five games in the series and Baltimore has won two of the last three encounters.

JUNE 30 - ROCHESTER 18, @ NEW JERSEY 8: Rochester M A.J. Shannon scored a career-high six goals and added an assist as the Rochester Rattlers ended their five-game losing streak with an 18-8 National Division victory over the New Jersey Pride (1-5) at Sprague Field ... After winning the season opener, the Pride have lost five straight and are now 1-16 in their last 17 games ... Shannon scored three of his six goals in the final 17:32 as the Rattlers held New Jersey to just three goals on 23 shots in the second half ... Making his return to the lineup, A Ryan Powell scored three goals to go with an assist while brother Casey scored two goals with three assists ... Facing his older brother for the first time, rookie A Jason Doneger recorded his professional hat trick with three goals and two assists, while brother Adam was held to one goal ... Making his MLL debut, New Jersey GK Jay Pfeifer allowed 14 goals in 45 minutes while making nine saves before Scott Schroeder replaced him in the fourth quarter ... GK Tillman Johnson made 12 saves in earning his first win of the season ... He allowed a season-best eight goals in 47 minutes of play ... The Rattlers were the last team in the league to earn a victory ... New Jersey had seven different players score goals in the loss, including A Scott Urick, who scored twice ... A Jesse Hubbard was held scoreless for the second time this season.

JULY 2 (ALL-STAR SHOWDOWN) - YOUNG GUNS 21, OLD SCHOOL 20 (OT): New Jersey M Walid Hajj scored the game-winning goal with 7:50 remaining in overtime as the Young Guns held off a frantic comeback from Old School and escapred with a 21-20 overtime victory at the 2005 MLL All-Star Showdown in front of a league-record 12,674 fans at INVESCO Field at Mile High ... Down by seven with 3:42 left in the third quarter, Old School scored nine of the final 11 goals in regulation to force the first overtime period in MLL history ... New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard and Baltimore M Josh Sims scored twice during the comeback ... Baltimore A Mikey Powell was named the Bud Light Game MVP after tying an All-Star Game record with seven points (four goals, three assists), while Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle tied an All-Star Game record by scoring five goals for the Young Guns ... Old School was led by Rochester A John Grant, Jr. and Long Island A Tim Goettelmann, who each scored three goals with two assists ... Baltimore M Paul Cantabene won 26 of 44 face-offs and recorded 18 ground balls in a losing effort for Old School.

WE NEED MORE TURNSTILES: The 2005 Major League Lacrosse Wild West All-Star Showdown drew a leaguerecord 12,674 fans, marking the first time a game had an attendance of 10,000 or more ... The previous league record for single-game attendance was 9,683, which was set during Rochester Rattlers game against Long Island at Frontier Field on August 23, 2001 ... In two games played in Denver over the past two seasons, the average attendance has been 10,405 ... Last year's game between Baltimore and New Jersey drew 8,137 fans to INVESCO Field at Mile High.

A STARRY NIGHT TO REMEMBER IN DENVER: The 2005 MLL All-Star Showdown will be remembered as one of the best games in MLL history after the Young Guns held on for a 21-20, overtime win over Team Old School ... Philadelphia A Ryan Boyle tied an All-Star Game record with a five-goal performance, while Baltimore A Mikey Powell tied a single- game mark with seven points, scoring four goals with three assists en route to Bud Light MVP honors ... In addition, Baltimore M Paul Cantabene set an All-Star Game record by winning 26 of 44 face-offs and recording 18 ground balls ... The 41 points scored between the two teams set a single-game record.

THE STREAK IS OVER: The Rochester Rattlers became the last team in Major League Lacrosse to earn a victory after their 18-8 win over New Jersey on Thursday night ... The win snapped a five-game losing skid for the Rattlers, while New Jersey lost its fifth straight game after a seasonopening victory over Long Island ... Rochester M A.J. Shannon had a career night against the Pride, scoring a career-high six goals with an assist ... All six teams in the league have now earned a victory this season.

BUT ANOTHER STREAK LIVES ON: The New Jersey Pride has been unable to snap out of their current losing streak, which has grown to five games ... New Jersey, which set the league record for most consecutive losses with 11 last season, has lost 16 of its last 17 games ... The Pride have won the season opener in each of the last two seasons, but have failed to win a game after the opener.

