The New York Lizards struggled defending opposing scoring chances late in the game all season. New York faced another crucial moment after allowing three straight goals to the Philadelphia Barrage that tied the game at 11.
After five minutes of scoreless action, New York tried battling its way to another scoring opportunity. Instead, Colin Minicus fired a shot that sailed past Austin Kaut— and into the back of the net.
The Lizards ended its season at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, M.D. without a win, falling to the Barrage (2-3) 12-11 on Thursday. New York finished last in the standings for the second consecutive season.
New York had one more chance to tie the game after Mark Andrejack won the faceoff with 1:55 remaining. But, Philadelphia played lockdown defense and forced a shotclock violation off Brendan Kearns‘ turnover.
The Philadelphia team trailed 10-6 with 14 minutes remaining in the game. Jon Mazza and Tyson Gibson chipped into its deficit with consecutive goals, 36 seconds apart. Even after Kearns gave the Lizards its 11th goal of the afternoon, the Barrage responded with two more just one minute apart.
Mazza tied the game at 11 with 6:26 remaining. He scored two goals alongside Brendan Sunday and Ryan MacSpadyen. Gibson led the Barrage with a hat trick.
Gibson gave Philadelphia the 2-1 lead opening the contest. But, Kearns’ goal sparked an unanswered New York four-goal run through the next 22 minutes. Mark Matthews ended the scoring drought, cutting into the Lizards’ 5-3 lead before the half.
The Philadelphia team battled back and tied the game at six off Sunday’s goal, five minutes into the third quarter. But, Nick Aponte and Connor O’Hara powered through the defense for another four goals, giving New York the 10-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The duo led the team with three goals each on the afternoon. O’Hara led the Lizards with 15 points this season, all but one coming from goals. Nicky Galasso led the team with six assists this season and was second with 10 points.
Alex Spring and Kaut both led New York scooping five groundballs Thursday afternoon. The duo led the team with 28 and 23 groundballs scooped throughout the season, respectfully.
Ben Randall led the team causing 10 turnovers this season. He also had the third highest amount of groundballs picked up with 21 for the Lizards.
No team performed better than New York in the opening 15 minutes in 2020. The Lizards were victorious in every first quarter battle this season, never trailing at its end. They outscored opponents, 18- 12.
The second quarter was a mixed bag. It was the only time they held an opponent, the Denver Outlaws, scoreless throughout an entire quarter. However, New York also suffered its largest goal differential, 7-2 to the Chesapeake Bayhawks, in the second.
One of the team’s biggest season-long issues was failing to maintain its first-quarter scoring tempo in the second half. New York often failed guarding opponents transition offenses and sometimes surrendered goals off of turnovers. Opposing teams outscored the Lizards 23-13 in the third.
New York was outscored 65-57 despite attempting 28 more shots than its opponents. The Lizards never made a 2-point goal but surrendered the most in the league, with three.
The MLL Semifinals will take place on Saturday, July 25th with the opening game starting at 4 p.m. The 2020 MLL Championship Game is scheduled for Sunday, July 26th at 1 p.m.
