UNIONDALE, NY - The Lizards could have folded at halftime. They could have packed it in and let the undefeated Philadelphia Barrage take over the game.

Instead, they did the opposite.

After surrendering a two goal lead late in the first half, Long Island went on to dominate the 2nd half of play, eventually leading to a 16-11 victory.

After jumping out to a 7-5 lead, The Long Island defense allowed two quick goals going into halftime. The first was scored when Barrage attack man Jed Prosser beat the defense with 1:05 left in the half. His goal was followed by another by Major League Lacrosse’s points leader, Ryan Boyle, who finished with four goals and two assists, just 58 seconds later.

Instead of faltering, the Lizards came out playing physical, blistering defense. That allowed the offense to achieve a consistent flow and put up six goals in the third quarter and put the game away before the fourth quarter of play ever even began.

Lizards coach Jim Mule was confident that his team would be able to turn it around.

“We just wanted to make sure that we stayed focused,” said Mule. “We had eight or nine man-downs today. You can’t get into an offensive flow if you are a man down. We said let’s stay out of the box and let’s take care of the ball, and that’s what we did.”

The Lizard attack was lead by Austin Garrison. He beat the league’s second best goalie, Philly’s Brian Dougherty, for three goals, including one in the second half on which the Lizard midfielder just wound up and powered the ball past Dougherty.

“We controlled the ball pretty well when we did get possession.” Garrison said. “When we did get possessions we were able to pass the ball around, get some penetration, and score some goals. In the second half, we just agreed to shut up and play, and that is what we did.”

The league’s top rated goalie belongs to Long Island, as Nick Murtha continued his hot play. He allowed only eight goals in this game. This will lower what was already a league low 12 goals against per game average.

“It feels real good,” said Murtha when asked about his hot start to his 2007 campaign. “But, it’s a long season so it’s important to stay consistent, and it helps to have such a great offense, and a great defense.”

Murtha got a lot of help from his defense as the unit, led by Nicky Polanco, did not allow a goal in the third period. He was also helped by sloppy offense by Philly as they blew several opportunities to score by allowing cross-field passes to be intercepted.

“I think that it was just communication and a lot of hustle,” Murtha said of his defenses improvement in the second half. “First half we were kind of quiet. We didn’t communicate real well, but in the second we came out and played better as a unit.

The win ties Philly and Long Island at 3-1. Both teams both have to be considered serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. They are currently tied for second place in the East, behind Washington who is 4-1. Washington defeated Long Island last week 18-15 at Georgetown University.

The Lizards are way ahead of last season’s pace when they won only five games all season.

“It just seems like we are moving the ball a lot better offensively,” said attackman Keith Cromwell, who had five points: two goals and three assists in the game. “We are letting the ball do all the work. No one is being the hero and we’re sharing the ball real well. It’s nice to be 3-1 right now.”

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