Toronto Week 9 Preview

7/5/10 8:00 AM

Toronto Week 9 Preview

Redmond Zmudzien

The Toronto Nationals defeated the first place Boston Cannons 15-13 behind five points from attackman John Grant Jr. last Thursday July 1. Grant had four assists and a goal in the victory while attackman Kevin Huntley and midfielder Garrett Billings each notched three points.

With the win Toronto improved to 3-5 on the season and it was also the Nationals’ first victory at home this year. Midfielder Jordan Hall was named the game’s Bud Light MVP for his two goal performance and is now tied for the team lead in goals with Grant at 12. It was the Nationals’ first victory over the Cannons since last season when Toronto came back late to drop Boston 18-17 in an overtime thriller on July 23.

With the win the Nationals, once a team in the basement, suddenly look like the hottest team in the league with three straight wins while Boston fell to 5-3 after winning four straight. Thursday night’s game was the definition of hard fought as neither team ever gained a comfortable lead. One side would take the lead then the other would go on a run and vice versa. Toronto led 4-3 after the first quarter, then Boston drew even at nine going into half before taking a 13-12 lead after three quarters. The Nationals refused to fall further out of the playoff hunt though as they dug their heels in and held the Cannons scoreless in the final frame. Toronto received goals from attackman Delby Powless, Hall and Billings in the quarter as the Nationals pulled away for the 15-13 victory.

However, the reigning MLL MVP Paul Rabil would not let his Cannons squad go quietly as he recorded four points on the night. Among those four points was a two point goal while All-Star defenseman Brodie Merrill harassed him the whole way. Rabil showed why he is the defending MVP as he took the ball nearly all the way up to the midfield line on an isolation play. Rabil then proceeded to take on Merrill, turning him back and forth with several dodges before creating separation and unleashing a rocket from behind the arc.

Up next for the Nationals are the Denver Outlaws (5-3) on Saturday July 10. The two last faced off on May 29 in Denver as the Outlaws took the game 15-12. Outlaws attackman Drew Westervelt took over with a five goal performance earning him Bud Light MVP honors for the game. Among Westervelt’s goals was a two pointer, the Team USA sharpshooter has racked up three of them on the year so far. Denver is a dangerous team that is tied with Boston for first place in the league and is home to a number of top notch lacrosse players. The Outlaws feature five players on the U.S. National team, including Adam Fullerton, Eric Martin, Brendan Mundorf, Max Seibald, and Westervelt.

Toronto has its share of National team players on its roster as well though, 18 to be exact.

Each side will have a great deal of national team firepower as the players use this game, along with the All-Star game as a final tune-up for the World Championship.

The Nationals need to stay on this current hot streak though because if they can pull out a win then they could potentially put themselves into early playoff seeding. If Toronto wins, along with Chesapeake and Long Island that would create quite the logjam in the standings. If all three win, then that would leave Boston and Denver in a tie for first at 5-4 with the remaining four teams in a four-way tie for second place at 4-5 with three games remaining. A win would be far from a guaranteed playoff spot, but it would give the Nationals control of their own destiny. It may very well come down to tiebreakers to determine who makes the postseason, but until then all the Nationals can do is keep winning and worry about their potential seeding at the end of the season.

The Outlaws will travel to Toronto to take on the Nationals Saturday July 10. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. The Major League Lacrosse official Web site will have a live blog running for the game, starting 15 minutes prior to faceoff. The game can also be seen live on ESPN3 and Brighthouse in Orlando and Tampa. It can also be seen later that night on replay at 11 p.m. on Universal Sports and TSN2.