The Philadelphia Barrage beat the Connecticut Hammerheads 14-10 during another sweltering afternoon of Major League Lacrosse action. It was a battle between the new kids on the block, both teams coming into the game 0-2. Spencer Ford must be relieved to get the first win in the books for Philadelphia. Connecticut is still in the hunt for win number one.
Lacrosse is a game of runs and this game was no exception. The end of the first saw Philadelphia up 4-3 over Connecticut. Philly led in almost every category, including turnovers this quarter. The only exception was the save category. It’s a good thing Connecticut goalie Sean Sconone was on his game today. He made some incredible saves. The score could have been much worse.
The second quarter saw more even play as both teams scored three times. Chris Madalon played solidly in the net as well. The third quarter was much of the same with Philadelphia outscoring Connecticut 3-2. They outscored the Hammerheads 4-2 in the fourth quarter to walk away with the win.
This game was more spread out and the players took more time in between most shots. Perhaps it was planned, perhaps the heat and the fatigue were factors. Either way, both teams took this approach. It seemed like a more laid-back game versus some of the hard hitting action that was seen over the weekend.
In terms of the offense, Mark Matthews and Brendan Sunday led the attack for the Barrage. Matthews met his mark quite often with four goals and two assists. Sunday sent four goals to the back of the net and added one assist. On the Hammerheads side, Will Sands slammed in two goals and assisted twice.
And while the Barrage seemed to have more man power on attack, Sconone seemed to know what was going on with them. He ended with 16 saves. Madalon ended with 13.
Both defenses and midfielders were sloppy at times. The Barrage had 23 turnovers while only causing six turnovers. Meanwhile the Hammerheads had 13 turnovers and five caused turnovers. There were 78 ground balls picked up in this game. Forty went to Philadelphia while 38 went to Connecticut.
Both teams have plenty to work on over these next few days. Philly takes on Boston at 4 p.m. Tuesday while Connecticut takes on New York on Wednesday.
