LUMBERJAX: Goalie Disher's knee injury costly to Portland's high hopes

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, May 7, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Portland LumberJax player Tim Campeau celebrates with teammate Richard Morgan after scoring a goal in a regular-season game against the Colorado Mammoth.

JAIME VALDEZ / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

The final season of the Portland LumberJax ended May 1, as San Jose unloaded offensively in the 20-16 National Lacrosse League playoff win.

But, the Jax season took a turn for the worse in the March 7 NLL All-Star Game, when goalie Matt Disher suffered a knee sprain. It would bother him for the second half of the season, as he tried to play through the injury. And, Disher aggravated the knee again on his first save against San Jose and exited the game after the first quarter. Rookie goalie Matt Flindell played the rest of the way, and proved unable to stop the San Jose sharpshooters.

Game over. Season over. Franchise done. The LumberJax announced three days after the game that the team would not operate next year in Portland because of financial difficulties. The team hasn't gone defunct, as owner Angela Batinovich wants to find another city to play in next season.

It was a tough game to go out on, because the LumberJax (9-8) felt with the All-Star Disher that they had the team to contend for the NLL title. A year ago, the Jax lost in the championship game to Buffalo.

"Our team's success was awesome," forward Ryan Powell says. "It's unfortunate that you battle all season long, travel all around, give up a lot of your life to compete and it comes down to a playoff game and your goaltender gets hurt and can't play.

"If we were healthy and clicking, we had a championship-caliber team. Everybody was believing that. A return to the championship is where we thought we would go. When you don't win the whole thing ... what can you say?"

The Jax placed second in the NLL West Division, winning consecutive games against Calgary, Colorado and Minnesota to clinch the spot. In most other playoff games, scoring 16 goals would have been enough. But, it wasn't without Disher.

"We wouldn't give up 20 goals in 99 games out of 100," says general manager/coach Derek Keenan, who adds that the Jax were also shorthanded without the services of veteran Bruce Alexander (sickness) in the game.

Superb defenseman Brodie Merrill had another great year with 16 goals and 38 assists and leading the NLL in loose balls. Peter Morgan "had his best year with us," Keenan says, leading the team with 33 goals. "He was consistent in every game," Keenan adds. "He battled through injuries — he had a bad back — and scored four goals in the playoff game."

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