Gait, Bayhawks claim MLL title
The Baltimore Bayhawks were a powerhouse all season, and yesterday they were too strong for the upstart Long Island Lizards, winning the Major League Lacrosse championship, 15-9, before 6,829 at Nickerson Field.
Gary Gait, the player/coach of the Bayhawks, who went 10-2 during the regular season, took over the game, scoring six goals. Saturday, Gait was named co-Most Valuable Player of the league, along with Mark Millon of the Boston Cannons, and yesterday he was named MVP of the playoffs, having scored 11 goals in two games.
''It's good to be on top again," said Gait, 38, who was a four-time All-American at Syracuse. ''We put together the best team in the MLL, from start to finish. We dominated. The way we played defense early, I thought it was going our way from the beginning."
Gait finished the regular season with league highs in goals (42) and points (63). Yesterday, he improved his coaching record to 36-16, the best mark in MLL history. He has won the championship three times, including in 2001 as a player with Long Island, and 2002 as Baltimore's player/coach.
Gait's six goals were one short of the record for a championship game, set by his twin brother, Paul, for Long Island in '01.
The nine Lizard goals set a postseason record for fewest in a game.
''We've been doing it all year," said Gait. ''We just play hard. [Lizards goalie Greg] Cattrano played unbelievable. He tried to keep his team in the game. He made some unbelievable saves. We scored in the final seconds of each of the first three periods. That's making big plays."
The Lizards (4-8 during the regular season) upset the Cannons (10-2) in the semifinals Friday night, while playing a defensive game backed by Cattrano. Baltimore was supposed to be the more offensive team yesterday, but it initially put the clamps on Long Island, emerging from the first quarter with a 3-1 lead after midfielder Jeff Sonke scored with four seconds left. The Bayhawks outscored the Lizards, 7-2, in the second quarter to take a 10-3 halftime lead. Long Island never led, and never really threatened in the second half.
''Baltimore can do so much with their inside moves," said Cattrano, who made 17 saves. ''They can make goalies look like fools. I just tried to keep my stick up, and sometimes I just hoped they'd hit my stick. They controlled the ball. We were feeling pretty good after the first quarter, we were keeping it close. But they're going to score some goals, and there's not much you can do about it.
''It's an honor to play on the same field with Gary Gait . . ."
The Lizards scored the first two goals of the second half to cut the deficit to 10-5. But Baltimore wasn't about to let the game slip away.
''It's been my role all year to bring tempo to the team, to get them up and going," said cocaptain Paul Cantabene. ''When you're up by five goals, the game's not over. We kept that intensity up, and we got the next two goals. We kept our poise.
''At one point, we were thinking about an undefeated season, but we learned that if we overlooked anybody, we can get beat. Early on, we were very physical with them. They played so much defense, they couldn't get their transition game going.
''Gary is a big shooter and a finisher now. He's not so much a dodger anymore. He lets other guys create stuff for him, and it's worked out well."
