Gary Gait proved last night that when even not at one hundred percent, he is still a formidable force to reckon with. Unfortunately for the New York Saints, they found out the hard way. Gait scored all four of his goals in the second half to lead the Baltimore Thunder to a 18-15 victory over the New York Saints before an announced crowd of 7,023 at the Baltimore Arena.

The addition of Gait to the lineup was a late suprise to the Thunder -- and to the Outsider's Guide, which announced Gait's absence prior to the game. He had been expected to miss last nights game with the pelvic inflammation still aggravating him, but at the last minute decided to give it a go. "Dead serious, I didn't think I was going to play," said Gait, who added four assists for an eight-point evening. "I was tentative the whole game. But in the second half, I said, 'What the heck.' It's amazing what a shot of adrenaline can do."

The NLL leading Thunder (6-1) needed everything Gary Gait had to offer in the second half to secure the win. New York started the game very fast scoring the first two goals of the game on goals by John Gagliardi and Steve Sombrotto. The Thunder answered the Saints goal with a goal by Rob Shek, but the Saints came right back. Three strait goals by New York gave the Saints a 5-1 lead and control of the game. A late goal by David Evans with 15 seconds left in the first period ended the Saints run and cut the lead to 5-2.

The second period became a little more physical and the penalties began to take over the game. A seven-minute major given to the Saints allowed the Thunder to get back into the game. The Thunder outscored the Saints 4-2 in the period and by the end of the half the Thunder had cut the lead to one at 7-6.

The Thunder had once again pulled starting goalie Chris Sanderson midway through the first quarter and was replaced by backup Erik Miller. Miller started the second half but was quickly pulled for Chris Sanderson's return after two quick goals by New York early in the third period. Sanderson's play seemed to pick up after his return and that was evident by him stopping Saints all-pro player Mark Millon on several breakaways. This seemed to get the Thunder -- and Gait especially -- going.

When the fourth quarter started, the game was deadlocked at twelve. After a goal by Saints Randy Fraser, the Gait, Hiltz, Cantabene line took over. Consecutive goals by Gait and Hiltz gave the Thunder their first lead of the night at 14-13 with 11:01 left in the game. "Sometimes we keep teams in it because it seems like we're afraid to succeed," Cantabene said. "In the fourth quarter, we played with a lot more emotion." Even with the inspired fourth quarter play by the Thunder, the Saints tied the game at fourteen with a goal by Matt Panetta with 7:52 remaining. But once again Gait took over. Taking the ball at the top of the circle, Gait powered his way past the Saints defense, received a timely pick by Joe Hiltz, and whipped a shot past a frozen Sal LoCascio to give the lead back to the Thunder. A breakaway goal by Tim Hormes gave the Thunder the lead for good at 16-14. The Thunder then received two open net goals after the Saints had pulled goalie Sal LoCascio for the extra attacker, and the game ended with a 18-15 Thunder victory.

For the Thunder, the win gives them a two-and-a-half game lead with five regular-seaon games left to play. They next host the second-place Buffalo Bandits in two weeks and is sure to be a battle. For the Saints, it was another tough loss to the Thunder. After blowing a big lead in New York to the Thunder earlier in the year, they once again did the same thing last night. After starting the year off with a win, the Saints have now lost three straight games and and are only a half a game out of last place.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
New York Saints (1-3)             5  2  5  3  --  15
Baltimore Thunder (6-1)           2  4  6  6  --  18

NEW YORK SAINTS               BALTIMORE THUNDER
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Panetta        4 - 2     6    Gait           4 - 4     8
Sombrotto      2 - 4     6    Cantabene      2 - 5     7
Millon         1 - 5     6    Shek           2 - 4     6
Gagliardi      3 - 0     3    Hormes         3 - 2     5
Seremet        0 - 3     3    Evans          2 - 2     4
B Miller       2 - 0     2    Hiltz          2 - 2     4
Colsey         1 - 1     2    Ryan           1 - 2     3
McCabe         1 - 1     2    Kessenich      1 - 1     2
Lowe           0 - 2     2    Tapp           1 - 1     2
Fraser         1 - 0     1    R Sanderson    0 - 2     2
Brock          0 - 1     1    E Miller       0 - 1     1
Langton        0 - 1     1    C Sanderson    0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           44    Shots on goal           59
Saves made by           41    Saves made by           29
   LoCascio                      C Sanderson       17
                                 E Miller          12
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         5
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        0
Empty Net Goals          0    Empty Net Goals          2

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH BALTIMORE SUN ***