POSTGAME That’s all for now; have a great rest of your Presidents’ Day
POSTGAME The Boston Guard now join the Long Island Sound (UWLX, 2016 and 2017), the Philadelphia Force (UWLX, 2018), the New England Command (WPLL, 2018), and the Baltimore Brave (WPLL, 2019) as professional lacrosse champions in American women’s lacrosse
POSTGAME The Charging got six goals from Izzy Scane, and Emily Hawryschuk led the league with 19 goals on the week, although the Boston defense held her to two on the day
POSTGAME The Guard used balanced scoring to win the game, with Arsenault getting five goals, and North and Aldave with four each. However, for me, the outstanding player of this game was Cassidy Weeks, who had three goals and four assists, and completed 36 passes on the day. And even in this format when draw controls are limited, Weeks won all four draws to start the quarters
FULL TIME The final horn sounds, and Boston wins the inaugural Maybelline Women’s Lacrosse League title with a 22-17 win over New York
30:59 BOS GOAL However, Madison Ahern gets a second bite of the apple and does not miss; Boston leads 22-17
30:32 Weeks hits the post with the shot; she would have clinched game MVP honors had that gone in!
30:08 BOS GOAL Out of an officials’ timeout, North finds a sliver of space on a superb pass by Weeks and the Guard lead 21-17
29:44 NYC GOAL Kendall Halpern thunders up the pitch and scores from her defensive position! Boston’s lead is three, 20-17
28:12 NYC GOAL Megan Carney brings the Charging to within four; it ain’t over yet!
27:59 Timeout, New York
27:38 NYC GOAL Scane gets a Tyrrell pass and finishes! Boston still leads 20-15
27:33 BOS GOAL Arsenault with a smart fnish and it’s the Guard’s 20th on the afternoon
27:57 NYC GOAL Kylie Ohlmiller with a fine goal; NYC is down by four
26:55 BOS GOAL Andie Aldave with a fine finish off a Wolak pass and the Guard’s lead is back up to five
26:33 NYC GOAL Megan Tyrrell attempts to help The City make a charge back to the lead; can they keep the momentum? Superb goal makes the score Boston 18-12 over New York
24:19 NYC GOAL And just like that Hawryschuk with a forehand around four Boston defenders! Golazo! Boston leads 18-12
BOS GOAL Dempsey Arsenault with another superb finish; the lead is now six
24:00 The final quarter begins
END THIRD Oh, my. the Guard punished New York for its inability to use the timeout to get even a single shot on goal out of that possession. Two quick goals have given Boston a substantial third-quarter lead
23:43 BOS GOAL Courtney Taylor with a found ball and breakaway finish; the Guard lead 16-11
23:20 BOS GOAL Charlotte North from the left side, and her sidewinder goes into the top corner; the Guard lead 15-11
23:00 However, the Guard play great D and force a shot clock violation; that was a bit of an unforced error
22:30 Timeout, New York. It’s gotten frenetic out there and the Charging need to set something up here
22:20 BOS GOAL Cassidy Weeks, after rescuing the ball from the backfield, finds Choma in the critical area and she scores to give Boston a 14-11 lead
20:58 NYC GOAL Meg Carney with a laser from deep! The game is 14-11 for the Guard
20:50 BOS GOAL Madison Ahearn knocks it in from off the post and in! Boston leads by four!
20:20 BOS Dempsey Arsenault from deep on the crease; did she step in? The goal is granted and the Guard lead by three
20:00 NYC GOAL Izzy Scane with the riposte! 11=9 Boston
19:40 BOS GOAL Charlotte North with a wormburner from outside! 11-8 Boston
19:28 Timeout, Boston. The Guard have not been as efficient in the attack end thus far in the second half; Hall has been keeping them the Charging at Bay
18:34 NYC GOAL Scane scores her fourth! Wow, this is getting tighter now as the Charging trail by two
17:43 Wolak with a pass to Choma who deposits it into the goal, but her foot was on the line. The goal was duly ruled out
17:10 North whams the ball off the left upright and goes out of bounds; New York ball
16:25 BOS GOAL Andie Aldave with the hat trick and Boston leads 10-7
16:00 The second half is under way
END HALF Cassidy Weeks has been the straw that stirs the Boston drink thus far, with two goals and two assists thus far. The ball has been in her stick more than anyone else thus far this half, with 19 completed passes
END HALF Rachel Hall has been doing really well in the cage thus far, saving more than 50 percent of shot attempts from the Guard. She seems to bring the action in big games
END HALF The Guard lead New York at the half 9-7. Incidentally, it was the same score at the half of the league phase of competition on Saturday
15:59 A pair of long heaves, from NYC’s Hawryschuk and from Boston’s Glynn, end a fast-paced first half
15:20 Arsenault rings it low off the post! Wow, that would have changed the halftime team talk
15:10 Timeout, Boston
15:06 NYC GOAL Harwyschuk scores her league-leading 18th goal of the season and moves the Charging to within 9-7
13:50 BOS GOAL Jackie Wollak, just like that, moves the Guard out to a three-goal lead
13:30 NYC GOAL Megan Tyrrell with a wonderful catch and finish and the game is now 8-6; are the Charging building momentum?
