Toronto Nationals head for lacrosse playoffs after beating the Denver Outlaws

Published at 7:40 pm on August 9, 2009
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Gordon Anderson
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It was a lacrosse game that didn’t mean much in terms of playoff opposition but the Toronto Nationals wanted to send a message by beating the first-place Denver Outlaws.

The Nationals were 0-2 against Denver this year, out-scored 35-24 along the way. The stats by themselves didn’t look good, but victory is victory.

Going in to the Saturday night’s game, Toronto had the best offence in the league with 166 goals but ranked last in defence, having allowed 163.

The Outlaws were almost their equal in offensive output with 157 goals, but, more importantly, the Outlaws ranked first in defence, having allowed only 122 goals and defence wins games and championships.

To top it off, Denver was a perfect 5-0 on the road.

However, stats are for geeks sometimes.

In his return to the lineup after missing 11 months, John Grant Jr. scored five first-half goals as the Nationals smacked down the Outlaws 16-10 in front of 3,635 soggy spectators at BMO Field on Saturday night.

Grant led Major League Lacrosse (MLL) in scoring last year, capturing MVP honours.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Nationals midfielder Geoff Snider said. “He’s a competitor, a warrior and he’s certainly a guy who would help any roster.”

“You have to commit two players to him, and even then, he’s still going to get his six or seven goals,” Toronto head coach Dave Huntley said. “He’s that good.”

Grant Jr., on the shelf following knee surgery, looked sharp in his first start with the home side. The 34-year-old Peterborough, Ont. native played 30 minutes before Huntley shut him down due to poor turf conditions (the grass transported in for the TFC game against Real Madrid Friday night).

“It’s awful (the turf),” Huntley said. “We were going to shut him down in the first quarter but he felt pretty good and wanted to keep going.”

Merrick Thomson had four goals and one assist, ending the season with 50 points, three behind overall leader Paul Rabil of the Boston Cannons. Thomson won the goal-scoring title with 44.

Also scoring for the Nationals (7-5) were Brodie Merrill, Shawn Williams, Jeff Zywicki, Colin Doyle, Gavin Prout, Stephen Hoar and Delby Powless.

Denver (9-3) got four goals from Drew Westervelt, two from Max Seibald and singles from Josh Sims, Matt Brown, Dan Hardy and Brendan Mundorf. The Outlaws raced out to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter but the Nationals stormed back with five straight to lead 5-3 after the first quarter.

Winning face-offs is a crucial part of lacrosse. It allows teams to go on large runs or overcome deficits in a hurry.

Following the three-goal start by Denver, Snider won four consecutive face-offs. These led right to the five-goal outbreak.

“We asked Geoff to get us the next few face-offs,” Huntley said. “He went out and did his job, our front door guys did their job and the next thing you know we’re in the lead. When we play like that we’re pretty good.”

Denver scored two goals in 1:38 to knot the score at 5-5 but the Nationals reeled off three straight to take an 8-5 lead with 5:09 remaining in the first half.

Again Snider proved instrumental by winning three face-offs in a row to keep the ball rolling offensively. He finished 18 for 28 from the centre circle.

“Any time your offence has the ball and your defence isn’t playing defence, it’s a good thing,” Snider said. “Any time (we) have possession of the ball we’re in good shape.”

The Nationals took a 10-6 lead into the break.

Doc Schneider stopped eight of fourteen shots for the Nationals in 30 minutes of work and Jesse Schwartzman stopped six of 16 for the Outlaws during the first half.

Brett Queener finished up for Toronto and stopped 10 of 13 to get his sixth win. Adam Fullerton stopped six of 12 for the visitors to get his first loss of the year.

From top to bottom, Toronto looked fluid in the third quarter. The players seemed to be on the same page and the result was a crisp offence and a swarming defence.

“We’ve been playing tough and mean (on defence),” Snider said. “We might not be as technical (as other teams) but the commitment we have from the guys back there to be as bullish and physical as possible is tremendous.”

The Nationals scored four of the six third-quarter goals to lead 14-8 with 15 minutes left to play.

Thomson made score 15-10 when he scored his 43^rd of the year at 8:54 of the fourth. With the tally he set a personal best for goals scored, surpassing the 42 he netted last year with the now defunct New Jersey Pride.

Thomson ended scoring at 10:07 to close out the regular season for the Nationals.

Toronto now pick up and move to the MLL playoffs in Annapolis, Maryland on Aug. 22 and 23. The opponent is not yet known.