With the playoffs just ‘round the corner, the Lizards and the Cannons played today’s contest like the season opener and went all out in front of the 4,502 in attendance on Bill Daye appreciation night. The setting was perfect for a great game, the Cannons on the heels of 3 straight wins and the Lizards in the trenches after 3 consecutive losses. The Lizards didn’t stand a chance with Boston’s offense on point behind the spectacular play of Connor Gill (team rookie of the year) and Steve Dusseau (the SoBe Iron Lizard of the game.) Dusseau led the way with 6 goals and an assist. The Cannons end the season at .500 and 6-2 in the American division.

His “Airness” tagged twine 44 seconds into the game. The play began with a ground ball at the 50 and Casey made like a train straight to cage firing one stickside high past Cynar. This season the Cannons had a fresh new look on attack without Radebaugh and Knight. Steve Dusseau and Connor Gill Have really stepped it up this season, assuming the roles of play makers and giving opposing defenses trouble from X and topside. The rookies hooked up at 10:36 when Gill found Dusseau open on the crease in transition. The Lizards took the lead back on a goal from Tim Goettelmann. Powell tried to take it straight to cage when an early slide came to put him in a coma. Casey hit Goettelmann on the crease who followed his slide from the easy goal. Connor tied the game back up in a blink of an eye. Connor beat his man topside from X with pure speed. Gill took a no-look shot when he turned the corner and beat Carcaterra low. The Cannons sealed the first quarter, frustrating the Lizards offense with swarming defense and scoring two more goals for a 4-2 lead. Tim Byrnes scored his 1st of four with a lefty shot on the run. Byrnes caught Carcaterra taking a step to his right so he fired it to the near side pipe. Mike Regan scored with 2:30 remaining on a middie invert from in the back left corner. I’d like to say that Mike used a sick move to beat his man, but he just burned him with wheels. Once he made it 3 feet from the crease on goal line, Regan dove through the crease catching Carcaterra on his offside hip.

The Cannons quickly went to work, scoring off the opening face-off in the 2nd quarter. C-Gill had the honors, getting the ball on a topside cut from behind the goal. Once he had the angle Connor pivoted and took a righty jump shot that rang the upper left pipe. Dusseau drained his 2nd goal of the game to give Boston a 6-2 lead. Dusseau was following a cut when Connor found him open. The first cut drew the slide and this left Steve with an opportunity to shoot on Carc moving to his left. Long Island quickly responded netting 2 goals in 2 minutes. McCavera found Powell about 15 feet from the cage and took a nasty shot sidearm off his man his him with out taking a step. The shot ripped the pipe on Cynar’s offside hip. Finneran scored the second goal, beating two Cannons who were fiercely looking for a stick check, and ripped his shot underhand low into the back of the net. Cannons’ young gun Dusseau scored a hattrick before halftime. Steve’s goal was nice and it’s a shame that they outlawed these shots in Collegiate play. Dusseau beat his man with an insideroll and dove through the crease chest high on Carcaterra. Dusseasu easily placed his shot topshelf and brought everyone in Cawley Stadium to their feet. Casey responded to Dusseau's goal and showed everyone why he is labeled as the "best" . Powell started from X and tried to get Curtis on the finalizer. When Casey couldn’t get Ryan to trip over the back of the net, he went strong topside righty. Right when Casey made it to the goal line he took a no-look side arm show that squeezed between Cynars right hip and the pipe. Powell had about 3 inches to squeeze it in, and like the outlaw from the wild-west Casey stuck his stick in his holster after the shot for the Boston fans. The Lizards finally got back with in one and EMO goal from Ken Garcia. Haugen skipped a pass to Garcia and put one low to hit the nylon. With about 1 minute remaining both team were able to tack on another goal (8-7 Cannons), Byrnes scored his 2nd goal of the game with an outside shot and McCavera took a lefty shot that trickled past Cynar with :26 remaining.

