For players and fans, Thursday night's Barrage game at New Jersey was highlighted since, during this season as the so-called "traveling road show", this would be the closest game the team would play near Philadelphia. And there were a few Barrage jerseys mixed into the crowd of 1,956 that made their way to Yurcak Field for this key Eastern Conference matchup. All of this made the Barrage feel right at home as they played quite possibly their most solid game of the 2008 season in defeating the Pride 16-11. In keeping with the hometown feel, the Barrage's Peter Trombino, who played collegiately at nearby Princeton, had his best game in his brief MLL career with five goals, earning him game MVP honors.
After trailing 4-3 after the first quarter, the Barrage never looked back, outscoring the Pride 13-7 the rest of the night while putting their defensive clamps on the Pride's leading scorer Merrick Thomson. Thomson, who scored seven goals at Long Island the previous week, was kept off the scoresheet by the Barrage defense, who held Thomson to four shots, all off goal. Also of note in the game was the Barrage not being called for any penalties. For Brian Spallina, the league's penalty minute leader, this was his first penalty free game since last July against San Francisco. It was also a quiet night for Brian Dougherty in net as he only had to make 13 saves.
With a week off and three games to go, the Barrage are in good position to make a run at their third straight MLL title. A title that, if earned, might possibly be shared with their fans in Philadelphia next year.
Quotes
On being the "traveling road show":
Ryan Boyle: "It's been all right. We'll play anywhere as long as we can play together."
Kyle Sweeney: "It's going the best it can so far. It's not ideal but we're making it work."
Tony Resch: "Probably the toughest part of the traveling has been the lack of practice time, which as a coach is something you value. It does wear on you a little bit yet our guys have handled it well"
On the team's current play
Sweeney: "We're starting to play well at the right time of the season. We lost early, got it out of our system, we're moving in the right direction now."
Resch: "We're lucky to have guys who are very experienced, a veteran group. We've been able to work our way through it. We're playing some of our best lacrosse right now."
