Major League Lacrosse :      July 6, 2002 [ The Game Story]
Bridgeport Barrage 16 New Jersey Pride 17 Scoring: Scoring: Keith Cromwell Brian Piccola Jimmy Mormille Roy Colsey Dan Denihan Matt Panetta Brian Langtry Nick Russo Bj Prager Blake Miller (6, 0) (3, 1) (3, 0) (1, 1) (0, 2) (0, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Jesse Hubbard David Curry Chris Massey Jim Keenan Peter Jacobs Jon Hess Drew Melchionni Jay Jalbert Scott Urick Matt Caione (5, 1) (4, 1) (2, 1) (1, 1) (2, 0) (0, 2) (0, 2) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Mark Spruyt Jim Mule 7  (0.467) 5  (0.385) Steve Koudelka 26  (0.619) Current Record :     (1-6) Current Record :     (3-3) Team Page For 2002 Team Page For 2002       The Game Story:

The New Jersey Pride withstood a Barrage comeback to win 17-16 in overtime in front of a reported 3,165 fans in Connecticut. I know I have said this before but Saturday was the most egregious example of attendance inflation yet. It would have been more accurate if they took the comma out and put a decimal in front of the five. Regardless, it was an exciting game and some young players put in some impressive performances. Bridgeport attackman Keith Cromwell worked his match-up against New Jersey’s Roger Colbert and Drew Melchionni for six points including a two-point shot with 10 seconds left in regulation that tied the game and sent it into overtime. In the extra period, Dave Curry put one just inside the pipe for New Jersey’s victory. This was the Barrage’s third overtime loss this season and they fell to 1-8 all-time in one-goal games. When asked about his team’s psychology, Bridgeport’s head coach Sal LoCascio responded, “Pretty fragile. I’m not sure we think we can make plays.”

New Jersey dominated the first quarter going up 5-1. The Pride’s goals came from all different sources with the highlight being Peter Jacobs’ two-point bomb with 48 seconds remaining in the quarter. That goal was created and assisted by Melchionni who made a quick jump on the restart. Bridgeport’s Roy Colsey also had a sweet move as he put the stick behind his back while dodging like a dribbling basketball player. Colsey didn’t have enough room to get a shot though.

The second quarter had more fireworks than the first. Bridgeport peeled off two in a row to open the quarter. The Pride came back with four more to extend their lead. MLL All-Star Jesse Hubbard had two in a row in the span, both unassisted. Bridgeport came back with four of their own; three of which were unassisted. During the Barrage scoring run they replaced their own goalie Jim Mule with Mark Spruyt. Mule had made only five saves while allowing nine goals. LoCascio said after the game that it would be reasonable to expect Spruyt to start the next game. Considering that neither Mule nor Spruyt has consistently performed this season, look for new acquisition Justin Cynar to also have an opportunity at some point. Hubbard made the score 10-7 when he converted a Curry feed. Rookie Jimmy Mormile from Brown got his second career goal with a soft shot as he jumped above his defender. Finally Hubbard put in another one, again unassisted, as he drove past his defender with four seconds left in the half.

Hubbard stayed hot and opened the second half with his fifth goal of the game. Massey followed with a shot that he may have picked up from the Princeton Women’s lacrosse team as he reversed his hands and scored. Bridgeport came back with two more to put them within three but Curry hit a huge two-pointer with nine seconds left in the quarter to make the score 15-10.

Bridgeport opened up the final period with three goals all unassisted. The Barrage were stacking four guys in front of the crease constantly pick and repicking allowing the other players. They do this for two reasons: 1.) they have some terrific inside players and 2.) they liked some of the outside match-ups they had and it was difficult for the defense to know who was sliding from the crease. New Jersey got their final goal of regulation with 3:24 remaining as Jim Keenan completed a feed from Massey. Bridgeport had the ball with 1:45 remaining and Colsey got a shot, which sailed wide. Bridgeport got another shot, which New Jersey saved and sent, deep on the clear. Bridgeport got the ball back and called time-out. They fired off two more shots until Brian Piccola scored with 34 seconds left and made the score 16-14. Bridgeport won the face-off and called time-out. Colsey had the ball when a penalty was called. His free shot didn’t have enough power and Bridgeport moved into an extra-man situation. The ball got moved to Cromwell who whipped a lefty crank and tied the score. There was some question as to whether or not Cromwell was behind the line but it counted.

Bridgeport won the face-off to start the overtime period and called time-out. Coach LoCascio drew an outstanding play. It made me wish this were the week’s showcase game so I could have seen the Merrill Lynch huddle cam as he explained it. There were guys coming form all over and it was very well designed. Anyway, Colsey had a good look but it didn’t go in. The Barrage had another look but Steve Koudelka made a great save and sent the ball down field to Jay Jalbert. Here is what Dave Curry saw, “Jay drove right and drew about three guys. I was hoping he was going to move it over which he did with a great look. I didn’t have to really beat anyone because the slides were coming. It wasn’t that great of a shot, I just kind of snuck it in there.”

Coach Ted Georgalas said after the game, “I would have liked to have seen us do a few things better in regulation not to put us in that position but we’ll take it.” Reid Jackson was at the game but not in uniform. The New Jersey captain jammed his shoulder in practice last week but expects to be back for Friday. LoCascio probably summed up his team’s feelings when he said, “Tonight would have been a nice one to steal.”