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Aug. 25, 2004
Charlottesville, Va. – Current Boston Cannons star and former University of Virginia lacrosse standout Conor Gill was named the 2004 Major League Lacrosse Bud Light MVP at the annual MLL awards luncheon last weekend in Boston. Gill is the second former UVa player in a row named the league’s MVP. Last season midfielder Jay Jalbert of the Long Island Lizards captured the league’s top honor.
This season Gill continued his growth as an unstoppable offensive force on the professional scene while guiding the Cannons to the league title game for the first time. He led the league in both points (67) and assists (40). His 40 assists tie the league record he established last season, while he fell just short of the single-season scoring mark of 70 points.
Gill made his mark on the season early and often. In Week Two, he counted two late tallies among his three goals and three assists, giving Boston a shootout victory over Baltimore and earning the first of three Bud Light Game MVP awards. The following week, he scored a season-high four goals and added three assists to lead a 21-19 win over Rochester. In Week Six, he registered his third seven-point game of the season when his hat trick and four assists helped Boston down the New Jersey Pride.
The third-year star scored five or more points in 10 consecutive games to open the season, including a streak of five games with at least six points.
Gill, who recently returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach on Dom Starsia’s staff, was named the league’s Rookie of the Year two years ago when he set rookie records for goals (20), assists (16) and points (36). Last season, he increased his goal total to 23, while his 40 assists smashed the previous league record of 30 assists. His 63 points in 2003 ranked fourth in the league.
A native of Lutherville, Md., Gill was a three-time All-American at UVa and finished his collegiate career tied for second in assists (146) and seventh in career points (223) in Atlantic Coast Conference history. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1999 when he helped the Cavaliers capture the NCAA Championship. He tallied five goals in the first quarter of the semifinals against Johns Hopkins and became the first freshman named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championships.
Gill was also named to the league’s inaugural All-Star team and was joined on the 11-man squad by Jalbert. This season Jalbert finished in the top 10 in both points (46) and goals (30) and extended his goal-scoring streak to 23 consecutive games while playing for the Long Island Lizards.
Gill capped a stellar 2004 campaign by earning the Boston Cannons’ team MVP award and was joined by former Cavaliers Michael Watson and Ryan Curtis as Cannon award recipients. Watson, one of the greatest offensive players at UVa from 1994-97, had his finest season as a professional and was named the Cannons’ Offensive Player of the Year. He finished the season with 39 goals and 47 points, both career highs and scored five or more goals in four straight games.
Curtis, the National Collegiate Defenseman of the Year during UVa’s 1999 championship season, was named the Cannons’ Defensive Player of the Year for the third year in a row. Last season’s MLL Defensive Player of the Year, he continued to harass the league’s top attackmen throughout 2004. He made his presence felt around the Cannons’ crease delivering crushing body checks, pesky stick checks and leading the occasional Cannon fast break. He is lacrosse’s version of the “stay-at-home” defenseman and his work does not go unappreciated as he continually held the league’s best scorers (e.g Mark Millon, Ryan Powell, Tim Goettelmann) in check.