In the Boston Cannons victory over the Charlotte Hounds on Saturday night, we saw one of the rarest plays in all of lacrosse; a goalie scoring a goal. Just how rare is this feat?
Adam Ghitelman went racing down the field to score on fellow goalie Jordan Burke this week, a goal that was the difference between the game going to overtime. Despite the Hounds loss, the play was as exciting as it gets.
In hockey, sometimes goalies will score on an empty net. This can happen sometimes in box lacrosse too, but it’s even rarer in field lacrosse. Over the history of both versions, just how many times has it happened?
Greg Cattrano is the most famous scoring goaltender ever. With Brown University he scored three goals in his career. In MLL, he played for Baltimore Bayhawks, Philadelphia Barrage and New York Lizards and is the only goalie to win an MLL MVP award. He also played for two seasons for the NLL’s New York Saints.
There have been 14 goals scored by goalies in the history of the NLL according to a story in the New York Times. Pat O’Toole of the Rochester Knighthawks scored one in the regular season and one in the playoffs, the first goalie to accomplish that feat.
According to the story in the Times, a goalie named Buff MacCready scored 15 goals in a season in Major Series Lacrosse in the 1970s. Andrew Goldstein of Dartmouth famously scored the only goalie goal in the history of the NCAA tournament.
Last season in MSL Tyler Carlson scored a goal. He plays on the Minnesota Swarm of the NLL. In 2006, current Hamilton Nationals goaltender Brett Queener scored a goal for Albany against Johns Hopkins. In 2006, Gee Nash scored a goal and in 2005 Matt Roik scored once. Devin Dalep of the Pittsburgh Crossfire also scored once against Rochester in 2000. The most famous goalie goal might be Matt King’s with Calgary to win the Western Conference Finals.
Goalies scoring is very rare, but even more rare in field lacrosse, making Ghitelman’s goal one to remember.
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