Blazers Burn Toronto and Rochester in Two Pre-Season Wins

December 21, 2009

Boston, MA– The Boston Blazers completed their pre-season on Sunday, December 20 with two victories over the Toronto Rock and the Rochester Knighthawks at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Ontario. With the wins, Boston moves into their regular season with a 2-0 pre-season record.

In Boston’s 9-7 win over Toronto, returning members of the 2009 squad starting the scoring early with goals by Brenden Thenhaus and Nick Cotter, each netting two. The Blazers offense was also led by Gary Bining, Matt Lyons, and Sean Morris who each recorded goals along with 2009’s stand-out rookie, Daryl Veltman who had one goal and five assists in the victory.

Boston’s defense was led by Greg Downing who had nine loose balls and newcomer Jon Ortolani who was 11 for 20 on the face-off.

The Blazers then faced Rochester on Sunday and used a four-goal fourth quarter to defeat the Rochester Knighthawks 9-7. Veltman led the Blazers with three points (2 goals, 1 assist), while Bining and Downing each scored twice. Mike Poulin earned the win in goal, allowing four goals in two quarters of play. Blazers goaltenders Poulin and Anthony Cosmo played in both games with Poulin coming in relief on Sunday.

Following the weekend, Head Coach Tom Ryan felt “good to win games without Dan Dawson. In both games, we responded with strong 4th quarters. As we realized last year, winning scrimmages doesn't necessarily translate to the regular season, but we were happy with the effort."

The Blazers look to capitalize on these wins as they move into their home opener against Toronto on Saturday, January 9th at 7:30pm at the TD Garden. For tickets, contact 888-BLAZERS or visit blazerslacrosse.com.

View scrimmage photo gallery.