Boston, Mass.-Major League Lacrosse (MLL) announced Monday its weekly award winners for the week ending June 27. Denver Outlaw Matt Brown has been named Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this season, and Cannons' goalie Mike Levin claimed his first Defensive player of the Week recognition this season. Finally, Washington's Danny Glading brought home his first Cascade Rookie of the Week award.

After their second straight victory over Toronto (4-4), the Denver Outlaws (6-1) have secured the top position in the league. Attackman Matt Brown has been at the center of Denver's six-game win streak, contributing 19 goals in 6 games. Brown scored a season-high 6 goals and also added an assist in Saturday night's game. This is the first time that Brown has scored 6 goals since July 19, 2008 against San Francisco in a 15-8 Outlaws victory. Browns' performance that week was the only other week in which he earned weekly honors; this was also the first time Brown recorded 7 points since his first season with the Outlaws in 2006, which he achieved twice that season.

Brown scored at least one goal in every quarter, including two power play goals in the second half. The attackman started strong for the Outlaws with 2 of their 4 first quarter goals, and kept the pressure on Toronto all night long. Brown's two power play goals came in the second half, one in both the third and fourth quarters.

Boston (4-3) faced Toronto this past Thursday for a chance to break .500. Cannons goalie Mike Levin didn't disappoint as he helped slay the Nationals with 18 saves, 12 of which came in the first half. Levin has been a wall for the Cannons in his 5 games in goal for Boston this season. Currently, he is second in the League in goals against average and currently leads all MLL goalies with a .603 save percentage. Coming to the Cannons from last year's MLL Champion Rochester Rattlers, Levin has earned the starting spot in goal for Boston over last year's starter, Kip Turner. Last year, Levin earned weekly honors twice, making this his third career honor.

Washington's Danny Glading stepped up big time for the Bayhawks, who earned their second win of the season. The Bayhawks defeated the Machine by a score of 16-14. Glading recorded 5 points, including 2 goals and 3 assists, all career highs for the rookie from the University of Virginia. Three of these points came in what was a huge 3rd quarter for the Bayhawks. In the all-important third quarter rally, Glading scored once and assisted twice, one to Kyle Dixon and one to Andrew Combs. Entering Saturday's game, Glading had tallied a total of two total points (1 goal, 1 assist).

This coming weekend should provide plenty of fireworks for July 4th. Brown and his Outlaws will host Levin and the Cannons. Denver looks to strengthen its grip on the top league spot, while Boston looks to tie Long Island for the second position. Face-off time is scheduled for 9:00 ET/7:00 MT.

Glading will try to build off of his 5-point performance as he and his Bayhawks host Long Island, the current second place team in the league. Face-off is scheduled for 6:15 PM ET.

2009-06-29