Chesapeake Renews Rivalry with Boston at Championship Weekend Bayhawks, Cannons Have Captured the Last Two Major League Lacrosse

Chesapeake Renews Rivalry with Boston at Championship Weekend

Posted by TBN On 08/24/2012

Bayhawks, Cannons have Captured the Last Two Major League Lacrosse Crowns

To suggest the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Boston Cannons have some postseason history would be an understatement.

In 2010, Boston came to Annapolis riding high after capturing the regular season championship and was promptly upset by a Chesapeake club that had to win its final game to get into the playoffs. The host Bayhawks would go on to beat the Long Island Lizards to garner their third title, marking the first time in Major League Lacrosse history that a No. 4 seed accomplished that feat.

It was a similar story in 2011, but this time top-seeded Boston beat fourth-seeded Chesapeake, rallying from a big early deficit to earn a thrilling 14-13 victory on a last-second goal by attackman Max Quinzani. The Cannons then captured the first MLL championship in franchise history by defeating Hamilton at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

For the third straight year, the Bayhawks and Cannons will meet in a semifinal at Major League Lacrosse Championship weekend, and if recent history is any indication, the winner may wind up hoisting the Steinfeld Trophy. This time, the roles will be reversed from the previous two seasons as second-seeded Chesapeake (10-4) must take on third-seeded Boston (9-5) at its home field of Harvard Stadium.

“We’ve had a great rivalry with Boston over the years and our two games this season were certainly very competitive. I expect another intense, hard-fought game,” Chesapeake head coach Dave Cottle said. “We’re playing on the road against the defending champions so this is going to be a stiff challenge. Boston absolutely has the home-field advantage, but that is not insurmountable. We have a very veteran team so I’m not really worried about how our players will react to a hostile environment. Nothing would be better than making sure that crowd is quiet in the fourth quarter.” Goalkeeper Kip Turner stonewalled his former team with 17 saves while midfielder Michael Kimmel totaled five points as Chesapeake edged Boston, 14-13, on June 23rd in Annapolis. Attackman Ryan Boyle piled up eight points while midfielder Paul Rabil finished with five points as the Cannons captured the second regular season meeting, 16-13, at Harvard Stadium.

Rabil was a repeat selection as MLL Offensive Player of the Year after setting the single-season scoring record with 72 points. Boyle recorded a career-high 58 points with 39 of them coming off assists. Cottle said it’s no secret that the key to beating Boston is to contain those two players, who dominate the ball and use their dodging ability to set up teammates.

“The last time we played Boston it was death by a thousand wounds. Rabil was a handful and we had to slide to him. When we did that, Rabil moved the ball to Boyle, who then found the open man,” Cottle said. “We need to keep Rabil to one side of the field and prevent him from breaking down our defense. We need to deny Boyle the ball as much as possible and make him earn his possessions.”

Page 1