The retooled, new-look New York Saints played a tightly contested and ultimately satisfying game against the Syracuse Smash on Saturday night, coming away victorious, 14-13. The match featured everything that indoor lacrosse promises -- hard hits, outstanding goalscoring efforts, solo breakaways and dazzling saves, particularly by new Saints goalie and game MVP Chris Levis.

Right from the opening faceoff, where Tim "the Enforcer" Langton would square off all night, the action heated up. Langton took a holding penalty, putting the Smash on their first power play. The Saints, however, controlled the play even while a man down, getting off numerous quality shots. Syracuse broke through first, though, when Mark Millon scored at 3:12, firing a shot through from almost the center line. The Saints struck immediately back, when Jonas Derks drove to the net on a magnificent solo effort, firing the shot underneath goaltender Ross Cowie.

It was clear to see that, not only was the goaltending much improved from last week, but the overall defensive effort as well. The Saints checked ferociously whenever the Smash were in the attacking zone. Rarely did they give up an easy rebound for second and third chances, which was their downfall in the season opener last week. More importantly, there was no standing around waiting to recover the ball, but instead, the Saints aggressively pursued it.

Paul Gait scored to put Syracuse temporarily ahead, but Jonas Derks evened it again, with a sensational solo effort. Derks blistered a shot which Cowie barely stopped, but Jonas quickly jumped on his own rebound and banged it past the goalie, crashing into the net head first.

At this point in the period, Levis was called upon to make quality save after save, while Gait and Mark Millon tested him often. The Syracuse team showed good "counter-punching" qualities. While the Saints were on the attack, the ball bounced out to center and Tony Millon scooped it up, ran it all the way to the goal, and fired it past Levis, who had no chance on the shot. The Saints answered back when Matt Panetta potted a powerplay goal, with a blistering shot, while Tony Millon was off for interference.

The Saints struck again with what will most likely be a video highlight goal. Pat McCabe dished the pass to Mike Benedict who fired the shot past Cowie on the right side of the net. Benedict then danced behind the goal, and with the spotlight on him, took his lacrosse stick and "stuffed it in his holster" as if it were a sword.

The first half ended with the Saints leading, 8-5. The second half saw both teams trading goals, with Mark Millon netting three more goals, finishing with five for the game, and the Saints' Roy Colsey scoring all three of his goals. All totaled, Del Halladay finished with three goals and Paul Gait had two for Syracuse. Mike Benedict scored three, while Matt Panetta and Jonas Derks had two each for the Saints.

"As cool as I might have looked, I was a bit nervous at first." said game MVP Chris Levis, when asked about his performance. "It helped to get a couple of early shots, with the guys keeping the shooters to the outside, helped me get warmed up. The big difference between this week and last was, the team was really solid on our defense. We didn't give the guys the opportunity to make the passes from one side to the other. That's what puts a goaltender out of position."

Levis played primarily because New York had no other options. Rookie Gordon Nash could not cross the Canada-U.S. border to get to the game and last week’s starter, Greg Cattrano, was not in attendance, leaving Levis the only goaltender the Saints dressed for the game.

The Saints next play on Friday, 21 January, in Toronto. The Smash have next week off, then visit Buffalo on Saturday, 29 January.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Syracuse Smash (0-2)              3  2  3  5  --  13
New York Saints (1-1)             4  4  2  4  --  14

SYRACUSE SMASH                NEW YORK SAINTS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
M Millon       5 - 4     9    Colsey         3 - 2     5
P Gait         2 - 3     5    Panetta        2 - 3     5
Halladay       3 - 1     4    Lowe           0 - 4     4
Alexander      1 - 0     1    Benedict       3 - 0     3
T Millon       1 - 0     1    Wulder         1 - 2     3
J Fay          1 - 0     1    McCabe         0 - 3     3
E Fay          0 - 1     1    Derks          2 - 0     2
                              Frye           1 - 1     2
                              B Miller       1 - 0     1
                              Panos          1 - 0     1
                              Keenan         0 - 1     1
                              Levis          0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           55    Shots on goal           56
Saves made by           42    Saves made by           42
   Cowie                         Levis
Penalties                7    Penalties                5
Penalty Minutes         14    Penalty Minutes         10


*** ALL STATS UNOFFICIAL UNTIL VERIFIED ***

This article amended 18 January 2000 to include information on other Saints goaltenders.