12:15 BOS GOAL The Guard now lead 8-5 on a goal by Cassidy Weeks
11:34 NYC GOAL Lauren Gilbert with a laser from behind the arc; though there is a two-point arc painted on the turf for the men’s competition, the women aren’t using it in this series
10:00 NYC GOAL Coykendall scores off the pass from outside! It’s a power play goal! The score is now 7-4 for Boston
9:52 BOS PENALTY Courtney Taylor is off for a minute for a slash
9:10 BOS GOAL Aldave gets a jump shot and the lead is exdended to 7-3
8:43 NYC GOAL Skane gets a jump shot from a fine Erin Coyenall pass and it’s 6-3
8:13 BOS GOAL Dempsey Arsenault on the left wing
8:00 The second quarter is under way
END FIRST The horn sounds, and Boston has a three-goal lead
7:55 North, in full flight, tries to find Wolak on the right wing, but the pass was knocked away, and the quarter ends
7:24 Sizzler from North pings the pipe; wow, that was ticketed but a little inaccurate
7:08 Taylor had been fouled on the Scane goal, but the push penalty is wiped out
7:08 NYC GOAL Scane, from a tight angle, gets the ball past Hall and pulls within 5-2
6:30 Wolak shoots ocer the cage and it’s New York ball
6:10 Rachel Hall makes a key save on Hawryschuk on a deep shot; credit Boston’s defense for their stickiness
5:38 TImeout, Charging
5:00 And on defense, Rachel Hall intercepts a New York pass! That big goalie stick is going to be a factor in Sixes if an imprecise pass is thrown
4:20 BOS GOAL Tremendous play by Andie Aldave with a hi-lo fake to deposit the ball into the cage and it’s 5-1 Boston
3:38 New York gets the ball on the challenge; can the Charging use this to take momentum?
3:38 VAR CHECK The question is which team touched the ball before it went out of bounds. New York, with backup goalie Molly Laliberty as a de facto video review coach, is challenging the call which had given Boston the ball
2:30 BOS GOAL Jackie Wolak stings the corner from the outside and it’s now 4-1 Boston
1:40 BOS GOAL Cassidy Weeks from the center of the arc, and Boston up 3-1
0:59 BOS GOAL From way on the outside, North pings the corner! Guard up 2-1
0:29 NYC GOAL Izzy Scane with the quickstick, and we have a 1-1 tie
0:08 BOS GOAL Dempsey Arsenault finishes the break and the Guard lead 1-0
0:00 The game is on
PREGAME Boston is wearing the blue jerseys with red trim and white numerals, while New York are wearing powder blue like their forerunners, the WPLL’s New York Fight
PREGAME The teams are warming up on the field turf surface at the St. James facility; we’re in an indoor facility so the outdoor cold and wind won’t be a factor
PREGAME Two other things to consider is that Boston, as a team, has not been great at holding the opposition down; opposing teams are scoring three out of every five times they shoot, even with veterans like Kady Glynn and Rachel Hall in the goal cage. Also, the teams met two days ago in the finale of league play with Boston winning 20-18. If New York is able to get another good game out of Doucette, they should win here
PREGAME The key factor, I think, is the fact that the Guard won the regular-season title and the top seed in the knockout phase of MWLL, meaning that they got a day’s rest between the end of the regular season and this final; New York was obligated to play the California Palms yesterday, a game which they won comfortably
PREGAME For Boston, the team will go as far as Charlotte North takes them. And why not? She’s the face of women’s lacrosse today, and everything she has touched has turned to gold, whether it is NCAA Division I, the outdoor World Cup, or the box lacrosse World Cup. That being said, she’s getting a lot of help from Cassidy Weeks, Dempsey Arsenault, and Madison Ahearn on the front line. This will be a tough team to beat
PREGAME New York showed strength at both ends of the field yesterday in their win over California Palms in the league semifinal. Izzy Scane is a transformative figure in this sport, and Emily Hawryschuk had seven goals yesterday. But the key part of the game could be defense. Madison Doucette had 21 saves against a good Palms attack. Now, you might think that a 21-save effort is par for the course in a Sixes game, but consider this: her save percentage in this one game was 65.6 percent. Most of the goalies in this competition are hovering somewhere between the 40 and 44 percent mark for their save percentages
PREGAME New York is 3-1 in the league this year; Boston is 2-1, having made this final by virtue of head-to-head comparison with New York
PREGAME Hello, and welcome to The St. James facility in Springfield, Va. for the championship game of the Maybelline Women’s Lacrosse League Championship Series, featuring the top-seeded Boston Guard and the 2 seed, New York Charging