Record Crowd, Cannons Rage Against Machine
from press release
BOSTON -- The Boston Cannons (2-0) defeated the
Chicago Machine (1-1) 17-15 in front of a Cannons all-time record
crowd of 10,615 fans Saturday night at Harvard Stadium. Midfielder
Kevin Buchanan won Bud Light MVP player of the game honors with
three goals and two assists.
The Cannons played a stellar first quarter as they received goals
from Buchanan, Mike Stone and Justin Smith to take a 3-0 lead. The
Cannons defense locked down the Machine as they held an opponent
scoreless in the first quarter for the first time since June 15,
2007 at home against the Washington Bayhawks.
Starting off an evenly contested second quarter, Ryan Boyle netted
a spectacular goal as he leaped over a Chicago defender to put the
Cannons up 4-0. Mike Leveille finally got the Machine on the board
three minutes into the quarter on his third goal of the season.
Buchanan followed by scoring his second goal of the contest to give
Boston a 5-1 lead. The Cannons allowed two Machine goals before
Matt Poskay notched his 100th career goal with 7:38 remaining in
the quarter. Chicago would get within a goal, 7-6, before Paul
Rabil brushed off a barrage of defenders to rifle home his first
goal of the season, giving the Cannons an 8-6 advantage at the
half.
Poskay opened up the second half by moving into sole possession of
fourth place on the Cannons all-time goals scored list with his
second tally of the game to open up the third quarter. The Cannons
opened up the game in third as they tallied six points including
two goals from Paul Rabil, Buchanan’s third goal of the game
and a Brad Ross two pointer, as Boston’s stifling defense
held the Machine to just two goals.
The Machine made a late charge in the fourth quarter, scoring
seven times, but fell short as Boston got two goals from Poskay and
an impressive unassisted goal from Kyle Sweeney to close out the
17-15 victory. Buchanan received praise from Rabil who spoke
glowingly of the midfielder after the game.
“I think he may be the most underrated player in the league, he does a lot of things well and I am psyched to be playing with a player of his caliber,” said Rabil, who scored three goals in his first game back from the NLL and thinks the Cannons can have a special season. “This team has a lot of talent; I really feel like we mesh well as a unit, we need to hold teams off better but our defense and offense both clicked really well at times tonight.”
