July 16, 2007
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
What does it say about the state of lacrosse that a year after the Canadian national team stripped the U.S. of its gold medal, a team whose key players also hail from north of the border has ascended to a position of power in America's pro lacrosse league?
The Canucks have taken over.
In fact, when prompted to explain the combination of elements that has allowed the perennially underachieving Rochester Rattlers to win six straight games and catapult to the top of Major League Lacrosse's Eastern Conference, defenseman Brodie Merrill compared them to the 2005 MLL champion Baltimore Bayhawks.
"It's funny. It's pretty similar now that I think back," Merrill said Monday. "In terms of personnel, we had a little bit of a Canadian flavor on that Baltimore team as well - with [Tom] Marechek, [Gary] Gait, [Gavin] Prout and myself. We were just so confident we were going to win every game. We're starting to get that feeling now in Rochester."
Merrill and Prout are joined by 2006 Team Canada members John Grant, Jeff Zywicki and Colin Doyle, as well as A.J. Shannon, on these Rattlers, who defeated the Long Island Lizards for the second time in 11 days with a 17-10 road victory Saturday.
Grant (33g, 12a), Zywicki (17g, 14a) and Doyle (11g, 9a) have accounted for 45 percent of the team's scoring. Grant, who before this season led the Rochester Knighthawks to a National Lacrosse League championship, could become the first player to sweep the NLL's and MLL's most valuable player awards in the same year.
Things seem to be working out for Rochester after an 0-2 start which head coach B.J. O'Hara attributed to the overlap in the NLL postseason and MLL preseason. Doyle could not make Saturday's game, but it also marked the return of Casey Powell, who was injured for the previous four games. Powell picked up right where he left off, with a goal and three assists.
In addition to the Canadian love fest, it should be noted that Powell and Joe Walters (6g, 1a) - two members of the U.S. team that lost to their Canadian company a year ago - combined for 13 points in the Rattlers' win over the Lizards. Grant topped it off with four goals.
Rochester (6-2), tied with the Philadelphia Barrage for first place in the Eastern Conference, has not lost since its 27-26 overtime win June 16 at Denver in the highest-scoring game in MLL history.
Merrill called it a turning-point game. Since then, the Rattlers have tightened up their defense. They allowed just 10 goals Saturday to a Long Island team that beefed up its offense earlier in the week with the acquisition of Mark Millon - this after limiting the Lizards to seven goals before the all-star break.
"We've obviously beared down a little bit after that game - we were a little bit embarrassed," Merrill said of the Denver shootout. "We were happy to get the win, but certainly you can't think that's going to be sustainable to win with defensive efforts like that."
Of course, without Grant's heroics in that game - he set an MLL record in that game with 14 points, including a two-point goal with less than a minute remaining to send the game into overtime - the season could have spun in the opposite direction.
"It's a good crew. There's a little bit more of a Canadian contingency but also a good mix of American guys, too," said Merrill, who also noted that several of the team's Americans, including Powell, have benefited from learning the Canadian brand of box lacrosse in the more-diverse NLL.
Of the international rivalry with current teammates, Merrill added, "You kind of leave that on the field. There's a mutual respect there. We realize that [2006] was obviously a huge win for us and a huge win for Canadian lacrosse, but we're not going to rub it in or anything. We have a lot of respect for those guys and U.S. lacrosse in general.
"We're just winning in Rochester and winning together as Rattlers."
MLL Rewind: Stay-at-home success for Rattlers, Riptide
There's something to be said for teams like the Rattlers, who boast 18 of 24 active players living in either upstate New York or nearby Ontario, Canada, and the Los Angeles Riptide, who dress 14 players currently from California. Consequently, they are the two hottest teams in the MLL.
The Riptide put its imprint on the Western Conference by thoroughly dominating the old-standard Denver Outlaws, 17-5, at Home Depot Center on Saturday. It was L.A.'s first win in six tries against the defending conference champs, and put the Riptide (6-2) two games ahead of them in the standings.
Benefiting from the naval presence in San Diego, the Riptide were led to victory by two former Navy players and 2007 MLL all-stars Graham Gill (5g, 3a) and Mickey Jarboe (25 saves).
Opposite Jarboe, Jesse Schwartzman - the Outlaws' rookie goalie who was so impressive in back-to-back wins over Chicago - was shelled by six goals (including a two-pointer) against just two saves in 16 minutes. He was replaced by Trevor Tierney, who returned to the line-up from injured reserve after a concussion earlier this season. But Tierney did not fare much better, allowing 10 more goals against just six saves.
Denver's five-goal output was the lowest by a team this season and tied an MLL record for fewest goals in a game (Philadelphia, 2005; Bridgeport, 2002).
"It meant a lot. It's our first win versus that franchise," said Jarboe, who with six wins this season is tied for the league lead. "That win puts us in a good position in the Western Conference...Everybody just played their role."
Chicago gets win No. 2
It has been another uphill season for Chicago, but the Machine won for the second time in franchise history Saturday, defeating a league standard in the Boston Cannons, 19-18, to improve to 2-5 and move into a third-place tie with the San Francisco Dragons.
And it was a former Cannon, Kevin Leveille, who delivered the game-winner with 20 seconds remaining, breaking a nearly eight-minute stalemate with his fifth goal of the game.
Boston (4-5), in danger of missing the MLL playoffs for the first time in franchise history, has yet to string together consecutive wins this season.
Makes you wonder: was trading Conor Gill and Ryan Curtis for Mikey Powell a curse in disguise?
Bayhawks bear down
The Washington Bayhawks may have salvaged their season by pulling out an unlikely 16-15 victory Saturday at San Francisco.
The Bayhawks (5-4) snapped a three-game losing streak by the skin of their teeth, with Conor Gill beating Dragons defenseman Eric Martin and scoring with four seconds remaining for the game-winning goal. Washington trailed after each of the first three quarters.
There was good showmanship, too, as Gill's goal was preceded by the Dragons' Liam Banks' equalizer on a trick shot just 23 seconds earlier.
Tom Marechek put on a vintage performance with five goals and an assist for Washington, which took over sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference.
San Francisco (2-5) has lost three straight.
Parting Shot
Following the attendance ovation of the Denver Outlaws (MLL-record crowd 19, 973 on July 4) and the MLL All-Star Game (9,581 in Boston), the drop-off was significant. The combined attendance at the five MLL games last week (including Philadelphia defeating New Jersey on Thursday) was 11,987 - with the Riptide-Outlaws draw in Carson, Calif., topping out at 3,390.
Contact Matt DaSilva at mdasilva@uslacrosse.org.
