BOSTON, MA – Saturday, July 4, 2009 – The Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) earned their fourth consecutive win as they defeated the first place Denver Outlaws, breaking their six-game winning streak by a score of 17-16, in front of a record 21,952 fans at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Saturday evening. Attackman Ryan Boyle (Princeton '04) earned the Bud Light MVP for his five-point performance (3G, 2A) in the Independence Day thriller.

With the win, the Cannons improved their record to 5-3 this season to move into second place in the league standings, while the Outlaws saw their record fall to 6-2.

The Outlaws made an effort to impress their home fans early, scoring the first three goals in the contest at 3:19, 6:09 and 7:38. The Cannons finally broke through the solid early goaltending from Outlaws goalie Jesse Schwartzman (Johns Hopkins '07) with a tally from defenseman Kyle Sweeney (Georgetown '03) at 8:59.

From there, the Cannons stole the momentum and tied the game at 3-3 after goals from Boyle at 9:44 and midfielder Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins '08) at 10:34. Attackman Sean Morris (UMass '06) assisted on Boyle's marker. Each team scored one more goal before the end of the frame, with the Outlaws finding the back of the Cannons' net at 12:47 and Morris collecting a goal at 13:40 to tie the score at 4-4.

The Cannons struck first in the second quarter with Boyle's second tally of the game, assisted by midfielder Matt Poskay (Virginia '06), at 4:49 to take a 5-4 lead, but the Outlaws tied the score again, with a man-advantage at 7:41. The Cannons collected the only two other goals of the low-scoring quarter, taking a 7-5 lead into halftime. Rabil netted a marker at 12:58 and midfielder Greg Downing (Fairfield '07) scored at 13:43, with Rabil earning the assist on the play.

Both teams turned up the offense in the third quarter, but the Outlaws lead the charge with their tally just 25 seconds into the frame to cut the Cannons' lead to one goal. Midfielder Kevin Cassese (Duke '03) responded with a huge two-point goal, assisted by Morris, to increase the Cannons' advantage to 9-6 at 43 seconds, but the Outlaws countered with a two-pointer of their own at 1:46.

Denver then tied the game, 9-9 at 4:46, until Morris collected his second goal of the contest at 5:06 to regain the one-goal lead for the visiting Cannons. From there the Outlaws went on a run of three unanswered goals, scored on the man-advantage at 6:22, 6:39 and again on man-up at 9:21, before attackman Matt Alrich (Delaware '04) stopped the rush with his tally at 9:32. Boyle earned the assist on Alrich's goal.

The Outlaws stole a two-goal lead once again with a goal at 11:39, but the Cannons closed the quarter strong with tallies from rookie attackman Brandon Corp (Colgate '09) at 12:15 and Boyle's third goal of the game at 14:36 to tie the score at 13-13 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

Morris set the offense in motion in the fourth quarter as he battled his way to Schwartzman's net for his third goal of the game at 3:42, and the Cannons continued on the attack with a tally from midfielder Justin Smith (Salisbury '05), appearing in his first game as a member of the Cannons, at 4:44. Boyle earned his third assist of the game on Smith's goal.

The Outlaws, however, rallied back with three unanswered goals, all from Outlaws attackman Drew Westervelt (UMBC '07) at 6:54, 7:32 and 8:28, giving him a total of seven goals in the game and taking a 16-15 lead for Denver. Rabil tied the game at 16-16 after dodging three Outlaws defenders and finding the back of the net, for his third goal of the game at 11:34 and after an intense few minutes of solid defense on both ends, Smith collected his second tally of the game, giving the Cannons a 17-16 lead at 13:31. The Outlaws weren't able to regain possession and the Cannons held on to win their fourth consecutive game, by a score of 17-16.

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2009-07-05