Major League Lacrosse :      August 14, 2003 [ The Game Story]
New Jersey Pride 21 Boston Cannons 18 Scoring: Scoring: Jon Hess Austin Garrison David Curry Jesse Hubbard Scott Urick Aj Shannon Scott Dooley (3, 6) (5, 1) (4, 1) (4, 1) (3, 0) (1, 1) (1, 0) Conor Gill Kevin Leveille Michael Watson David Evans Mike Battista Brent Rothfuss Mike Regan Steve Dusseau Tim Byrnes Peter Inge (1, 5) (3, 1) (4, 0) (2, 1) (2, 0) (2, 0) (2, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) Saves: Saves:         Current Record :     (7-5) Current Record :     (7-5) Team Page For 2003 Team Page For 2003       The Game Story:

In maybe the only lit stadium in the tri-state area, the playoff bound Cannons and Pride played an amazing game in what maybe a preview to the championships. In a back and forth thriller it was the Pride who walked away with a 21-18 victory over a distraught Cannons squad. It was the Cannons who fell victom to a 9-1 Pride run in the fourth quarter spearheaded by Jesse Hubbard who was procliamed "the best player in the league"by Scott Urick. The chatty Scott also had this to say about the victory, "I think we needed to go into the playoffs with a win, and to get it against a team we may see in a championship match up, that's even better."

The opening face was won by Boston who worked it around on offense, but close defenseman Dave Stilley had other plans, as he adeptly stripped Michael Watson of the ball. The Pride quickly took advantage when Austin Garrison took the ball downfield and disrobed one middie and two closed d-men before bouncing a goal by Garrity. Boston looked a little rattled, but quickly came back when Brent Rothfuss took a ripper from up top that went off of Tierney's stick and into the stick of Watson, who put an awkward backhander into an empty net. The next face off was won by Boston and a pattern was seeming to develop, three faceoff wins in a row. Boston, however, was unable to capitalize when Evans errant pass ended up in a loss of possession. The Pride finally worked the ball to the Jesse"best player in the league". Hubbard took the ball to the net as he is known to do, drawing the double. He fed an open Urick who popped one past Garrity for a 2-1 lead. The Pride quickly scored two more goals from Curry and Garrison to end the quarter with a comfortable 4-2 lead.

After a tongue lashing from Coach Georgalas, the Canons came out with renewed vigor. That was evident as they reeled off five shots in the first three and a half minutes. It was at 11:05 when the Cannons finally found the back of the net off of a sick feed by Gill to a wide open Leveille. The Cannons were one away from tying it up when the Pride went on a four goal run with goals from Dooley, Curry, and two from Garrison. However, Boston had a rally of their own that started with four minutes to go in the half. It started with Evans rolling to the cage and pounding one past a disgruntled Tierney. Regan capped off the run with a beautiful side arm crank that beat Tierney off his hip. After all this end to end action the Pride were up with a 9-8 lead at the end of the half.

The third quarter started with a shocking event, the Pride won a face off. Of course the crowd went wild or was that the speakers playing simulated crowd noise. Anyway, the Pride took control of the ball and set up a very Princetonian offense with Hubbard and Hess having a catch behind the net. But it was Shannon who bounced one off of Garrity's chest and into Hess' lap. Hess then picked the ball up and dunked one in the net proving he isn't just an assist man. Boston was not to be denied, and rallied off of a goal by Mike Watson pulled them within one0. Boston won the ensuing faceoff and set up their offense with great efficacy scoring at the 11:27 mark to take a 10-9 lead, their first of the game. The Cannons continued with their scoring ways netting four more before the Pride stopped the bleeding. The Pride battled back with goals by Hubbard and Hess but were unable to regain the lead as the quarter ended with the Cannons up 14-12.

At 13:58 of the fourth quarter the Cannons went up 16-12 when Conor Gill roll dodged his way past Pat Collins and threw a nutmeg shot behind Tierney. The Pride showed life when the Princeton connection struck. This time it was Hess who picked off a pass by Garrity and fed Hubbard on the crease for a empty net goal. The Pride won the next face and started an amazing 9-1 run. The streak was spearheaded by Hubbard and Garrison who each had two goals. Boston seemed unable to do anything right during this run. They lost all the faceoffs they took and scooping a ground ball seemed almost impossible. Mike Regan said it best, "We just lost control down the stretch, especially with the fundamentals." That's one way to explain a 9-1 run. The Pride's fourth quarter explosion sealed the deal with a final score of 21-18. This will be a good shot of confidence for the Pride going into the playoffs.