University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Alums Reid, Zywicki Win MLL Championship
August 24, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
Aug. 24, 2008
BOSTON, Mass. - Behind a game-high six goal effort from Jeff Zywicki ('05) and steady defense from Jack Reid ('06), the Rochester Rattlers defeated the Denver Outlaws, 16-6, in the NB Zip MLL Championship Game on Sunday afternoon at Harvard Stadium. Zywicki was the offensive star with six points (all goals), scoring as many points as the entire Denver team. He also added three groundball pickups while Reid finished with one groundball. Reid was part of a defensive core which held a high-powered Denver attack to only six points, nine less than their regular season average of 15. It marked the first MLL Title for both Reid and Zywicki and for Reid it was second professional lacrosse title in the last two years; he won the 2007 NLL (indoor lacrosse) championship with the Rochester Knighthawks.
The 10-point victory capped off a phenomenal weekend with the franchise's first-ever championship. The Rattlers got to the title game by earning the top seed in the postseason with a 9-3 regular season mark and then defeating two-time defending champion Philadelphia, 16-15 in overtime, during Saturday's semifinals.
Zywicki struck at 7:09 of the first quarter to give Rochester a 2-0 lead. His second goal came early in the second (2:25 mark) which gave the Rattlers a two-point cushion at 5-3. He turned it on in the third quarter, finishing with three goals in the stanza, coming at the 9:32, 9:55, and 13:46 marks to help cap off Rochester's 6-0 quarter good for a 12-5 leading heading to the fourth. Zywicki added his last goal at 4:50 of the final frame.
The Outlaws only found the back of the net five times since Brian Langtry's first-quarter tally was a two-pointer, making both Zywicki's six-goal effort and Reid's defensive performance that much more remarkable.
For Reid, it was the first outdoor lacrosse championship that he has played for since the Minutemen's magical postseason run in 2006 when they faced Virginia in the NCAA Championship Game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Zywicki did play for an MLL Title in 2006 with Denver, but succumbed to the Philadelphia Barrage.
