ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Four former University of Delaware men’s lacrosse standouts have played a pivotal role during the 2009 Major League Lacrosse season.

Former UD All-Americans John Grant and Jordan Hall led the Toronto Nationals to a 14-13 win over the Long Island Lizards in the semifinals of the MLL Playoffs Saturday at Navy Marine-Corps Stadium.

The Nationals will take on the Denver Outlaws, who defeated the Boston Cannons 11-10 in the other semifinal game Saturday, in the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Navy.

Hall dished out an assist and had two groundballs and Grant had two shots on goal and picked up one groundball in the Nationals’ victory. Toronto stormed back from a 12-9 deficit after three quarters by outscoring Long Island 5-1 in the final stanza.

Former Delaware standout Matt Alrich scored four goals for the Cannons in the losing effort. Alrich enjoyed an outstanding 2009 season as he scored 21 goals and dished out nine assists to rank among the Cannon scoring leaders.

In addition to Grant, Hall, and Alrich, former UD three-time All-American Alex Smith earned All-MLL honors for the third straight year as he earned a spot on the team as a faceoff specialist playing for the Washington Bayhawks. The NCAA’s all-time faceoff leader, Smith went 217-368 this season in the face-off circle. For his career, Smith has a career regular season face-off winning percentage of 60 percent and is already sixth all-time in face-off wins with 665.

Grant, who won the league Most Valuable Player award in both 2007 and 2008, did not see action until late in the season this summer due to a knee injury. He scored five goals in his only regular season appearance. Hall scored nine goals and dished out seven assists during the regular season.

Fans can follow the MLL Championship Game on the MLL website at: www.majorleaguelacrosse.com. The game will also be televised live on ESPN2.