During halftime Billy Daye was awarded a chrome Big Nasty stick, and a poster signed by all his teammates for all he has done for the team. It is tough to see the Cannons play without their “last line of defense” in the cage, but BD will always be remembered for the countless saves he’s made in the Cannons’ uniform. Next came the presentation of the Cannons team awards. Connor Gill was awarded with rookie of the year, Ryan Curtis was given the defensmen of the year, Mike Battista was named offensive player of the year, and Dave Jenkins got the 11th man award, for his hustle and face-off work. Finally the Cannons MVP was announced, David Evans who was taking the night off, gave Boston serious output on offense with 34 goals and 13 assists.

Dusseau got the ball rolling in the second half, finding fellow first round draft pick Connor Gill open for a no angle bounce shot, the kind that your average high schooler gets scolded for taking, unless it hits the net. Ex- Pride Matt Caione answered back for the “green goblins” (hehe, thanx Quint.) Greg McCavera found Caione cutting to the cage, and took a behind the back shot to get any angle on O’Brien fresh out of the Cannons stable. Boston answered back when Watson found Dusseau open for his 4th goal of the game. On the ensuing face-off, Eric Wedin, the Lizards man on the 50 came up with the GB and went right to goal. Wedin took O’Brien high as Boston’s keeper was still looking for his rhythm. Dusseau tacked on two straight goals for the Cannons. Steve’s first goal was another topside dive, but this time he shot at the opposite pipe. His second goal was quick turnaround jumper, he had his d-man playing him for an inside rolled and decided to use him as a screen. Long Island responded on a play on opportunity. Haugen drew the defense as he crossed the crease and dumped to Garcia who had a clean look. Gill put the Cannons back up by 3, finding Jenkins open for one of the shot of the game. Jenkins on the crease, did the best he could do with 2 six-foot titanium poles swing at him. He took a back-handed shot that caught Carcaterra off guard right under the crossbar. Last thirty seconds of the quarter was crunch time on offense for the Lizards. As their diligent work put 2 more goals in the net and brought the score to 13-12 going into the last 15. Finneran score with :26 seconds left dodging the defense like he was playing Canadian box before ripping it into the lower right corner. The next goal came with :4 seconds left from Dan Paccione, who took a solid overhand bouncer off the stiff turf.

Off the initial face-off in the 4th quarter, Boston scored 9 seconds in. Tim Byrnes ripped an over hand bouncer that clinked the bottom of the crossbar. Doyle ripped the net approximately 1 minute later from behind the arc. Scott Doyle shot overhand, using his d-man as a screen. The ball bounce right through Carcaterra’s five hole as he went for the split save. This quarter was intense, the Boston fans, rated the best in the league, let their presence be known, screaming for their Cannons and booing and taunting Casey Powell and the Lizards. Every ground ball had at least 4-5 players swarming for it. The only time the crowd went silent was during Long Island's 4 goal swing to tie the game at 16. Matt Caione started the run when he found Joe Ghedina open who caught O’Brien moving. The next goal game on EMO from Boston’s smothering defense Tim Goettelmann used an inside role to get the open look with the 1 slide still across the crease. Kevin Finneran scored the equalizer from two-point land hitting off O’Brien. Long Island finally got the lead since early in the first quarter as Caione drained his 2nd goal of the game, which also reamed off O’Brien to find the net. But that was all that Long Island could do, O’Brien wasn’t having anymore of that stone walling the Lizards. The Cannons took advantage of solid netminding of O’Brien, Byrnes tied up at 17 with a shot that snuck by Carcaterra stickside low. Regan scored the game winning goal 1:43 still remaining on the clock. The play began on an O’Brien save and then a clear to Scott Doyle. Doyle hit Regan the trailer, for a 100+ mph crank. The remaining time was nerve wrecking, as the crowd grew increasingly louder as the ball found it’s way to the Lizard offense. But O’Brien was on point making 3 straight saves