BAYHAWKS FLYING HIGH: The Baltimore Bayhawks continue to lead the league in most offensive categories, including goals, two-point goals and assists ... In addition, they have the leading individual goal scorer, two-point goal scorer and assists leader in the league ... A Gary Gait leads the league in goals (22), while M Mark Frye has six two-point goals this season ... A Tom Marechek is having his best season ever, leading the league with 33 points ... He also ranks second in the league in goals (21) and is the team leader with 12 assists.

CANNONS SILENCED BY BARRAGE FOR FIRST LOSS: The Boston Cannons suffered their first loss of the season with a 15-14 setback against Philadelphia on Thursday night, dropping the Cannons to 5-1 on the season ... The loss snaps Boston's team-record win streak and marks the third regular season loss in the last four games, dating back to last season ... In the loss, Boston A Conor Gill was held without a point for the first time in nearly three years, a span of 38 games ... The last time before Thursday night Gill was held without a point was on July 6, 2002 against Baltimore in Boston's 15-7 loss to the Bayhawks.

YOU AGAIN?: For the second time in two seasons, the Bayhawks and the Lizards will play in back-to-back games against each other ... Last year, the teams had an impromptu home-and-home series during Week Nine after the teams' scheduled meeting at Long Island was postponed due to inclement weather ... The teams split the season series with each team winning on the road ... The visiting team has won four of the last five games in the series with Baltimore gaining the only home win on June 21, 2003 at Homewood Field.

STREAKS ON THE LINE: There are several streaks on the line when the Bayhawks take on the Lizards this Sunday ... Baltimore has won eight straight regular season games, dating back to the last two games of last year ... The eightgame win streak is a league record for regular season wins ... Baltimore has also won four straight home games, which is a team record ... The last time the Bayhawks lost at Unitas Stadium was on July 31, 2004 in a 17-13 loss to Philadelphia ... Finally, the Bayhawks' six-game win streak this season is in jeopardy against the Lizards ... Baltimore will be looking to tie the league record for consecutive wins in a single season with their seventh straight victory ... The Lizards set the record during the 2002 season.

HISTORIC FIRST MEETING: Baltimore and Long Island met in the first-ever MLL regular season game on June 7, 2001 ... The Bayhawks took the inaugural win with a 16- 13 triumph at Homewood Field in front of nearly 6,000 fans .... Baltimore A Tom Marechek recorded a game-high seven points (six goals, one assist) in the victory for host Baltimore.

THIS GAME ISN'T FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP?: The series between Baltimore and Long Island has had its share of title bouts as the teams have met to decide three of the four MLL championships ... The Lizards won the 2001 MLL title behind a sevengoal performance from M Paul Gait, but the Bayhawks won the 2002 crown by taking a 21-13 victory over the Lizards at Columbus Crew Stadium ... Baltimore had the championship taken away the following year when A Kevin Lowe scored in overtime to give the Lizards a 15-14 overtime victory ... Last year marked the first time that the championship game did not feature either team.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS: The series between Baltimore and Long Island has also seen its share of inclement weather ... In the 2003 season opener in Baltimore, the teams had to wait 30 minutes before getting underway when thunderstorms entered the Baltimore area ... At the end of that season, the teams were involved in the first-ever cancelled game in league history as Long Island's Mitchel Athletic Complex was hit with a sudden thunderstorm during pre-game warm-ups ... The game cancellation gave Long Island the top seed in the playoffs the following week ... Last season, the teams were scheduled to play at Mitchel Athletic Complex on June 26, but another series of thunderstorms during warm-ups postponed the game to July 23 and created a homeand- home series over a two-day span.

DON'T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?: Long Island GK Greg Cattrano spent his first three years in a Baltimore uniform, helping the Bayhawks win the 2002 MLL title ... He was traded to Philadelphia prior to last season and helped the Barrage win their first MLL championship ... In an off-season trade, the former Brown University netminder returned home as he was dealt to Long Island along with Warrior Offensive Player of the Year Blake Miller and Warrior Defensive Player of the Year Nicky Polanco ... Cattrano is the only goalkeeper to ever start in all every MLL championship game ... He is also the only goalkeeper to score a goal in a game, recording the feat against Philadelphia last season.

