Christian Cook An MLL SoBe Iron Lizard Defense All Star

Christian Cook Looks To The Most Important Week to Date for the MLL Championship Race July 14

by Christian Cook

The New Jersey Pride are on a roll! This MLL season has seen a number of extremely exciting, competitive games – in fact, all of the games are competitive, regardless of who is playing. Every game the Bridgeport Barrage play is exciting, despite their 1-7 record. We barely beat them last week – in OT!

This past weekend we played Boston on Friday night and Rochester on Sunday. Boston is a vastly improved team from last year and will only improve when their U.S. World Team players Dusseau and Doyle return from Perth. They boast not only the best defense in the league with 3 Defensemen-of-the-year award winners (Curtis, Voelker, Kuzma) but a potent offense in Watson, Gill and others. They clearly won the first half against us on Friday night and we had our work cut out for us. Only some spectacular plays on the part of Jesse Hubbard (6g), Scott Urick, Jay Jalbert and David Curry – not to mention, Steve Koudelka who has kept us in every game this year – brought us back from a 10-5 deficit. David Curry scored his second game winner in OT (in a row!) to deliver the victory and boost our record to 4-3.

On Sunday, fans were lucky to witness a hard-fought game between two weary teams, tired from their wins on Friday. Every game against Rochester is a battle, they play as hard as anyone in the league and leave everything on the field. Our offense was on fire from the start and our defense played one of our most solid games of the year. Halftime score – 6-3. The second half treated us well and our offense did an outstanding job of possessing the ball, thanks in no small part to Peter Jacobs. Final score – 16-7.

These games are tough and regardless of the score, we all leave everything on the field. Some individuals incorrectly surmise that lopsided scores equal physically easy games. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Games in the MLL are more physically taxing than any game I played in college. Every possession is a battle and the competitive nature of all the players makes each game incredibly taxing, both mentally and physically.

Now we find ourselves at 5-3 looking forward to a tough game against Baltimore at their home stadium. Baltimore is as tough as any team in the league with outstanding talent at each position. I usually end up playing on Mark Millon – one of the best dodgers in the world. I really enjoy playing Mark because it is a constant chess-match. Not only does he possess world-class physical skills, but his mental game is second to none. He gets his goals and he often does it in spurts. He knows where to be and when to be there. When playing Mark, I basically hold on for the ride and try to keep up.

Peter Jacobs will have a great matchup with a true competitor in Paul Cantabene and our offense will matchup with one of the tougher defenses in the league in Reese, Donovan and Dwan. I’m sure the Bayhawks will miss 2001 MLL Defenseman-of-the-Year Rob Doerr, but they have very capable players to step in.

In the mean time I’ll try to find time between work and other commitments the next three days to bike and work-out, and try to flush the lactic acid out of my weary legs in preparation for Thursday's showdown with the mighty Bayhawks. The Pride will bring it all to the table and I have unwavering faith in my teammates’ ability to show up for big games. We’ve really come together the past couple of weeks – showing heart and poise in big, close games. I think we’re beginning to hit our stride, but there are plenty of other teams ready to knock us down. Welcome to the MLL.