Jenkins, Cannons set for faceoff

David Jenkins acknowledges he likes to have fun on the weekends. The Boston Cannons midfielder/faceoff man should have plenty of it this weekend as he leads his team against the Long Island Lizards (4-8) in the Major League Lacrosse semifinals tonight at 8 at Nickerson Field. The other semi features Baltimore (10-2) vs. Rochester (6-6) at 5 p.m. The winners will meet for the title Sunday at 1 p.m.

Jenkins, who was drafted by the Cannons out of the University of Virginia in 2001, played two seasons in Boston before taking a sabbatical the last two years to ''get my weekends back." Tonight will be Jenkins's playoff debut, though the Cannons (10-2) reached the title game last year before falling to Philadelphia.

A Dedham native, Jenkins started specializing in faceoffs when he was younger and the hard work paid off. Virginia recruited him to play the position, and his sophomore year -- the year the Cavaliers won the NCAA national championship -- he led the nation in faceoff percentage.

Unlike the player who takes the faceoff in hockey or the tipoff in basketball, the faceoff player in lacrosse battles until his team gains possession of the ball, then gets off the field. He can also maintain possession and advance the ball downfield. Jenkins scored 3 goals and had 2 assists for 5 points for the Cannons, who were led by attack Mark Millon (56 points) and Conor Gill (54 points).

''We might take 20 to 25 faceoffs in a game, and each time you might be out there for 30 seconds or a minute," said Peter Inge, Boston's other faceoff man. ''And each play is exhausting; it's physically demanding."

Jenkins said he sees the faceoff as ''a game within a game."

''I always thought it was another way to be competitive," he said. ''Basically, every time you go out there for a faceoff, it's you vs. the other guy and it's a competition the whole game. You try and use different moves to beat him, counter his moves. And in this league, there are only six teams, so the talent isn't diluted. It's a challenge."

Jenkins, who was working for Fidelity from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. while juggling lacrosse duties, said the workload got to be too much for him, which is why he took two years off.

''I was working more and wanted some weekends for myself," Jenkins said. ''I like playing golf, I like going fishing, I like having my weekends."

The Cannons practice just once a week -- coach Scott Hiller lives in Chicago and many of the players live out of state -- but road trips would eat up any free time Jenkins had. ''I'd sometimes have to leave on road trips, like to Baltimore, and not get back in until Monday morning, then I'd go right to work."

But after four years at Fidelity, and two years away from the team, Jenkins decided it was time to come back. He now works in marketing for a siding company. He still works a lot of hours -- he had meetings before and after practice Wednesday -- but he's glad to be back in the game. He kept in shape by playing lacrosse in an indoor winter league and a summer league.

''But I love playing lacrosse," he said. ''They don't pay us a ton of money, but I used to say that I'd pay to play in a league, and now, I can play professionally."

Jenkins's desire to return to action and the team's desire for him to return came together last spring, when Inge, the Cannons' faceoff player for the past two years, was delayed coming from his home in Australia because of visa problems.

''I didn't know if it'd be one week or two months," Hiller said.

In the meantime, he had spoken to Ryan Curtis, one of Boston's goalies and Jenkins's good friend, who told Hiller he thought his friend might be interested in coming back.

Jenkins and Hiller talked, Jenkins practiced with the team, and a week later was playing in their first game.

Inge, meanwhile, was delayed seven weeks and missed the first five games.

''But now I'm back and it's been a great year; I've had a ton of fun, I love my team," Jenkins said.

And he seems to have figured out how to make his professional lacrosse life blend with his other life.

A point of example is last weekend, when his team played Long Island Friday night.

''We left the next morning at 7, got here by 11:30, and I went to the Red Sox game that afternoon," Jenkins said.

Hiller, who played lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts, said the faceoff spot has become a more specialized position, especially in college. Most MLL teams have just one, ''but we have two so I want them to be even better.

''The last two games they won only about 50 percent of the faceoffs and I'd like to see it get up to 55 or 60 percent," he said. ''I want them to dominate more."

The Cannons have defeated Long Island in all three meetings this season, but Hiller said that doesn't mean tonight's game will be easy.

''For anyone to beat a team four times in one season is pretty difficult," said Hiller, adding that he's not yet letting himself look ahead to Sunday.

''We have to take care of business [tonight]," he said. ''It doesn't matter how good a year we had, we have to go 2-0 now."