I SWEAR I REMEMBER YOU FROM SOMEWHERE: In addition to Cattrano facing one of his former teams, Baltimore A Gary Gait is facing a former team in the Lizards as the former Syracuse All-America midfielder helped Long Island win the 2001 MLL title ... Gait scored 30 goals with eight assists for the Lizards, who had three players score 30 or more goals during the championship season ... Gait was traded to Baltimore along with A Sean Radebaugh on May 1, 2002 and became the Bayhawks' player-coach shortly before the 2002 season.

TURF TROLL AT IT AGAIN: Baltimore M Paul Cantabene has returned to his face-off form of a year ago as he currently stands as the league leader in ground balls, face-off wins and face-off percentage ... Cantabene has won 122 of 208 draws he has taken, winning 58.7 per cent ... Meanwhile, he has also recorded 57 ground balls in six games, including a league-high 15 loose balls against Long Island on Thursday night ... Last season, Cantabene set the single-season league record for face-off wins and ground balls with 238 and 156, respectively ... Cantabene holds the career lead in ground balls (473), face-off wins (873) and face-off win percentage (.547).

MORE ON THE TURF TROLL: Baltimore M Paul Cantabene is reaching some career milestones that could be obtained this season ... The former Loyola Greyhound is just 27 ground balls away from 500 for his career, while he is 127 face-off wins away from 1,000 for his career ... Entering this week, Cantabene has a career face-off percentage of .547, which is first on the all-time list.

POWER OUTAGE: So far this season, the Bayhawks and the Lizards have had a difficult time scoring on extraman opportunities ... The two teams have combined to scored 10 powerplay goals in 42 attempts, which is good for a percentage of 23.8 per cent ... Baltimore is ranked fourth in powerplay efficiency with six extra-man goals in 22 attempts, while Long Island has scored four extra-man goals in 20 attempts.

THE POWER IS STILL OUT: Baltimore leads the league in penalty killing, holding opponents to just six power play goals in 24 attempts ... Meanwhile, the Lizards rank fifth in the league in man-down defense, holding opponents to nine goals in 22 attempts, which is a percentage of 40.9 per cent ... Only Rochester has a worse mandown percentage, allowing 13 extra-man goals in 23 opportunities (56.5%).

TIERNEY BOARDING UP THE NETS: Baltimore GK Trevor Tierney has been a solid addition to the Baltimore defense this season, allowing 11.0 goals per game while stopping 58.3 per cent of the shots he has faced ... Tierney leads the league in both categories after helping the Bayhawks to a 6-0 start ... Tierney was acquired during the off-season in a deal to Boston after he was acquired from New Jersey during last season ... Tierney has started the last five games for Baltimore after GK Rob Scherr won the season opener for the Bayhawks against New Jersey.

SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT: Baltimore and Long Island enter this week's game as the two top-ranked teams in the league in shooting percentage ... The Bayhawks have connected on 38.7 per cent of their shots, while the Lizards are second with a shooting percentage of 33.7 per cent ... In addition, the two teams are the most proficient in shooting on goal (a shot that either results in a goal or save) ... Long Island shoots on goal nearly 70 per cent of the time to lead MLL, while Baltimore is second with a shot on goal percentage of 66.2 per cent.

IS IT JULY YET?: After splitting their two games in the month of May, the New Jersey Pride had a tough month of June, losing all four games during the month and dropping their record to 1-5 ... In fact, New Jersey has not won in the month of June since June 27, 2003 against the Boston Cannons in a 17-13 triumph, a stretch of eight games ... The last July win for the Pride came during the 2003 season as well when New Jersey handed Bridgeport a 22-14 defeat on July 31, 2003 ... New Jersey has lost 16 of its last 17 games over the last two seasons.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Philadelphia Barrage are currently in a five-game road trip, which will conclude when they host Rochester next Thursday night at Villanova Stadium ... During their current stretch, the Barrage have split their four games with wins coming at Boston and at New Jersey ... The Barrage have lost their only home game of the season, a 13-12 defeat to the Cannons on May 29.

HOW ABOUT GOING ON A ROAD TRIP?: The Long Island Lizards are about to embark on a five-game road trip of their own when they travel to Baltimore ... Long Island will face all five of the other MLL teams during the road trip, which will conclude with a game at Boston on August 4 in the Cannons' home finale ... Long Island is 1-1 on the road this season with a win against Philadelphia on June 4 ... The Lizards are the only team in Major League Lacrosse with seven road games during the regular season.

