Steenhuis Brings All-Star Heroics to Australia
from press release
Update: Grant Leads East All-Stars to Sweep
Led by 2009 National Lacrosse League (NLL) top goal scorer Mark
Steenhuis, the impressive offensive talent of the East All-Stars
was too strong for their West-side competitors at Hisense Arena in
a 24-16 victory in the first game of the LeasePlan NLL All-Star
Series in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The fire power of the East team didn’t take long to ignite,
scoring the first two goals courtesy of 2007 No. 1 draft pick
Jordan Hall and Steenhuis at the five and 10-minute marks,
respectively, of the first quarter.
Sprung into action, Calgary Roughnecks transition man Jeff
Shattler got the West All-Stars on the board with a goal at the
11-minute mark, followed by his second two minutes later.
Further goals from Dane Dobbie and Aussie favourite Tim Fry secured
the West a 4-2 lead after the first quarter.
A scoring frenzy in the second quarter for the East created a
seven-goal turnaround to take a five-goal lead into the main break,
up 12-7. Impressive goals from league tough man Geoff Snider,
six-time league MVP Gary Gait and a double from Rochester star John
Grant Jr. stole the show.
A last-minute goal to Fry, taking his tally to two, provided hope
for the West going into halftime.
The hope was short-lived, however, when 2006 all-world
representative Jeff Zywicki drew first blood for the East team in
the second half.
Despite holding together in the third quarter and a trio of goals
from Aussie players Wes Green, Ben Newman and Ryan Garnsworthy, the
West couldn’t reel in the offensive brilliance of the East,
outscoring them by just one goal to narrow the difference to four.
East led 16-12 going into the fourth quarter.
The East All-Stars put their foot down again in the final quarter,
scoring eight more goals en route to a convincing 24-16 win.
Steenhuis took his goal tally to six with two final-quarter goals
which earned him MVP honors, an award the 28-year-old is familiar
with as the only multiple All-Star Game MVP in NLL
history.
Steenhuis was pleased to get the opportunity to play amongst some
of his fiercest rivals.
“I really enjoyed playing tonight in front of the Aussie
crowd,” Steenhuis said.
“All year we play against each other, and often hate each
other, so it’s neat to get to play alongside these guys
tonight.”
A keen surfer, the Buffalo Bandits transition man thought his MVP
performance may have been enough to gain a leave pass for tomorrow
night so he could head to the beach.
“I thought that if I won tonight, I wouldn’t have to
come back tomorrow,” Steenhuis joked.
“No, I think that the West team will have something to prove
tomorrow night, so we are up for another great contest.”
The second and final game of the series will be decided at Hisense
Arena tomorrow night. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
