Kyle Baker scored four goals in the game’s first 15 minutes to get the Blazers off to a hot start, and the defending champs then held off a determined MegaWhales squad to capture a 15-11 win in Boston Box Lacrosse League action on Nov. 6 at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Mass.
In the night’s opening game, Bullseye started the contest with barely enough players to go, but as the team arrived the current league leaders found their legs and offense. After trailing an upset-minded PrimeTime team 3-2 seven minutes into the game, Bullseye went on a 10 goal run and scored 18 of the game’s final 20 goals, exploding to a 20-5 win.
Transition player Jack Korzelius scored five goals on just seven shots on net – most coming on length-of-the-floor breakouts – and Will Walker and Kyle Smith both posted hat tricks for a Bullseye team that saw 12 of its 13 runners register points. Joe Nardella registered 14 loose balls – and added a diving goal and three assists – and Bullseye registered an enormous edge in ground balls, coming up with 73 loosies compared to just 44 for PrimeTime.
Brian Duncan stopped 25 of the 30 shots that PrimeTime put on the cage. Nick Samson scored twice for PrimeTime and Jeff Smith made 30 saves against the relentless Bullseye offense.
In the nightcap, Baker provided the first-half edge with half of the Blazers’ 10 first-half goals, but in the second half, he picked up three assists and a fourth goal, as the MegaWhales fought back into contention only to see the Blazers score timely momentum-breakers. Greg Rogowski – who fed three of Baker’s first-half scores – netted three of his four goals in the second half, two set-up by Baker feeds – as the right side of the Blazer offense dominated the night. On the left side, Kurt Hunziker netted two goals and added two helpers and Marty Bowes scored twice. Faceoff specialist Ryan Stone had eight loose balls and added two timely assists in the win.
Mike Maggio (5 goals, 1 assist) and Dan Hettler (2 goals, 4 assists) led the MegaWhales with six points each, with Mark White and Sam Houston-Read registering multi-point nights.
The games bring the BBLL regular season through its first round-robin of games, meaning one-third of the regular season is in the books. Despite playin gin just three of their team’s games, Rogowski and Baker are leading the league in goals with 11 and 10 respectively, with Maggio having netted 10 for the MegaWhales. Rogowski’s 18 points shares the total points lead with John Uppgren of Bullseye, who leads the league with 11 assists. Joe Nardella – who missed the 2017-18 BBLL season recovering from a knee injury leads the league in loose balls by an incredible margin, having corralled 67 loosies in four games; Mark MacDonald of the Minutemen has scooped 32 loosies to stand a distant second. Bullseye rookie Korzelius currently leads the league in caused turnovers with nine, but Bullseye’s aggressive defense has five of the league’s top seven takeaway players at this point.
Among goalies, the Blazers Joe Evans and Bullseye’s Alex Krawec are tops in save percentage for keepers who have played at least two games. PrimeTime’s Jeff Smith has made 124 saves in four games to lead the league in that category.
Bullseye gets to rest its first-place record on Nov. 13 when the Blazers and Minutemen renew acquaintances in the opener. Those teams played a one-goal game on the season’s opening night. In the nightcap, PrimeTime takes on the MegaWhales.
BONUS: Check out last week’s Boston Box Lacrosse League results here.
About the BBLL
The Boston Box Lacrosse League, a member of US Indoor Lacrosse, plays at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham. For stats, standings and more information on the league, go to BostonBoxLax.com. The league posts announcements and commentary on Twitter and can be followed @BostonBoxLax.
South Shore Sports Center is located at 55 Recreation Park Drive in Hingham; fans and friends can watch games from the arena seating or at the Skybox Lounge, where food and drinks are served. Information is available at southshoresportscenter.com.