CANNONS STREAKING AGAINST PRIDE: The Boston Cannons enter this week's game against the New Jersey Pride with a three-game win streak against the National Division rival, including a 19-14 win over the Pride two weeks ago ... The last time Boston lost to New Jersey was on August 14, 2003 in a 21-18 decision at Commerce Bank Ballpark ... The Pride lead the series by a 6-4 margin and won six of the first seven games in the series.

R O O K I E S M A K I N G INSTANT IMPACT: So far this season, several members of the Class of 2005 have made major impacts for their teams, including the first overall pick in New Jersey M Kyle Harrison ... Harrison has scored three goals with one assist in his brief time with the New Jersey Pride and was named Cascade Rookie of the Week last week for his two-goal effort. Meanwhile, Boston M John Christmas earned his first MLL award when he was named Cascade Rookie of the Week after a two-goal outing against Harrison and the Pride last weekend ... It was the first two goals of his brief MLL career. Baltimore D Brodie Merrill has quickly become a starter with the absence of D Christian Cook ... He has started the last three games and been named Cascade Rookie of the Week twice already this year. Other rookies who have made a great impact on their teams include Long Island M Jack deVilliers (Virginia) and New Jersey M Andy Corno ... Rochester A Jason Doneger scored a career-high three goals with two assists in the Rattlers' win over New Jersey on Thursday night.

RUNNING WILD: So far this season, there have been several occasions where a team has used a large run to take a victory ... Baltimore has used several large runs in the last three games to spark their 6-0 start this season ... Against Philadelphia on June 12, the Bayhawks used a pair of extensive runs to earn a 31-9 victory over the Barrage ... In their 18-11 win over the Rochester Rattlers, the Bayhawks used a 16-3 second-half spurt to turn an 8-2 deficit into a seven-point win ... Two weeks ago, the Bayhawks used a 7-1 run in the second half to take a 22-13 win over Rochester at Unitas Stadium ... Boston has had three substantial runs to aid in the Cannons' 5-1 start this season.

JOINING THE CLUB: Earlier this season, Rochester A Ryan Powell became the fourth player in MLL history to reach 200 career points ... Powell joins Boston A Mark Millon, Rochester M Casey Powell and New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard as the other players in this exclusive club ... Long Island M Jay Jalbert and Boston A Conor Gill are the next players who could be eligible to join this list ... Entering this week's games, the 2003 Bud Light MVP is just 10 points away with 193 points on 133 goals, including nine two-pointers, and 51 assists ... He ranks in the top ten in goals, two-point goals and assists ... Gill also has 190 career points, scoring 76 goals with 114 assists, which ranks first all-time on the career assists list.

GETTING CLOSER TO 300: Boston A Mark Millon is getting closer to becoming the first player in MLL history to record 300 career points ... With a five-goal, two-assist performance against the Pride on Saturday night, the former Bayhawk is just 23 points shy of reaching the milestone ... He is also 12 goals away from reaching 200 goals for his career and has taken over first place on the league's career list with a three-goal advantage over New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard ... Millon is in his first season with Boston after playing for Baltimore during the last four years ... He is a two-time Warrior Offensive Player of the Year award winner, winning the award during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: Baltimore A David Curry became the 14th player in MLL history to score 100 goals in his career with a single goal in Baltimore's 18-11 win over Rochester two weeks ago ... Meanwhile, Philadelphia M Roy Colsey needs just three tallies to get 100 for his career ... Earlier this season, Long Island M Blake Miller joined the list when he scored the milestone goal against New Jersey in the season opener with a five-goal effort ... Boston A Mark Millon is the league's career leader after a five-goal outing against A Jesse Hubbard and the New Jersey Pride ... Hubbard, who returned from a broken index finger in the season opener, scored three goals, including a two-pointer, and had three assists in his return.

TUG OF WAR: The battle for the career lead in assists has gone back and forth this season between Rochester A Casey Powell and Boston A Conor Gill ... Last week, Gill held the career lead, but after Powell recorded a three-assist performance against New Jersey on Thursday, Powell is now the career leader with 116 assists ... Gill was held without a point for the first time in 38 games in Boston's 15-14 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday night and still has 114 career assists ... Only four players have ever recorded 100 or more assists in league history ... In addition to Gill and Powell, current Rochester A Ryan Powell (101) and former New Jersey A Jon Hess (100) are the other players to reach the milestone for their career.

