The Boston Cannons appeared to be dead in the water with a 1-5 record and in second to last place in Major League Lacrosse. Now, with a new head coach, they have won two straight and are back in the race.The Cannons had lost five of six when they fired head coach Steve Duffy and hired John Tucker. Since then, the Cannons and Tucker are 2-0 with wins at Charlotte and at home against New York.
The top four playoff seeds are Denver at 8-0, Hamilton at 6-2, and then Chesapeake and Charlotte at 4-4. After that there are three 3-5 teams; the Cannons, Lizards and Rochester Rattlers. The Cannons are in the fifth seed officially due to tiebreakers, and that means they are just one game out of a playoff position.
Just two weeks ago, you could add Boston along with Ohio as teams without a shot at the playoffs. However, Ohio is now 1-7 and the Cannons have a legitimate shot at a playoff run, if they can keep things going.
Paul Rabil currently leads the team with 34 points. While he is their most important player, in their win over the Hounds Rabil did not pick up a single point and they still scored 15 goals. That is a sign that the Cannons offense is finding themselves.
Matt Poskay scored five goals yesterday as he starts to get it going and Mike Stone has had a breakout season with 18 points thus far. Last season he had a career high 28 points and he should be on pace to shatter that.
The rookies have had an impact as well, with rookie Will Manny picking up 10 points and Cameron Flint with five. Rookie Lee Coppersmith got into the game this weekend as well to add to the rookie barrage of the Cannons.
Next week the Cannons face the struggling 4-4 Chesapeake Bayhawks. A win ties them with the Hawks for fourth place, can they keep up their pace and find themselves back in the playoff hunt?
