Aug. 26, 2007
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - If the Philadelphia Barrage organization disbands, its players vow they will not.
"They could send us to Anchorage, Alaska," midfielder Matt Striebel said, "and I think most of these guys would be there. You can't stress how important chemistry is in this league."
Striebel scored all three of his goals in the fourth quarter to lead the Barrage to its second straight Major League Lacrosse championship with a 16-13 victory over the Los Angeles Riptide before 5,228 sun-soaked fans at Rochester's Paetec Park.
Philadelphia (11-3) is the MLL's first repeat champion. Having also won the title with an improbable turnaround in 2004, the once-woeful franchise originally from Bridgeport is also the league's first three-time champion.
Its success this year came despite underperforming at the gate and amidst an uncertain future with the league expanding again in 2008.
"Look, there's so much talent in the league on any team, right?" said backup goalkeeper Kevin Keenan, who logged significant minutes for the second straight game in relief of Brian Dougherty. "We look at it like we play for each other...If you weren't on the bandwagon then (2004), you're not on the bandwagon now. That's how we see it."
Dougherty, who had his bell rung by a shot in Philadelphia's semifinal victory over the Denver Outlaws, started the game, but was twice removed at crucial points.
Already battling the flu, Dougherty took a Sean Lindsay two-point attempt to the groin, and he was lifted with the Barrage leading 5-3 and 1:58 remaining in the first quarter. Keenan came up with a stop on a close-range jump shot by Chris Pieczonka before the quarter expired.
Dougherty left the game again late in the third quarter after a sharp-angled goal by L.A.'s Greg Downing tied it at 11 with 1:42 remaining. Los Angeles had seized momentum with a 3-0 run, and it was up to Keenan to stem the tide.
Keenan finished the quarter unscathed and came out to start the fourth. As the teams aligned for the opening faceoff, Keenan kneeled at the right pipe in his blue sweatpants. Facing behind the cage, he made the sign of the cross, as Dougherty dry-heaved on the sideline.
Chazz Woodson, who scored four goals in the Riptide's semifinal upset of Rochester, finally broke Keenan when he swept left of Bobby Horsey and triggered a quick, low release that put L.A. ahead 12-11 at the 10:21 mark - its first lead since early in the first quarter.
It took Philadelphia just 47 seconds to respond. Striebel went hard to his left, rolled back right and fired a sidearm shot off the left wing to tie it 12 apiece.
Dougherty then returned for good with 7:39 remaining, talking to himself in the cage. He let in the last Riptide goal - a fast-break finish from Chris Gill to Spencer Ford off a Pieczonka faceoff - that tied the game a seventh time, 13-13, with 6:49 left.
A minute later, Striebel warded off a slash in the back, got inside of Greg Downing and dove across the crease with a shot that beat Mickey Jarboe for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
The Downing penalty, followed by a costly unsportsmanlike conduct call on Gill at the 2:36, sunk L.A., as the Barrage had the lead and time to spare.
"That was me losing my head," Gill explained afterward. "There's no excuse for it at all. I thought I got tripped and there was no call. I asked him (official Matt Palumb) how I ended up on the ground. He threw the flag."
Striebel then capped off a six-point performance (he also had three assists) with an extra-man goal that soared low off Mitch Belisle's hip and high past Jarboe's stick into the top-left corner of the cage. It put the Barrage up two with 2:02 remaining.
Kevin Cassese and long pole Kyle Sweeney combined to win a crucial ground ball on the ensuing faceoff. After a Philadelphia timeout, Jed Prossner took advantage of the Riptide's J.J. Morrissey overextending with 1:06 left for the final margin.
Jarboe struggled, allowing 16 goals against just 10 saves. Dougherty made 14 saves, including a final two-point attempt by Lindsay.
Keenan finished with one save and six in two games. L.A. was held to just one fourth-quarter goal, as Sweeney, Brian Spallina and Brett Moyer put the clamps on Michael Watson (1g), Ford (1g, 2a) and Terry Riordan (3g), respectively, late.
Sweeney also scored arguably the game's most impressive goal in the first quarter, when he took a crushing hit by Matt Casey off a high Dougherty feed at midfield, fell, got up, maintained possession and sprinted inside the arc to rip the goal that put Philly up 5-3 and preceded Dougherty's first removal.
"Luckily, I have the best defense in the league. When I went out there, the defense just took its game to a whole new level." Keenan said. "Some people see a backup goaltender coming in and they put their heads down. This team rallies."
Seth Goldberg, who was acquired midseason from Rochester, added four goals for the Barrage. Roy Colsey, the hero Saturday with an overtime goal against Denver, finished with two goals in what the 34-year-old said would be his last MLL game.
Striebel, who with Colsey represents the only two remaining players from the original Bridgeport Barrage of 2001, doesn't believe him.
"We're sitting on the bus on the way here, and his dad calls him. He asks Roy, `How do you feel?' And Roy says, '34,'" Striebel recalled. "But with Roy, we won't really know until training camp. I mean, c'mon, look at the guy. Yeah he's 34, but he dominates."
It's probable Colsey will not be back in 2008. It's possible the team might not be in Philadelphia. If Sunday was their end, it will go down as one worthy of remembrance - the first true dynasty in Major League Lacrosse.