BLEEDING ORANGE: The Rochester Rattlers have 10 players on their roster who played their college lacrosse at Syracuse, including 2005 Collegiate Draft pick Scott Ditzell ... In addition to the 10 former Syracuse players, Coach B.J. O'Hara served as an assistant coach for the Orange from 2002 to 2003 ... Five of Rochester's starters played at Syracuse, including the brother tandem of Casey Powell and Ryan Powell.

BLEEDING MORE ORANGE: The Bayhawks' starting attack unit of Gary Gait, Tom Marechek and Mikey Powell all hail from Syracuse ... Gait finished his college career with the Orange in 1990 after a stellar career which included 192 goals and 61 assists ... Marechek finished his career in 1992 ranked seventh on the career ledger for points with 258, scoring 182 goals in his four years ... Powell finished his SU career last year as the school's career leader in points with 307 ... His 157 career assists rank 4th alltime in Syracuse history ... The three have combined to score 55 of their 127 goals this season, while accounting for 29 of the team's 68 assists.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... WE WANT MORE!: This year's class of draft-eligible players included five seniors from national champion Johns Hopkins University ... The Blue Jays had the most seniors in this year's draft class, followed by Drexel, Georgetown, Massachusetts, Syracuse and Virginia, which each have three draft-eligible seniors on the roster ... Of the five Blue Jays, four of them were selected in the Collegiate Draft led by M Kyle Harrison, who was picked with the first overall pick ... M Benson Erwin was selected fourth overall by the Bayhawks, while D Tom Garvey and A Kyle Barrie were taken in the second round.

CAN WE TURN THIS AROUND?: A year ago, the Philadelphia Barrage turned a 1- 11 season into a 7-5 record during the regular season and the MLL championship ... This year, the New Jersey Pride are hoping to do the same ... After tying the league record for fewest wins and most losses in a single season, the Pride are looking to turn things around ... The 1-11 record included 11 straight losses after a season-opening win over Philadelphia in the Barrage's debut in the City of Brotherly Love. After winning the season opener against Long Island, the Pride have lost five straight games following an 18-8 loss to Rochester on Thursday evening.

LET'S PLAY ON THE ROAD: During the 2004 regular season, wearing a road uniform was not a bad thing as the road team went 23-13 (.639) during the regular season ... Baltimore became the first team in MLL history to complete a perfect season away from home, winning all six of its games away from Johnny Unitas ® Stadium at Towson University. Every team won at least once on the road last year ... New Jersey earned its only win of the season at Philadelphia in the season opener at Villanova Stadium .before losing five straight road games to end the season ... They snapped that streak with the seasonopening victory at Long Island on May 20. So far this season, the road team has a 10-8 record in games ... All three road teams won this past weekend to counter the home team sweep from Week Five.

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Beginning the season on a good note does not necessarily guarantee an MLL championship at the end of the season ... Last year, the Boston Cannons won their first four games before falling to Long Island ... The Cannons advanced to the New Balance MLL Championship Game before losing to Philadelphia by a 13-11 margin ... Conversely, the Barrage began the season with a 2- 5 record before ending the year with seven straight wins, including a pair of victories to clinch the team's first league championship ... It was a complete turnaround for the Barrage, who had a 1-11 record in 2003. For the Philadelphia Barrage, defending their MLL title has gotten off to a rough start with a 1-4 beginning to the season after an 18-12 loss to Long Island on Saturday night ... They became the third straight team to lose their first game after winning the title the year before ... The only team to earn a win in their first game as champions is Long Island, which won by 21-8 over Bridgeport to start the 2002 season.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!: Since the end of the 2004 season, several high-profile players have made a move from one team to another, including three of last year's league award winners. In Philadelphia, three of the league's award winners were traded to division rival Long Island, including Warrior Goalie of the Year Greg Cattrano, who was traded for the second straight season. Meanwhile, Baltimore's all-time scoring leader was traded as A Mark Millon was sent to the Boston Cannons in exchange for GK Trevor Tierney after four seasons in a Bayhawks uniform. In addition, Tony Resch made his return to Major League Lacrosse as he was named head coach of the defending MLL champion Barrage ... He was an assistant coach for the Bayhawks for two seasons before stepping aside after the Bayhawks' 2002 championship season ... Also, former Barrage assistant coach Jim Mulé was named as the Long Island Lizards coach, replacing Vinnie Sombrotto ... Sombrotto coached the Lizards last year, guiding them to a 6-6 record.

