Long Island Lizards (2-2) at Boston Cannons (4-0), June 19 at 7:00 p.m.
The bad blood may boil over when the Lizards come calling on the Cannons, especially after letting a late lead slip away in Week Four’s home loss to Boston, 20-17. The Lizards had a chance to pull even with the Cannons in the division race, but lost to them for the second time in just four weeks. Kevin Lowe paced the Lizards’ offense, netting two goals and assisting on four more. Jay Jalbert had two goals, including a two-pointer, and two assists and Tim Goettelmann and A.J. Haugen each had three goals for Long Island.

But the story of the game may have been Brian Dougherty, the 2003 MLL Goalie of the Year, who had to be restrained following an exchange with Boston middie Mike Battista in the second quarter. Dougherty’s eruption cost him four minutes in penalties, including a non-releasable three-minute misconduct. It was nothing new for the hot-tempered Dougherty, who received a similar penalty in Long Island’s Week One defeat at Boston. Then, his fourth quarter flag sent the Cannons on a 4-2 run, resulting in the narrowest of Lizards losses, 17-16.

With tempers rising as fast as the summer temperatures, Cannons head coach Scott Hiller expects an intense, physical battle on Saturday.

“I think Long Island will come out gunning for us Saturday,” said Hiller. “They have a lot of pride and will want this game. So do we.”

The Cannons should expect to be a target as long as their current hot streak continues. Boston tied an MLL record with a 4-0 start and broke a team mark by scoring at least 20 points for the third straight game. Boston was led by Battista, who played a stellar two-way game and finished with four points, and Bud Light Game MVP David Evans, who notched four goals and an assist. Goalie Chris Garrity made 17 saves and improved his league-leading win total to four. Rookie defenseman Chris Passavia also notched the first goal of his professional career.

With a win this weekend, Boston will put the finishing touches on a regular-season sweep of the Lizards, something they have yet to achieve against their division rivals. More importantly, a win will give the Cannons a three-game lead over the Lizards, to whom they have finished second in the division race each of the last three years. Though the Lizards have laid claim to the American Division title every season, Boston has steadily been making progress against the two-time MLL champs. Long Island leads the all-time series 7-6, but the Cannons hold a 6-3 edge since Hiller took over as coach in 2002. Hiller knows it’s more than just a battle for a division title, though, that fuels the emotions when these two teams take the field.

“There is obviously a rivalry there,” observed Hiller, a Long Island native. “It always exists between New York and Boston sports teams.

“I think that will make for a very competitive and entertaining game Saturday.”

New Jersey Pride (1-3) at Rochester Rattlers (2-2), June 18 at 7:30 p.m.
The Pride’s Week Four home opener at Sprague Field wasn’t enough to shake off the injury blues, as New Jersey couldn’t solve Philadelphia’s defense and fell, 15-12. The injury-ravaged Pride received strong contributions from their new faces filling in for injured players. Rookie Peter Vlahakis and new acquisition Eric Wedin took the face-offs, winning 16 of 29 at the X. The Pride’s top pick in the Collegiate Draft, Walid Hajj, also made his MLL debut and notched three points (2G, 1A). Jesse Hubbard paced the offense with three goals and an assist and Scott Dooley and David Curry bounced back nicely from minor injuries to score a pair of goals each.

New Jersey rides into Rochester looking to snap a three-game losing streak. The Pride have had recent success against their National Division rivals, sweeping the Rattlers in their two-game season series last year. Attackman Scott Urick was dominant against Rochester in 2003, with nine goals in the two meetings between the teams. Hubbard, the only MLL player with a hat trick in every game this season, hopes to pad his totals as the all-time leader in goals and hat tricks. The key to a Pride victory, though, may be shutting down Casey and Ryan Powell and the potent Rattlers offense. Ryan McClay—who is emerging as one of the top defenders in the league—and the Pride defensive corps aim to continue their strong play in front of goalie Trevor Tierney.

Still, much of the attention will be paid to Doneger and his return to Rochester, where he was the league’s top rookie in 2003. The hard-shooting midfielder was a second round selection (7th overall) by the Rattlers in the 2003 Collegiate Draft and had an immediate impact, scoring 26 goals. But instead of becoming part of Rochester’s foundation for the future, he was dealt to New Jersey early in training camp. The change of scenery hasn’t hurt the former Johns Hopkins All-American, who scored five goals in each of the first two games this year. Despite the spotlight, Doneger prefers to focus on his future with the Pride and downplay his Rochester roots.

