The New York Lizards and Boston Cannons match ups always produce some of the closest games, and Friday’s game was no different. Both teams played competitively, but in the end, the Lizards claimed a 15-12 win over the Cannons at James M. Shuart Stadium, sweeping the Cannons for the second time in the last two seasons and remaining undefeated in the regular season.
The Cannons and Lizards last met up last weekend at Gillette Stadium where the Lizards were able to claim a 15-14 win. Paul Rabil was the lead scorer in that game with three goals, two of which were two-point goals, and two assists. His performance in that game was rewarded with the Warrior Player of the Week.
The Cannons came out firing on all cylinders with two goals within the first five minutes of the first quarter. Midfielder Rob Emery opened the scoring and scored the first goal, putting his team up 1-0. Brent Adams found himself adding to the score sheet with a goal a minute later to extend the Cannons lead to 2-0.
The Lizards responded with three straight goals of their own. Attacker Tommy Palasek scored two consecutive goals for the lizards to knot the game a 2, with Rabil assisting on the second goal. Then Rob Pannell helped the Lizards gain the 3-2 lead with a goal of his own with Crotty getting credited with the assist. The first quarter would end in a 4-4 tie with Lizards and Cannons exchanging goals by Ryan Young and David Emala for the Cannons and Rabil for the Lizards.
The second quarter was much of the same story as the end of the first, with the Cannons and Lizards exchanging goals. For every goal the lizards scored, the Cannons had a response to it. Ned Crotty and JoJo Marasco gave the Lizards a one-goal lead only to have Josh Amidon and Max Seibald tie the game for the Cannons. Pannell, who assisted on Marasco’s goal, was able to give the Lizards the 7-6 lead before the first half ended.
The third quarter belonged to the Lizards, as their offense exploded for six goals. The scoring began with Rabil, who added another goal to his stat line, and followed by Matt Gibson, assisted by Mike Stone, and Crotty to give the Lizards a 10-6 lead. After Kevin Buchanan halted the Lizards’ run with his goal to bring the lead back to 10-7, Palasek, assisted by Pannell, and Marasco recorded their second goals of the game to extend the deficit to five goals.
Soon it was Boston’s turn to go on the attack. Seibald attempted to bring the Cannons closer to the Lizards’ lead with a 2-point goal that brought his team to within three. He was setup by Buchanan. Buchanan later recorded his second goal of the game that cut the lead to two goals. His goal was assisted by Erik Smith. Steve DeNapoli extended the Lizards’ lead back to three goals before the third quarter came to a close with the Lizards out front 13-10.
After over five minutes of neither team scoring, Pannell extended the lead to four goals with his third goal of the game, rounding out an impressive five-point game. Boston tried to keep up with the Lizards, so Owen Blye, who assisted on Emala’s goal in the first quarter, scored his first goal of the game and Adams, who was set up by Buchanan, contributed to get the score to 14-12. Their efforts fell short as Marasco scored his third goal of the game to officially seal the 15-12 win for the Lizards.
With this win, the Lizards continue their undefeated season, improving to 5-0. They will play host to the Chesapeake Bayhawks, who are 2-1 on the season, next Saturday, May 16th, at James M. Shuart Stadium at 5:00 p.m. As for the Cannons, they fall to 1-3 on the season, losing their last three games. They will return to Gillette Stadium next Sunday, May 17th, at 6:00 p.m. to play host to the Rochester Rattlers, who are 2-2 on the season.
