Over the last two weeks, the New York Lizards have acquired a number of individual hardware. Greg “The Beast” Gurenlian took home the FOAthlete of the year, MLL/USL Sportsmanship Player of the Year, and MVP, Drew Adams was awarded the Goalie of the Year award, and Joe Fletcher achieved the Defensive Player of the Year award. In the end, however, there was one trophy not just Gurenlian, Adams, and Fletcher wanted, but the entire Lizards team aspired to have, and that was the Steinfeld Cup. The Lizards were able to capture their third MLL Championship in franchise history with a 15-12 victory over in-state rival Rochester Rattlers.
The Lizards certainly had to fight to get the Steinfeld Cup, as the game got off to a rocky start. Despite getting two goals from Ned Crotty and Paul Rabil, the Lizards were shocked that the Rattlers offense, led by Offensive Player of Year award-winner Jordan Wolf, came out and scored six goals in the first quarter.
Just like the game against the Boston Cannons, the Lizards came into the second quarter with a sense of urgency. Matt Gibson opened the second with a goal. Then Tommy Palasek and Jo-Jo Marasco followed with goals of their own. Pannell rounded out the Lizards’s scoring in the second quarter with two consecutive, but Dave Lawson and Jack Near had scored to keep the Rattlers ahead 8-7 going into halftime.
Picking up where he left off was Pannell, who opened the second half with a goal to tie the game, but Mark Matthews shot the ball past Adams twice to put the Rattlers back up by two. Of course, no defense could contain “The Beast” as Gurenlian won the face-off following Matthews’s goal, sprinted towards John Galloway, and then fired the ball past him to bring the Lizards back to within one. Kyle Denhoff, who had scored the game’s first goal, tried to keep his team out front before the end of the third quarter with a goal, but Rabil and Gibson scored again to tie the game at 11.
Determined not to let his team lose in the championship game for the second year in a row, Wolf opened fourth-quarter play with a goal. Pannell, however, managed to zip the ball into the net for his fourth goal to tie it once again, and Mike Stone added his name under the goal column and gave the Lizards their first lead of the game. The Lizards never looked back from, as Palasek notched his second goal of the night and Rabil added his third to seal the victory for the Lizards. Rabil was the MVP of the game.
