The Boston Cannons beat the New York Lizards 13-12 in the Cannons’ new stadium in Quincy, Massachusetts, last Saturday, June 1.
The stadium received a significant contribution from the Boston Cannons to make it ready for a Major League Lacrosse venue. And it was evident that Quincy supports this team because the sell out crowd of over 5,000 cheered almost non-stop.
The Cannons’ press release expressed head coach Sean Quirk’s contentment with the victory.
“We persevered, made some really good defensive stops. When we needed a goal at a critical time, they came through,” he said.
Mark Cockerton was a shining star for the Cannons with four goals in the first half and six by the end of the game. The Cannons were fortunately able to sign Cockerton again because the offense definitely needed his skills and leadership.
The Lizards dropped to 0-2 this season. Statistically speaking, they probably should have won the game. They won more faceoffs than the Cannons with 16 of 29 grabbed. However, they took 52 shots and only had 28 that were on goal. They had fewer shot clock violations. New York also had three fewer turnovers than Boston.
Perhaps it was the loss from the night before and tired legs that contributed to this loss, or maybe it was the 24 players they lost to the PLL. Anyway you look at it, the Lizards don’t look like the solid New York team of years past. They’ll have to make some significant changes in their game plan if they want to be contenders this season.
The Cannons visit the Rattlers at 4 p.m. Sunday.
