Philadelphia beat Boston in the semifinal round and will advance to the MLL Championship Game for only the second time in team history.

Carson, CA (August 25, 2006) – In front of fans at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, the Philadelphia Barrage topped the Boston Cannons 17-12 in the MLL semifinals. Matt Striebel was named Bud Light game MVP for his six-point (5G, 1A) performance in the game. The Barrage advance to the New Balance Championship Game Sunday; this will be Philadelphia’s second appearance in the MLL Championships in team history. In 2004, the Barrage defeated the Cannons 13-11 at Nickerson field to me named the MLL Champions.

The game started off early with a goal from Ryan Boyle, putting Philadelphia on the board. Boston’s Bill Glading answered back with a goal tying the game at 10:42. Philadelphia then went on a four-goal streak to end the first quarter. Matt Striebel scored three out of the four goals; Justin Smith netted the other goal. Roy Colsey and Jed Prossner scored for the Barrage to start off the second quarter, increasing Boston’s deficit to six. David Evans started a four-goal scoring steak for the Cannons, Chazz Woodson, Matt Poskay and Chris Fiore, with a two-point goal, also scored during the run, leaving them trailing by one. Michael Springer scored with 0:01 second’s left on the clock off an assist from Boyle. The scored at the end of the first half was Philadelphia 8, Boston 6.

Off the face off X in the third quarter, Paul Cantabene ran the ball down and scored unassisted for Philadelphia. Brett Bucktooth answered back for the Cannons with his first goal of the night. Colsey scored his second of the night for the Barrage, followed by a goal from defenseman, Kyle Sweeney. That was Sweeney’s second goal of the season. At 12:19, Poskay scored his second of the night for Boston off a Conor Gill assist. Colsey scored again for Philadelphia, giving them a four-goal lead. The game continued for seven minutes without a goal until Fiore scored his second two-point goal of the night, leaving them down by two. Colsey then scored his third goal of the quarter for Philadelphia, followed by a goal from Boyle with 0:52 left in the quarter, giving the Barrage another four-goal lead to end the quarter. Striebel scored his fourth goal of the night early in the fourth for the Barrage; he then scored his fifth goal at 8:13. Evans finally broke through the Barrage defense at 6:55 for the Cannons leaving his team trailing by five.

Philadelphia will take on the Denver Outlaws in the New Balance Championship Game on Sunday, August 27 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. The winner of that game will be crowned the 2006 MLL Champions and take home the Steinfeld Cup. Face off is set for 2:00 pm PST and will be aired live on ESPN2.