ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A pair of former UMass lacrosse All-Americans keyed the Toronto Nationals' Major League Lacrosse Championship win over the top-seeded Denver Outlaws on Sunday. Jeff Zywicki '05 tallied a hat trick and Doc Schneider '09 made 12 saves in goal as the Nationals won the MLL crown, 10-9, in Annapolis, Md. Zywicki, who played for last season's champion Rochester Rattlers, also added an assist on the game-tying goal in the final minutes.

Zywicki scored the third and fourth goals of the game for the Nationals, both in the second quarter. He also scored a powerplay goal in the third quarter to cut Denver's lead to 7-6 at the time. He set up Shawn Williams' game-tying goal at 9-9 with 4:30 left in regulation. Williams then scored the game-winner with 45 seconds left in the fourth and the 10-9 title win.

Schneider, who played all 60 minutes in the MLL Semifinal win over Long Island, started again on Sunday making 10 saves in the first half. He also came on the second half when injured-but-playing goalie Brett Queener was penalized. Schneider added two more saves for the Nationals.

Schneider was the top goalie drafted in the 2009 MLL Draft and saw the most playing time of any rookie in the league this year. Last season, Zywicki and his Rochester Rattlers -- which moved to Toronto -- won the title along with UMass All-American Jack Reid.

2009-08-24