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July 9, 2007
Cambridge, Mass. – Former Virginia standout Matt Poskay was named the MVP of the Major League Lacrosse All-Star game yesterday.
Playing in front of his hometown fans, Poskay scored a game-high four goals, including the game’s only 2-point shot, to lead the Eastern Conference squad to a 19-12 victory over the Western Conference at Harvard Stadium.
“My role is to feed off the other guys’ success at times being an off-ball player,” Poskay said to InsideLacrosse.com. “That’s kind of how it is, and today was one of those days; I had some good shots and guys created some good things for me so I just put the ball in the back of the net.”
Poskay scored twice in the first quarter as the East built a quick 6-1 lead.
The West scored just two goals in the first half but rallied with five consecutive goals to trim the East’s lead to 10-7 just 16 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Poskay scored twice in a 51-second span early in the fourth quarter to extend the East’s lead to 14-8. With 11:45 remaining he took a pass from John Grant, Jr., and stuffed in a goal. Less than a minute later Poskay scored from beyond the 2-point arc for his first 2-point goal of his career.
“It was the first attempt at (a 2-pointer) in my career, and it just happened to be in the All-Star Game,” Poskay told the Boston Herald. “It was exciting, and who knows when I’ll take my next one?
“I need that lane like I had today and I really stepped into it. It was fun to get that, especially here in front of the hometown crowd. I think that was the most important.”
Poskay wasn’t the only member of UVa’s 2006 national championship squad to contribute to the East win. Kyle Dixon scored two goals (both in the first quarter), while Matt Ward, the MVP of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, scored once and added an assist. Dixon and Ward are teammates on the Washington Bayhawks.
Michael Culver of the Chicago Machine, the 2006 Defenseman of the Year, and midfielder J.J. Morrissey from the Los Angeles Riptide played for the West All-Stars.
Midfielder Chris Rotelli, the national player of the year during the Cavaliers’ 2003 national title season, and faceoff specialist David Jenkins, a member of Virginia’s 1999 national championship squad, were selected to the all-star game but were unable to play due to injury.