MR. CONSISTENCY: For the last 34 games, the Baltimore Bayhawks have been able to count on one player to score at least once - A and Player-Coach Gary Gait ... The 1991 Syracuse graduate has scored in every game since July 18, 2002 against the New Jersey Pride ... He is still just over a season away from reaching the league mark of 46 straight games with a goal, set by New Jersey A Jesse Hubbard. Gait's former teammate, Boston A Mark Millon, is also approaching Hubbard's mark ... He has scored a goal in 30 straight games, dating back to the beginning of the 2003 season ... He ranks third on Baltimore's all-time list for games with a consecutive goal behind Gait and A Tom Marechek. New Jersey A Scott Urick was held scoreless for the first time in 25 games against the Bayhawks on June 5 ... His streak ends as the sixth longest in MLL history. The streaks do not include postseason games.

MLL RETURNS TO ESPN2 FOR 2005: For the third straight season, Major League Lacrosse returns to ESPN2 as the "Game of the Week" package features 12 exciting games during the season ... Games will air on Tuesday afternoons beginning at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise designated ... This week's game features a rematch of the 2001, 2002 and 2003 MLL Championships as Baltimore takes on Long Island ... In addition, the 2005 MLL Wild West All-Star Showdown will be part of the package, airing on July 16 at 6:00 p.m. Each team will appear on the broadcast at least three times during the regular season ... The defending MLL champion Philadelphia Barrage will appear four times.

NEW BALANCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND MAKES RETURN TO BOSTON: For the second straight season, the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend returns to Boston University's Nickerson Field on August 19 and 21 ... Last year, over 15,000 fans came to home field of the Boston Cannons for three games, including an MLL-postseason record crowd of 8,273 for the title game between the Philadelphia Barrage and the Cannons. The format for selecting the teams will remain the same for the 2005 season, as the two division champions and two teams with the next best records (regardless of division) advance to play for the league championship ... The championship game will air live on ESPN2 on Sunday, August 21 at 1:00 p.m. in the finale of the MLL Game of the Week package.

BALTIMORE BAYHAWKS (6-0): The Bayhawks continue to set the record for the best start in Major League Lacrosse history with their sixth straight win after a 21- 15 victory over the Long Island Lizards on Thursday evening ... The victory was Baltimore's eighth straight in regular season play, setting a new league record ... In addition, the Bayhawks recorded their 40th all-time regular season win, which leads the league ... The Bayhawks are now just one win shy for tying the single-season consecutive wins mark of seven, which was set by Long Island during the 2002 season ... A Tom Marechek recorded his fifth consecutive hat trick with a three-goal, two-assist performance in the win over Long Island ... He has recorded five points or more in four straight games ... Marechek is the league lleader in points after the first half of the season with 33 points ... A Gary Gait is currently the league leader in goals scored with 22 after a two-goal effort against his former team ... Gait has been named Bud Light Game MVP three times this season ... The Bayhawks have scored 20 or more points in five of their six games this season, which is the most by any team in a single season ... Baltimore has also scored the first goal in every game they have played so far this season and have outshot its opponent in every game this season as well ... The Bayhawks have won their last four games at home, which sets a team record ... Baltimore's last loss at home came against Philadelphia on July 31 of last season ... A Mikey Powell was named the Bud Light Game MVP for the first time in his MLL career at the All-Star Game when he scored four goals with three assists ... He tied an All-Star Game record with his seven points ... He is the first member of his family to win a game MVP award this year ... Baltimore looks to extend their win streak to seven straight when they host Long Island in the series finale on Sunday afternoon ... A win combined with either a Rochester or New Jersey loss clinches a playoff spot for the Bayhawks and would be their fifth playoff berth in five years.

