Boston's indoor lacrosse team kicked off their 2011 season on a winning note thanks to major contributions from two of their newest forwards.
The National Lacrosse League's Boston Blazers defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 10-6. Offseason acquisition and lacrosse royalty Casey Powell contributed 5 goals and 2 assists on the evening. Powell is the defending league MVP, and showed why he has been at the top of the league throughout his nine season career.
Helping Powell out on four of his goals was Josh Sanderson, another off-season free agent acquisition. Sanderson had 2 goals and 4 assists for the Blazers, and meshed well with Blazers offense and established star Dan Dawson. Dawson, the team stalwart for the past two seasons, had 8 assists on the evening.
Goaltender Anthony Cosmo started off his third season between the Blazers' pipes with a 25 save performance.
The win gives the Blazers their first season opening win in franchise history, something that seemed a bit iffy just a week ago. The team fired their long-time coach, Tom Ryan, in late December - after the team had already began training camp. Ryan was replaced with Matt Sawyer, a former assistant with last year's East Division champion Toronto Rock. Sawyer spent very little time with the team prior to their first game, but the change seems to suit the Blazers well.
The Blazers hold their home opener on January 15th against the Edmonton Rush, who lost their season opener to Toronto tonight, 13-7.
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