The Barrage (5-3) will seek to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference and put some distance between the rest of the pack when they travel to Yurcak Field at Rutgers University to face the New Jersey Pride (3-4) on Thursday evening. Gametime is at 7:30 PM and the game will be shown live on CN8.
History
The Barrage are 6-8 all time against the Pride and have won the last four meetings in the series. Last season both games were played at Yurcak Field. On July 12 the Barrage defeated the Pride 12-7 behind a hat trick from rookie Ian Dingman in what was a home game for New Jersey. The rematch on July 26 was the Barrage's home game for TV purposes and they needed overtime to defeat New Jersey 12-11 with Seth Goldberg scoring the OT winner.
Last Week
The Barrage jumped out to a 12-5 lead and held on to defeat the Boston Cannons 16-14 last Thursday at Harvard Stadium. The Barrage got hat tricks from Seth Goldberg, Roy Colsey, Matt Striebel and Ryan Boyle while Brian Dougherty earned his third Goalie of the Week award for 2008 with a 28 save performance. New Jersey took advantage of an offensive explosion in defeating Long Island 26-20 last Thursday evening at Mitchel Field in Uniondale.
Hot Wing outdoors
Merrick Thomson has been on fire for New Jersey this season. Thomson leads the Pride and Major League Lacrosse with 27 goals and his 32 points leads New Jersey and ties him for third in the league with Chicago's Kevin Leveille. Thomson earned Offensive Player of the Week honors last week for his seven goal, two assist game against Long Island. His seven goals also tied a New Jersey team record. Last Winter, Thomson scored 26 goals and 29 assists in earning a spot on the National Lacrosse League's All-Rookie team playing for the Philadelphia Wings.
Hey now, you're an All-Star
Rosters for the MLL's All-Star Game July 17th in Denver were announced and the Barrage have two representatives for the East team. Matt Striebel will be making his fourth All-Star appearance while Kyle Sweeney will be an All-Star for the third time. The All-Star Game will be shown live on ESPN2.
Next Game
The Barrage take a week off before returning to play on July 26 when they visit Los Angeles for a championship rematch with the Riptide.
