EDMONTON — All-star games don’t come much better than the back-and-forth affair provided by the National Lacrosse League.
Rochester Knighthawks forward Shawn Williams scored his fourth of the game just 31 seconds into overtime to lead the East Division to a dramatic 17-16 victory over the West on Sunday.
“I could have used that goal yesterday,” said Williams, whose Knighthawks fell 10-9 in overtime on Saturday night to the Edmonton Rush. “But it always feels good to come up with the big goal at the big time.”
Williams’ Rochester teammate John Grant had four goals and four assists to lead the East while Geoff Snider (Philadelphia) contributed three goals in the victory.
Mark Steenhuis (Buffalo) added a pair with Ryan Ward (Minnesota), Athan Iannucci (Philadelphia), John Tavares (Buffalo) and Taylor Wray (Philadelphia) providing the other goals for the East.
“Lacrosse is a great game to watch and what better can fans ask for than an overtime game like that one,” Grant said. “The best thing about games like this is playing with such great players. Sometimes you get caught just watching some of the spectacular plays.”
San Jose’s Colin Doyle led the West with four goals in the glory game, with three from Dan Carey (Colorado), two-goal nights from Gavin Prout (Colorado), Lewis Ratcliff (Calgary) and Dan Dawson (Portland) and single tallies by Jeff Zywicki (San Jose), Brodie Merrill (Portland) and Dan Stroup (Edmonton).
“We got a little lackadaisical in the third and fourth but we pulled our socks up and got back in the game,” said Doyle. “There was a bit of pride on the line there. The fans saw a great game. It was a lot fun.”
“Guys are going to lay up at times in a game like this,” added Stroup. “But when it was on the line it was real lacrosse at the end there.”
Snider, from nearby Calgary, was named the all-star MVP for a six point night and his dominance on face-offs.
“It’s such a huge honour,” he said. “These are the best players in the world. I’m just flattered to be here. When you are playing with guys like that, they make you a better player.”
Since switching to an East-West format in 2004, the East holds a 4-1 advantage in the last five all-star games.
The West staked itself to an early 2-1 lead and went up 3-1 with just over five minutes left in the opening quarter as Carey made a great feed in front to Merrill, who tucked it behind East starting goalie Nick Paterson of the Minnesota Swarm.
The first quarter would end with the West ahead 6-1 after a three-goal surge in the final minute-and-a-half with Stroup and Prout scoring just 11 seconds apart and then Carey making it a five goal advantage, striking with just three seconds left.
The East squad came roaring back with two quick goals five minutes into the second on West starter Gee Nash from the Colorado Mammoth to pull to within three. But the West quickly countered with two goals of their own, most notably their eighth from Doyle, who stripped the ball from Iannuci and went in alone, displaying some razzle-dazzle and shooting it behind his back for the goal.
The East all-stars remained in the game, scoring twice more before the half, including a nice one-handed goal by Grant, to make it 8-5 at the mid-mark.
The East carried that momentum into the third, scoring four goals in a span of 1:21 on replacement West netminder Anthony Cosmo of San Jose to jump ahead 9-8.
The West came back with two of their own on Toronto Rush goalie Bob Watson before Tavares scored his first of the game to knot the game 10-10.
The East continued to be the better second-half squad as Snider scored is hat trick goal and Williams scored his second to give their team a 12-10 edge with five minutes to go in the third. Doyle and Williams each notched their hat trick goals to close out the quarter with the East ahead 13-11.
The East continued to pour it on early in the final frame with two quick goals. Including an over-the-shoulder beauty by Grant, his third of the match putting his side ahead by four goals.
But the West wasn’t done yet, fighting back with three goals in less than a minute, including Doyle’s fourth of the game, and then their fourth goal in a row from Dawson to tie the game 16-16 and send it to overtime.
Notes: Tavares and Doyle are the most prolific players in the league when it comes to all-star selections, each appearing in their seventh game Toronto Rock team captain Jim Veltman served as captain of the East all-stars in his final all-star game before retiring after this season. Prout captained the West all-stars The NLL held its skills contest on Saturday night following the Edmonton-Rush-Rochester Knighthawks match-up. Grant won both the trick shot and the fastest shot, clocked at 104 miles per hour. Edmonton’s Mike Accursi won the accuracy contest. Other winners included Steenhuis taking the agility competition, Nash winning the goalie longshot event and San Jose capturing the three-on-three event.