Long Island Over Baltimore August 24, 2003

LIZARDS TOP BAYHAWKS IN OVERTIME FINAL

Kevin Lowe caught a pass from League MVP Jay Jalbert 22 seconds into sudden-death overtime, and rocked it past Baltimore goaltender Greg Cattrano, giving the Long Island Lizards (10-3) their second Major League Lacrosse Championship.

Lowe, the MLL Newcomer of the Year, was named Bud Light MVP, scoring 4 goals and 1 assist including the overtime game-winner, while Jay Jalbert and A.J. Haugen added 3 goals and 1 assist. Chris Massey also had a hat- trick. Brian Dougherty recorded a postseason record 28 saves, which also tied the Lizards three-year team record for saves.

Kevin Lowe

Long Island and Baltimore have met in all three MLL Championship Games. Long Island won the 2001 game, 15-11, while Baltimore routed the Lizards in the 2002 final, 21-13.

Baltimore took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Jude Collins and Jeff Sonke, but Long Island tied it up when Tim Goettelmann and A.J. Haugen scored. Baltimore scored three straight goals from Gary Gait, Kip Fulks and Tom Marachek, however, Long Island scored four straight to take a 6-5 lead. Josh Sims evened the game at six with 18 seconds left in the half. Baltimore had six different goal scorers, and ten different players with one point each at halftime.

Jay Jalbert

Both goaltenders turned it up a notch in the third quarter, as Baltimore outshot the Lizards, 56-50 in the game. Jalbert scored the first goal of the second half, but Gary Gait scored two straight to put Baltimore up 8-7. Long Island then scored three straight, including a Chris Massey goal from Tim Goettelmann with less then one second remaining in the quarter. Long Island went into the fourth with a 10-8 lead.

Jalbert again scored the first goal of the quarter, putting Long Island up 11-8. However, Baltimore mounted their biggest run of the game, as Paul Cantabene won five straight faceoffs, Gary Gait and Josh Sims each scored a pair of goals to give Baltimore the 12-11 lead. Kevin Lowe battled back with two straight goals of his own, swinging the lead in the Lizards favor, but Mark Millon and Gary Gait each scored for Baltimore, who held a 14-13 lead as the clock ticked down. With 2:07 remaining, A.J. Haugen blasted an unassisted goal past Greg Cattrano, notching the game at 14. Baltimore had numerous chances inside two minutes, but Dougherty made numerous huge saves down the stretch as the Lizards forced overtime.

Gary Gait

Chris Cercy defeated Paul Cantabene for the games final faceoff after a struggle for the ball that took nearly ten seconds. Jalbert scooped the loose ball and jogged upfield, before feeding Kevin Lowe for the game- winner, and the celebration began.

Baltimore was led by Gary Gait, who scored a career high 6 goals and 1 assist, one goal shy of the postseason record, held by Paul Gait. Paul scored seven goals for Long Island in the 2001 Championship Game. Josh Sims had three goals for Baltimore, while Tom Marachek had a goal and three assists. Greg Cattrano recorded 17 saves between the pipes.

Mark Millon

Cercy won 17 of 31 faceoffs for Long Island. Long Island was 0 for 6 on the power play, and even allowed a Gary Gait shorthanded goal, while Baltimore was 2 for 3 with the extra man on the field.


LIZARD NOTES:

Long Island Lizards midfielder Jay Jalbert was awarded the Major League Lacrosse Bud Light MVP trophy for the 2003 season earlier today, at the annual MLL awards luncheon in Philadephia, PA. Lizards goaltender Brian Dougherty was also named Warrior Goaltender of the Year, while Kevin Lowe was awarded the Newcomer of the Year Award. All of the award winners were selected based on votes submitted by the General Manager and Head Coach of each of the six MLL teams.

Brian "Doc" Dougherty in the cage

Jalbert, a native of Huntington, NY, has played exceptionally since joining Long Island this season. The Lizards acquired Jalbert from New Jersey, along with Chris Massey, in exchange for Joe Ghedina, Todd Rassas, and a second round draft pick. The Lizards ironman scored 32 goals and 14 assists, and scooped 105 ground balls, a league-record. Jay was impressive in Long Island’s convincing semi-final victory over the Boston Cannons last night, scoring one goal and scooping ten ground balls.

“It’s a huge honor to be named MVP of the league with all these great players,” said Jalbert. “But this is as much of the team’s award as it is mine.”

Brian Dougherty was named Warrior Goaltender of the Year, after leading the league with an 8-2 record. Dougherty also had the top goals-against-average in the league (12.9) and the top save percentage (.582). “Doc” recorded 18 saves in the Lizards 20-14 semi-final win over Boston.

Kevin Lowe was named MLL Newcomer of the Year, following an impressive first season for the Lizards where he recorded 41 points on 13 goals and 28 assists. The Newcomer of the Year award recognizes the player who is playing in his first season of Major League Lacrosse and did not play his last collegiate game in the game calendar year. Lowe was selected by Long Island in the inaugural draft in 2001 but chose instead to play for Team USA in the World Field Lacrosse Championships in Australia.


ACTION VIDEOS
Baltimore's Greg Cattrano    High Bandwidth

Baltimore's Jeff Sonke to Gary Gait    High Bandwidth

Baltimore's Tom Marachek    High Bandwidth

Long Island's Jay Jalbert    High Bandwidth Only

Long Island's Greg McCavera    High Bandwidth

Long Island's Kevin Lowe to Chris Massey    High Bandwidth

Baltimore's Greg Cattrano    High Bandwidth Only

Long Island's A.J. Haugen to Chris Massey    High Bandwidth Only

Long Island's Jay Jalbert to Kevin Lowe in OT!   High Bandwidth Only

SEMI-FINALS

Baltimore's Mark Millon    High Bandwidth

New Jersey's Greg Traynor    High Bandwidth

Baltimore's Josh Sims    High Bandwidth Only

Baltimore's Gary Gait to Kip Fulks    High Bandwidth Only

Long Island's Pat McCabe to A.J. Haugen    High Bandwidth Only

Boston's Mike Regan to Neal Anderson   High Bandwidth Only

Boston's Neal Anderson to Mike Battista    High Bandwidth

Long Island's Chris Massey    High Bandwidth Only

Long Island's A.J. Haugen    High Bandwidth

Boston's Steve Dusseau    High Bandwidth


Game Photographs by Bob Ogrudek
Larger Photos