Barrage Game 12 (vs. New Jersey 8-9-08)

By Tom Hoffman

The Barrage (7-4) will look to enter the postseason on a winning note when they finish the regular season with a trip to Hillsboro, Oregon to face the New Jersey Pride (5-6) Saturday evening. Faceoff is at 10:30 PM and will shown live on CN8.

History

The Barrage have won five straight in the all time series after their 16-11 win at New Jersey on July 10. Peter Trombino scored five goals that night to earn Game MVP honors. The win gave the Barrage a 7-8 all time record against the Pride, 7-2 since the Barrage relocated from Bridgeport, CT.

Last Week

The Barrage clinched their third straight playoff appearance (and fourth in five seasons) with a 16-11 victory over the Boston Cannons last Saturday at Harvard Stadium. Kevin Keenan, making the start in place of an ill Brian Dougherty, took Game MVP honors with a 27 save performance. Keenan, also named Goaltender of the Week, was aided by three goals from Ryan Boyle and Matt Striebel and a pair from Jed Prossner in his return from the injured list. New Jersey defeated Washington 16-8 on July 31 at Rutgers.

Playoffs

With their spot secured in the 2007 MLL postseason, the Barrage still need to find out where they will be seeded. A Barrage win and Los Angeles loss and the Barrage will earn the third seed while a Riptide win puts the Barrage fourth regardless of what they do vs. the Pride.

Stats and Stuff

With his three goals against Boston, Matt Striebel set a personal high for goals in a season. With 27 heading into the final game, he and Seth Goldberg (also with 27 goals) can become just the third and fourth Barrage players to score 30 goals in a season with hat tricks this weekend. Blake Miller holds the team record with 46 goals in the 2004 championship year while Matt Panetta tallied 33 in the teams inaugural season in 2001. Goldberg, with four goals, can equal his best of 31 set with Rochester in 2006. Kyle Sweeney (five goals this season) needs one goal to set a career high for himself as well.

Next Game

The Barrage will play either the Denver Outlaws or the Rochester Rattlers on August 23 in the MLL Semi-Finals.

Barrage Game 11 (at Boston 8-2-08)

By Tom Hoffman

Looking to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Barrage (6-4) return to Boston for their second meeting with the Cannons (6-4) on Saturday evening. Faceoff at Harvard Stadium is at 7 PM and the game is the ESPN2 Game of the Week with broadcast on August 5 at 3:30 PM.

History

The Barrage improved to 8-13 all time against Boston with a 16-14 victory on July 3. Seth Goldberg, Roy Colsey, Matt Striebel and Ryan Boyle each scored three goals in the Barrage victory while Brian Dougherty made 28 saves in net. Paul Rabil scored four goals for Boston while Matt Alrich had six points (3G, 3A) for the Cannons.

Last Week

The Barrage dropped their championship rematch to the Los Angeles Riptide 13-9 last Saturday at the Home Depot Center. The Riptide outscored the Barrage 7-3 in the second half to secure the win. Peter Trombino led the Barrage with four goals. Boston lost at Rochester 26-19 on Saturday.

Playoff Scenarios

According to majorleaguelacrosse.com, the Barrage can clinch a playoff berth Saturday night with a victory, as well as wins by Rochester and Los Angeles. However, should the Barrage lose by two or more goals and Los Angeles win their game, the Barrage would be eliminated from postseason consideration.

Barrage League Leaders

Points: Ryan Boyle - 35 (Tied 11th)

Power Play Goals: Seth Goldberg - 6 (Tied 3rd)

Shots: Matt Striebel - 96 (2nd)

Save Percentage: Brian Dougherty - .570 (2nd)

Saves: Dougherty - 180 (3rd)

Next Game

The Barrage conclude the regular season when they travel to Hillsboro, Oregon (outside Portland) to face the New Jersey Pride on August 9.

Barrage Game 10 (at Los Angeles 7-26-08)

By Tom Hoffman

After being off for just over two weeks, the Barrage (6-3) returns to play Saturday when they visit the Los Angeles Riptide (5-4) in a rematch of the 2007 MLL Championship Game. Faceoff at the Home Depot Center is at 7 PM. The game will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet.

History

In addition to last year’s title game won by the Barrage 16-13 at Rochester’s PAETEC Park, the teams have met one other time in regular season play. On May 27, 2006 the Barrage defeated the Riptide 18-6 at Villanova Stadium in LA’s first ever game. While the Barrage roster has pretty much stayed the same, only two current members of the Riptide (Michael Watson and Greg Bice) were in the lineup that night.

Last Game

The Barrage defeated New Jersey 16-11 on July 10th at Yurcak Field. Tied at halftime 6-6, the Barrage scored seven of the games next nine goals to break open the game. Peter Trombino earned game MVP honors with five goals while Brett Moyer was named Defensive Player of the Week for helping to hold the Pride’s Merrick Thomson pointless on the evening. In addition to Trombino, Matt Striebel added four goals while Roy Colsey dished out five assists along with a goal. Brian Dougherty made 13 saves in the Barrage cage.

Success out West

Since the Western expansion in 2006, the Barrage has done quite well against the four new teams. The Barrage’s record against the West is 4-1 in regular season play, their only loss coming last season at Denver. In the postseason, the Barrage are 3-0 against the Western teams, with their last two titles coming at the expense of the new squads (2006 – Denver, 2007 – LA).

Barrage Leaders

Goals: Seth Goldberg – 26
Assists: Ryan Boyle – 16
Points: Goldberg, Boyle and Matt Striebel – 31
Faceoff Wins: Andy Corno – 133
Saves: Brian Dougherty – 162

Next Game

The Barrage will travel to Boston to face the Cannons on August 2nd.

Barrage enjoy "homecoming"

By Tom Hoffman

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."

Barrage Game 9 (at New Jersey 7-10-08)

By Tom Hoffman

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.