January 22, 2006
from press releases

The final minutes of the highly contended game came down to one goal, and LumberJax player Del Halladay put the expansion team over the top to win 12-11. The Colorado Mammoth proved to be tough opponent throughout the game, but 9,916 fans were on the feet for the last two minutes creating a raucous atmosphere to cheer for the home team.

The game opened with a goal from Mammoth?s Chris Gill (assist Gavin Prout, Dan Carey). The teams were equal competitors and went into halftime with a tied score (6-6). Furthermore, the two Western Division teams could not expand their leads to two goals throughout the game.

Gavin Prout of the Colorado Mammoth came out as the highest scorer for his team with three goals ( 4 assists) , and Dan Carey came out with the most assists (4). The LumberJax had two players with two goals each (Tom Montour, Mike Hominuck), and four players with two assists (Del Halladay, Ted Dowling, Ryan Powell, and Peter Morgan). The Colorado Mammoth came up with more shots on goal (64) as compared to 46 for the Jax, but goaltender Dallas Eliuk had 53 saves for the game.

Additionally, Portland may have decided how fortunate they really are to have an NLL team in their town.

NLL commissioner Jim Jennings was among the believers after watching Portland fans embrace this intriguing sport, indoor pro lacrosse, as if it were a long-lost relative.

"The atmosphere was tremendous," Jennings said. "The people were cheering from the first minute. It really gave me goose bumps."

Angela Batinovich, the 25-year-old Jax majority owner, gave Portland coach Derek Keenan a hug outside the locker room.

"Unbelievable. That's all I got for you," said Batinovich, thought to be the youngest owner in professional sports.

"Portland has the best fans I've ever seen in my life!" gushed Batinovich, still excited 15 minutes after Halladay's 11th-hour save sent Colorado (2-3) angrily stomping off the artificial turf.

"Every single person was engaged in that game," said Batinovich. "I think that's why we won. I think the guys fed off that."

 

Some folks ask about the type of Lacrosse player that plays professional Lacrosse, and are they really well paid.  The answer is no- pro Lacrosse players play for love of the game.

Defenseman Pat Jones is a policeman. Coach Derek Keenan is a supervisor for the City of Oshawa, Ontario. Defenseman Damien Davis is a financial analyst. Forward Del Halladay runs a family-owned winery in British Columbia. Several players work full-time sales jobs. Others attend college.

The LumberJax gig? It's moonlighting. It's the part-time job that supplements the full-time salary.

Players in the National Lacrosse League make salaries ranging between $6,500 and $25,000. It's not enough to make ends meet, so off to the other job they go.

"They're playing because of their passion for the sport," Keenan said.

 

The Next Jax game is the 28th against Calgary!!  Make sure you don't miss it.