Boston Cannons

A wet forecast and a meeting with the league's top-seeded team hasn't dampened the Chesapeake Bayhawks' confidence heading to into the Major League Lacrosse playoffs this weekend at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. A quick glance at Chesapeake's roster shows numerous players who have already won championships as professional or college players. So, even though they finished league play at 6-6 and enter the postseason as the fourth seed, the Bayhawks have swagger heading into Saturday's game against the Boston Cannons, who swept them during the regular season by an average of 5.5 goals.

Attackman Ryan Boyle (Gilman) scored 1:26 into overtime to give the Boston Cannons an 15-14 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass. Boyle used an inside spin move to beat defenseman Michael Evans (Johns Hopkins, South River) from behind and fired a short shot past goalkeeper Kip Turner (Severn) to bring an end to a wild, back-and-forth affair. Boyle, the all-time leading scorer in Major League Lacrosse with 410 points, finished with three goals and two assists.

Tyler Steinhardt doesn't remember the last time he slept. Monday, maybe. When he's finally able to shut his eyes, after his world-record 24-hour lacrosse game to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project is finally over at 9 a.m., Friday, he'll have more than sheep to count. One thousand players. An estimated 5,000 spectators. Forty thousand dollars raised? Done. What about 50-, 60-, 100 thousand? And then this number: One. The first steps taken in public by Sgt. Ryan Major since he lost both legs and several fingers to an IED in Iraq.

The U.S. national men's lacrosse team will conduct an intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Capital Lacrosse Classic at Landon School in Bethesda.  This is the latest step for the U.S. Team as it prepares for tryouts next summer before the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships in Commerce City, Colo. The U.S. scrimmaged Canada at the Duel in Denver on Sept. 8, losing, 11-9. Sunday's scrimmage is also a preview of the Champion Challenge Jan. from 25-27 in Orlando, Fla., when the defending gold medalists will scrimmage at least one NCAA team.

Matchup -- Boston Cannons (6-1) @ Bayhawks (2-5) Site -- Johnny Unitas Stadium Time -- 7 Outlook -- The Bayhawks try to climb out of last place in the Eastern Conference of Major League Lacrosse with a game against the conference-leading Cannons. The Bayhawks have lost two straight, including a 21-12 game in Rochester last Saturday. They are one of only two teams in the league who have allowed more than 100 goals this season and will face a Boston team that ranks second in scoring. Former St. Paul's standout Conor Gill leads the Cannons with 35 points, and Mark Millon - who played for Boston last season - has 23 for Baltimore.

Seven players with local ties were named to the All-Major League Lacrosse team Friday. Chosen at attack were the Denver Outlaws' Brendan Mundorf (UMBC), who on Thursday was named the league's Most Valuable Player, and Ryan Boyle (Gilman) of the Boston Cannons. Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins), the Offensive Player of the Year with the Cannons, and Kyle Dixon (Archbishop Spalding) of the Chesapeake Bayhawks received All-MLL honors at midfield. Selected on defense were the Ohio Machine's Kyle Hartzell (Salisbury, Archbishop Curley)

Attackman Ryan Boyle (Gilman) scored 1:26 into overtime to give the Boston Cannons an 15-14 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass. Boyle used an inside spin move to beat defenseman Michael Evans (Johns Hopkins, South River) from behind and fired a short shot past goalkeeper Kip Turner (Severn) to bring an end to a wild, back-and-forth affair. Boyle, the all-time leading scorer in Major League Lacrosse with 410 points, finished with three goals and two assists.

The U.S. national men's lacrosse team will conduct an intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Capital Lacrosse Classic at Landon School in Bethesda.  This is the latest step for the U.S. Team as it prepares for tryouts next summer before the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships in Commerce City, Colo. The U.S. scrimmaged Canada at the Duel in Denver on Sept. 8, losing, 11-9. Sunday's scrimmage is also a preview of the Champion Challenge Jan. from 25-27 in Orlando, Fla., when the defending gold medalists will scrimmage at least one NCAA team.

Seven players with local ties were named to the All-Major League Lacrosse team Friday. Chosen at attack were the Denver Outlaws' Brendan Mundorf (UMBC), who on Thursday was named the league's Most Valuable Player, and Ryan Boyle (Gilman) of the Boston Cannons. Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins), the Offensive Player of the Year with the Cannons, and Kyle Dixon (Archbishop Spalding) of the Chesapeake Bayhawks received All-MLL honors at midfield. Selected on defense were the Ohio Machine's Kyle Hartzell (Salisbury, Archbishop Curley)

It didn't start pretty for the Chesapeake Bayhawks during Saturday's Major League Lacrosse semifinal at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass., but a momentum-changing string of four points in 48 seconds left the Bayhawks smiling at the end. Kyle Dixon, the man dubbed Reggie Miller for his record-holding 28 two-point goals this season, scored back-to-back deuces in the second quarter to rally Chesapeake (11-4) past the Boston Cannons (9-6) with a 16-10 victory. The Bayhawks will look to become the first team in MLL history to win four league titles as they take the field against the Denver Outlaws (12-3)

The Chesapeake Bayhawks upset the top-seeded Boston Cannons in the 2010 Major League Lacrosse semifinals and went on to win the championship. They met in the semifinals again last year, and the Cannons rallied from an early five-point deficit and scored the game-winning goal with 1.2 seconds remaining. Now, here they go again. Second-seeded Chesapeake (10-4) will meet third-seeded Boston (9-5) in an MLL semifinal for the third consecutive year, this time on the Cannons' home field at Harvard Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Major League Lacrosse announced Wednesday that Boston Cannons midfielder   Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins) has been named Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season and the third time in the past four after setting a league record with 72 points in 14 games. "I'm very honored and humbled to have earned the Offensive Player of the Year award. It's always rewarding to receive individual achievements from all the hard work I put in each year,” Rabil said. “That said, no matter the amount of work I put into my game, this is a team sport, and without such tremendous players I have the honor to play with each week, I wouldn't be in this position.

Chesapeake Bayhawks defensive midfielder Matt Abbott was named Major League Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career after his performance in a 13-6 win over the Long Island Lizards at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday. On the offensive side, Boston Cannons attackman Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins) was selected as the Player of the Week. “Matt is one of our most valuable players, and most of the plays he makes don't show up in a stat sheet,” Bayhawks general manager Brian Reese said.

Chesapeake goalie Kip Turner made a late save to help the Bayhawks edge the Hamilton Nationals by one goal last weekend. He came through in the final minutes once again Saturday night. Turner made six of his 17 saves in the final five minutes to help Chesapeake hold on for a 14-13 victory over the Boston Cannons, his former team, in a Major League Lacrosse game before 10,126 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The victory was Chesapeake's fifth straight and let the Bayhawks improve to 7-1 and hold on to first place.