Game brief
Boston saved their best demonstration of offensive potential for last with Kevin Leveille’s winning fast break goal. Leveille ended the stalemate throwing several fakes and a convincing dive for dramatic effect. Boston (7-2) defeated Philadelphia (3-6) 11-10 in front of 4,258 fans in attendance. Bud Light MVP goalie Chris Garrity led the Boston defensive effort against a flat Philadelphia attack with 17 saves while Barrage goalie Brian Dougherty ran up the stats with an impressive 19-goal effort of his own including taking Leveille’s final SOG in the face mask with 32 seconds left which prompted a tech-support timeout.

It was hardly the Boyle-Passavia circa May 2004 semis match-up last night at Nickerson field. The rivalry, the triumph, and the heartbreak of Boyle’s game-tying goal along the right side crease with 12 seconds left on the clock giving Princeton the momentum against Maryland was merely a whisper of a memory. Last night, Passavia held his college rival scoreless, pointless, and invisible, but it wasn’t without the help of Boyle himself.

Boston lost their previous match up against Philadelphia 14-15 on 30 June 05. Boyle had 5 goals, 1 assist and eight different players contributed to the scoring effort for the Barrage. Boston did their homework last night and the defensive match ups were solid choices: Curtis vs. Springer, Passavia vs. Boyle, and Staines vs. Prager.

While Boston did have a solid game, Philadelphia seemed like they couldn’t put it together. The ball movement and shot selection wasn’t there. The Barrage won 15-25 on the face-off X. This is a weakness for Boston and if they want to be a title contender they need more fire at the face-off x. Spallina, Sweeney, and Kuczma paired off against Evans, Millon, and Gill. The return of Evans also marked the absence of outside shooter Mike Battista.

Boston came out strong scoring the first three goals of the game. Mark Millon scored his 25th goal of the season off a roll dodge going past Dougherty’s stick side hip (1-0). Dave Evans followed three minutes later with a bouncer from high right (2-0).

Meanwhile Philadelphia could not convert on possession. Springer was stripped of the ball and his stick at 7:50 and fellow alum Jarett Park snagged the interception for Boston 20 seconds later. Christmas got his fifth goal of the season off an assist from Millon going upper 90 at 8:04 (3-0).

Philadelphia responded get their first of only two first period goals both from Matt Striebel. Striebel caught the late slide up high going low right (1-3). Boston followed with back-to-back goals from Byrnes and Millon. Philadelphia took control of the faceoff but failed to keep possession. Byrnes scored going left side hip (4-1). Millon followed with a goal off a loose ball demonstrating incredible hustle blowing by his defender and shooting high right (5-1). Striebel scored with less than one minute remaining muscling through and taking his defender’s stick going high right (2-5). Philadelphia was plagued by too many turnovers and was only able to convert on 12 shots in the first period.

Both teams had difficulty finding the back of the net in the second period. Philadelphia out shot Boston 12-10 in the period and both teams were only able to score one goal a piece. Mike Mollot powered the ball from X going lefty and low on Garrity (3-5) at 8:40. Chris Rotelli answered just over a minute later with a high right rip giving Boston a three-goal lead.

Philadelphia out shot and outscored Boston 11-10 and 5-4 in the third period (respectively). The Barrage attack came out strong in the second half scoring three unanswered goals. BJ Prager had a solid outing despite the considerable size match-up against defender Ronnie Staines. Prager scored his 20th goal of the season off an assist from Mollot going high right (4-6) and notched his two goals of the game during the period. Prager’s goal came just under the first minute. Wasik narrowed the margin by one working Christmas and getting the screen in front going top left (5-6). Striebel notched the game-tying goal working the crease and his defender getting the riser (6-6).

The Cannons answered with two goals from Millon and Park. Leveille dished the lateral flat pass to Million on the left who got the rip-curler on the back leg going hip right (7-6). Gill assisted Park on his roll dodge goal going lower left (8-6). Prager rolled the crease and got the step on his defender shooting right side hip on the lefty Dougherty (7-8).

Boston answered with two goals. Millon from X fed Rotelli who shot right side hip extending the Boston lead by two (9-7). Gill got the power play goal off an assist from Evans. Gill was parked up high near but shy of two-point territory and fired the ball in the lower right corner. Shanahan punctuated the third with a strong finish hard off the face-off going lower right corner (8-10).

Fourth quarter en route. Philadelphia out shot and outscored Boston 9-7 and 2-1. The intensity and aggression picked up in the period. Play was a bit sloppy at the beginning of the period giving Philadelphia an EMO-look on goal. Malone got the power play goal for Philadelphia at 10:12 going high right (9-10). Philadelphia got the game equalizer from Bobby Horsey at 11:38 (10-10). Horsey took his shorty defender (who lost his stick) going right by Garrity’s head.

Boston captured the lead and the attention of the crowd with a much-needed fast break series and demonstrating the beauty of intro level physics. Gill took time from what seems like his unending banter with the refs to solder the link in a perfectly engineered fast break giving the ball off to a Leveille parked on the crease. Leveille tore a page from the Gill scoring book going with the dip n’ dunk dive on the crease giving Boston a precious one goal lead at 12:34. Boston had another incredible look on goal with Leveille set up on the crease again with 32 seconds on the clock. Leveille’s shot got lodged into Dougherty’s helmet requiring a technical timeout. Philadelphia was unable to score on possession with three seconds on the clock. Final score Boston 11 Philadelphia 10.

Boston will face Baltimore while Philadelphia will face Long Island.