“I’m very excited to be playing with New Jersey,” said Doneger. “This is nothing more than another lacrosse game on the schedule against a good Rochester team with a potent offense.”

Ironically, the Rattlers’ high-powered attack had little to do with their Week Four 14-12 win at Baltimore, which moved them into a tie with the Bayhawks for first in the National Division. Goaltender Tillman Johnson, making his MLL debut, proved to be the difference in Rochester’s first-ever win at Baltimore. The Bayhawks had been averaging 22.3 points per game entering the game before Johnson held them to 12 points with 22 saves, earning the Cascade Rookie of the Week award in the process. Ryan Powell was also named the MLL Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. His four goals and three assists gave him a hand in half the Rattlers’ points. Brent Rothfuss, recently acquired from Boston, registered two goals in his Rochester debut.

Despite losing both games to the Pride last season, Rochester still holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series against New Jersey. But this season presents a very different match-up between the two squads. For one, Doneger now teams with Hubbard as one of the most effective scoring tandems in the league. The Rattlers can now counter with Johnson to stifle New Jersey’s offense. The Rattlers also added to their scoring depth with A.J. Shannon, who has been a pleasant surprise since being acquired by Rochester in the Doneger deal. After scoring only ten goals last season, Shannon is tied for second on the team with nine tallies this year.

Baltimore Bayhawks (2-2) at Philadelphia Barrage (1-3), June 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Baltimore’s Week Four loss against Rochester not only dropped them into a tie for the division lead, but the defeat also stopped a host of Bayhawks streaks. Baltimore’s nine-game winning streak against the Rattlers came to an end, as did their team-record streak of three consecutive 20-point games. The league’s most potent offense was held to its lowest point total since an 11-10 loss at the hands of the Cannons on July 10, 2003. The setback also dropped the Bayhawks to second in the league in scoring, one point behind Boston.

The ageless Gary Gait led Baltimore last week with two goals and two assists, bringing his season total to 20 points, good for fifth in the league. Mark Millon, who leads the league with 26 points and 16 goals, was held to just three points, almost five points below his average entering the contest. Tom Marechek, who had scored just four goals in the three prior games, broke out for a hat trick against the Rattlers.

But the Week Five match-up with Philadelphia might be more notable for who is wearing a Barrage jersey instead of the familiar Bayhawks colors. Goalie Greg Cattrano, who led Baltimore to three consecutive division titles plus an MLL championship in 2002, now backstops the Barrage after a blockbuster off-season trade sent him to Philadelphia. Cattrano had started every game in Bayhawks history, in the process becoming the all-time MLL leader in wins with 27. To pry away Cattrano and shore up their defense, Philadelphia dealt the top pick in the 2004 Collegiate Draft, which Baltimore used to select Mike Powell. In that same draft, the Bayhawks found a replacement in goal in Mike Levin, who like Cattrano is a Brown grad.

The Barrage broke into the win column last weekend courtesy of Cattrano, whose 22 saves earned him both Bud Light Game MVP and MLL Defensive Player of the Week honors. Kyle Sweeney also excelled on defense, holding Doneger off the score sheet for the first time since June 6, 2003. The Barrage jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the game and never looked back. The attack was led by Michael Springer (five points) and midfielder Blake Miller, who added three goals of his own to maintain his team lead with 15 points for the season.

Now that the Barrage have won the first game played at New Jersey’s new home, they’ll be after their first win at home when they host the Bayhawks at Villanova Stadium. The Barrage have split the season series with the Bayhawks each of the last three years. The last time the two teams met, during Week Eight of last season, the Barrage came away with a 22-17 victory behind an eight-point outburst from Keith Cromwell. Midfielder Doug Shanahan also shined against Baltimore last year, scoring nine points in two games. Philadelphia fans will get a glimpse of the future, and the Barrage a boost on offense, with the debut of Ryan Boyle on Saturday. Boyle, who was selected with the second overall pick in the 2004 Collegiate Draft, was a four-time All-American at Princeton who scored an astounding 232 points in just 57 games. Boyle will be playing alongside Conor Ford, another top draft pick, who scored two goals in an impressive debut last week against New Jersey.