BOSTON CANNONS (5-1): After winning their first five games, the Boston Cannons saw an end to their fivegame win streak with a tough 15-14 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday night ... The Cannons tied the game with just over a minute remaining on a goal by M Mike Battista, but the Barrage scored with 12 seconds remaining to earn their fourth straight victory over the Cannons ... M Chris Rotelli registered a career-high six points with four goals, including a two-pointer, and an assist ... A Conor Gill failed to record a point for the first time in 38 games in the loss to the Barrage ... The last time the reigning Bud Light MLL MVP was held without a goal or an assist was on July 4, 2002 in the Cannons' 15-7 loss to Baltimore at Ravens Stadium ... Gill was held to just two shots in the loss to Philadelphia on Thursday night ... GK Chris Garrity recorded a season-low eight saves in the loss to Philadelphia ... He ranks second in the league in save percentage, stopping 57.3 per cent of the shots he has faced ... The Cannons ended their three-game homestand with a 2-1 record and will travel to New Jersey before returning to Nickerson Field for two more home games against the league-leading Bayhawks and the Barrage.

LONG ISLAND LIZARDS (3-3): The Long Island Lizards fell back to the .500 mark with a 21-15 defeat to Baltimore on Thursday night ... Long Island has not won back-to-back games since their wins against Rochester and Philadelphia earlier in the season ... A Tim Goettelmann scored a game-high four goals with three assists in the loss to Baltimore ... He now has 12 goals with seven assists on the season, ranking fourth on the team in points ... M Chris Cara recorded the first three points of his brief MLL career ... The rookie from Bucknell scored two goals with an assist in the Lizards' loss to Baltimore ... He ended his collegiate career as the Patriot League's all-time leading points and assists leader ... Long Island will be looking to snap Baltimore's six-game win streak on Sunday afternoon when they face the Bayhawks at Unitas Stadium ... Last season, the Lizards handed Baltimore a 17-16 overtime loss at Unitas Stadium in the second game of a home-and-home series ... It will be the start of a five-game road trip for the Lizards.

NEW JERSEY PRIDE (1-5): After a season-opening victory against Long Island on May 20, the Pride have lost five straight after an 18-8 National Division defeat to Rochester on Thursday night ... New Jersey has now lost 16 of its last 17 games dating back to last season's opener against Philadelphia ... A Jesse Hubbard was held scoreless for the third game this season ... He has scored three goals, including a two-pointer, and added three assists ... M Adam Doneger won the Fastest Shot contest at Saturday's All-Star Game after winning a shootout with Rochester M A.J. Shannon ... Doneger fired a 104 mile-per-hour shot in the sudden death round after recording a speed of 105 miles per hour in the preliminary rounds ... The Pride will host the Boston Cannons in a rematch of the June 25 game, which was won by Boston with a final score of 19-14 ... The game will be played at Mercer County Park at West Windsor, New Jersey ... It is the second game of a three-game homestand for the Pride, who host Long Island next Saturday.

PHILADELPHIA BARRAGE (2-4): The Barrage continued their good luck against the Boston Cannons with a 15-14 win over the Cannons ... It marked the third time in the last four regular season meetings the Barrage have pulled away with the victory ... A Ryan Boyle scored a game-high five goals in the win over the Cannons and followed that with a five-goal performance in the All-Star Showdown, helping the Young Guns pull out a 21-20 victory over Old School in overtime ... Boyle leads the team in goals and assists with 13 and 12, respectively ... GK Brian Dougherty made his return from a broken thumb and made 22 saves in the win over the Cannons ... Eight different playesr scored for the Barrage in the win, including four players who scored multiple goals ... The Barrage have been outscored in every period but the second quarter so far this season, including a 30-14 margin in the fourth quarter ... Philadelphia will travel to Rochester in the first game of a home-and-home series this Saturday, ending their five-game road trip ... The Barrage return home next Thursday night to host the Rattlers in the MLL Game of the Week.

ROCHESTER RATTLERS (1-5): The Rattlers were finally able to snap their five-game losing streak with an 18-8 victory over the New Jersey Pride on Thursday evening ... The five-game losing streak is the longest in team history ... M A.J. Shannon scored a career-high six goals in the win along with an assist against his former team ... M Chris Scanlon made his professional debut for the Rattlers in the win as well ... Facing his older brother for the first time in their professional careers, rookie A Jason Doneger recorded his first professional hat trick and added two assists in the win, while his older brother Adam only scored one goal ... Despite being late additions to the All-Star Showdown, A Ryan Powell and John Grant, Jr. had outstanding games for the Old School squad, combining for three goals and three assists ... The Rattlers return home to host Philadelphia on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Bishop Kearney Field. 2005 Major League Lacrosse Weekly Release • July 5, 2005