Del Halladay received a message from his coach. Tony Millon sent a message to his former team. Derek Collins sent every Baltimore shot back where it came from in the fourth quarter. And the Syracuse Smash sent the Baltimore Thunder home with its first loss in six National Lacrosse League tries Friday night, winning 15-14 before an announced crowd of 4,984 at the War Memorial.

That superstar Gary Gait was sidelined with a pulled lower abdominal muscle didn't matter to the Smash, which evened its record at 2-2 entering a three-week break. Even without Gait, the talented Thunder (5-1) led for much of the game and was on the doorstep in the final seconds when Collins beat Joe Hiltz cleanly and smothered the rebound as time expired.

The save protected a one-goal lead earned when Todd Oudemool connected off pretty passes from Millon and Al Jones with 2 minutes, 47 seconds to play.

"I'm glad Gary wasn't playing, but they're still a great team," Smash bench coach Freeman Bucktooth said afterward. "Our guys played hard. It was an awesome effort."

"The fans got their money's worth tonight, I'll tell you that," Collins said. Until Oudemool's goal, it was a game of runs, with the teams trading flurries of goals. Halladay provided much of the spark for the Smash.

A 22-goal scorer last season, he had a goal and three assists in the Smash's first three games and was told by Bucktooth at practice on Wednesday that the team needed him to produce. He responded with three goals and four assists, a performance which earned him Game MVP honors.

"It was a breakout game for the team and for me," he said. "I had not been playing to my potential, and Freeman let me know about it. But he let me know about it in a positive way. He didn't say produce tonight or else. He said he had confidence in me. Some nights you feel you can't miss."

Millon didn't miss, either. But his shots were delivered with his body every time a Thunder player wandered into his path. Millon played for Baltimore last season and is opening a restaurant in the city. When the team told him he was expendable, he signed with the Smash. He wanted the Thunder to know he was still around.

"If there was anyone who wanted to win this game, it was me," he said. "I was so pumped, and I tried to project that to the team."

He didn't waste much time setting an example, blasting a shot past Thunder goalie Chris Sanderson 30 seconds into the game, then sending Eric Gervais sprawling with a hard body check seconds later. Millon's aggressive play resulted in two goals and three assists. The last one, on Oudemool's game-winner, was the sweetest.

Then there was Collins. The Thunder, averaging 19.2 goals a game, poured 58 shots at the guy who led Baltimore to the NLL championship series last season. Only 14 of them got past him, two in the final 15 minutes.

Collins was at his best in the game's final 18 seconds, when the Thunder took a timeout to pull their goalie and set up a last rush.

"We wanted to bunch in close and make them take a long one," Collins said. "They did, but they got right on the rebound and all of a sudden it was right out front."

And in the basket of Hiltz, the Thunder's best offensive weapon outside of Gait. His point-blank shot was stopped by Collins, who fell on the rebound.

The save produced an on-field celebration rarely enjoyed by the Smash, which is 4-12 in franchise history but 2-2 this season and back in the thick of the playoff race.

"I feel it was a major turning point for us," Halladay said.

No one on the Smash was arguing.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Baltimore Thunder (5-1)           3  5  4  2  --  14
Syracuse Smash (2-2)              3  4  6  2  --  15

BALTIMORE THUNDER             SYRACUSE SMASH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Cantabene      3 - 1     4    Halladay       3 - 4     7
Shek           1 - 3     4    P Gait         2 - 3     5
Hiltz          3 - 0     3    Millon         2 - 3     5
Fulks          2 - 1     3    M Benedict     3 - 1     4
Hubbard        0 - 3     3    Prat           2 - 1     3
C Sanderson    0 - 3     3    E Fay          1 - 2     3
J Fay          1 - 1     2    Oudemool       1 - 1     2
Tapp           1 - 1     2    Alexander      0 - 1     1
Hormes         1 - 0     1    Archer         1 - 0     1
Knight         1 - 0     1    O Benedict     0 - 1     1
Shearer        1 - 0     1    Jones          0 - 1     1
Donovan        0 - 1     1    Klodzen        0 - 1     1
Tillman        0 - 1     1    Mitchell       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           58    Shots on goal           45
Saves made by           30    Saves made by           44
  C Sanderson        23          Collins           44
  Miller              7

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD ***