Nats Nab MLL Title in First Year as Franchise
by Matt DaSilva | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Game Blog (Twitter)
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Toronto Nationals head coach Dave Huntley receives a celebratory shower from Nats midfielders Gavin Prout (left) and Jordan Hall after Sunday's 10-9 win over the Denver Outlaws in the MLL championship game. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- When it comes to their stake
in the global groundswell of lacrosse, Americans and Canadians go
at it like Darwin and the Catholic Church.
"It's Canada's game," the cover of the Toronto Nationals
postseason media guide reads. "It's our game."
Why can't it be both?
For the second straight season, a team comprised predominantly of
Canadian players reached the pinnacle of American field lacrosse,
as the Nationals defeated the Denver Outlaws, 10-9, in the Major
League Lacrosse championship game Sunday at Navy Marine-Corps
Memorial Stadium.
But it was an unlikely tandem -- Team USA's Joe Walters and Team
Canada's Shawn Williams -- that made it happen.
With 45 seconds remaining in the back-and-forth affair (neither
team led by more than two goals the entire game), Walters carried
around the back of the cage on an invert, drew a late slide and
dumped a crease feed on Williams, who deposited the game-winning
goal from point-blank range.
"I was going to pop off and isolate. It was a little freelance at
the end," Walters said. "When you play with these guys, they'll
catch anything you throw at them."
"These guys" are the same Canadians whom Walters faced and lost to
as a member of the U.S. national team in 2006. He and Nats'
teammate Joe Cinosky are among the 40 players on the 2010 U.S.
men's training team.
Williams, who also scored the game-tying goal four minutes
earlier, could be Walters' foe next year at the world championships
in Manchester, England.
Williams, 35, mentored Walters when Walters made his National
Lacrosse League debut this year for the Rochester Knighthawks.
Walters, 24, returned the favor this summer, as Williams wanted to
take advantage of the MLL's expansion into the Canadian market.
"He's a great young kid; I'm a wily vet," Williams said. "I taught
him how to play box, and he taught me a little something about
field."
Despite Toronto's offensive prowess, the Nationals had trouble
getting untracked against the Outlaws' quick-sliding defense.
Denver scored four unanswered goals in the second quarter to turn a
3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead. The Nats went scoreless for nearly
eight minutes before Jeff Zywicki potted a goal with 1:59 remaining
in the first half.
Down 5-4 at halftime, Toronto head coach Dave Huntley made a bold
move, inserting goalkeeper Brett Queener -- who broke his hand
during warm-ups before the Nationals' semifinal victory Saturday
over Long Island -- for rookie starter Doc Schneider.
Outlaws head coach and general manager Brian Reese said he saw
Queener at the teams' hotel Saturday night in Annapolis and that he
expected the goalkeeper to play Sunday.
"He said his hand was feeling better," Reese said.
Queener's coast-to-coast acrobatics helped the now-defunct
Rochester Rattlers eviscerate Reese's Outlaws in the 2008
championship game. Despite Schneider's strong first-half showing
(12 saves), Queener raised the roof again, this time with just one
good hand.
Queener made 11 second-half saves and came out of the cage on
numerous occasions with wonton disregard for his broken hand.
"I talked to him before the game and asked him if he could go,"
Walters said. "He said, ‘Yeah, I'm going to give it a shot.'
I was like, ‘We need you.' He showed a lot of heart."
The Outlaws' offense struggled to respond to the Nationals'
defensive pressure, starting with Queener, down the stretch.
"We made some dumb plays in the fourth quarter," Reese said. "We
just couldn't find a rhythm on offense."
Toronto came back to tie the game twice in the third quarter and
twice in the fourth quarter. It wasn't until Walters found Williams
with 45 seconds left that the Nationals took the lead for good.
Geoff Snider struggled against Outlaws rookie Shane Walterhoefer
-- Walterhoefer went 14-for-22 -- but dug out a critical faceoff to
wingman Brodie Merrill. The Nats called timeout with 31 seconds
remaining, successfully killed the clock and left Navy-Marine Corps
Memorial Stadium littered with beer cans in their celebratory
heap.
"It's laid back and it's fun," Williams said of the MLL. "Lacrosse
is lacrosse."
That's something fans from both sides of the border could
appreciate Sunday.
News and Notes
Nationals attackman Merrick Thomson was named the MLL Championship
Weekend MVP. Thomson scored six goals in two playoff games --
including the free-for-all
game-winning goal in Saturday's semifinal for which he was
credited... Following the game, Outlaws midfielder Jeff Sonke
declined interviews and isolated himself outside Denver's locker
room. Line mate Josh Sims, meanwhile, lingered on the field to sign
the last autographs. Both veterans are contemplating retirement
after becoming fixtures in the Colorado lacrosse community. "He's
already decided [to retire], I haven't," Sims said. "I was looking
forward to bring some of the younger guys up and watch them go out
and dominate. It'd be nice to see them take over..." The announced
attendance for Sunday's championship game was 7,003
