Justin Ivey, Co-Editor & Beat Writer
New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome
New England might want to put seat belts in their stadium after the roller coaster game against Vancouver on Friday night December 30, 2017. The New England Black Wolves (2-1), after being blown up for 24 goals last week, had a truly epic back and forth affair against the visiting Vancouver Stealth (0-3). This time, they answered each run with a flurry of their own to come out on top. Final Score: New England 13—Vancouver 9.
Vancouver came out of the locker room strong in the first quarter. Just under two minutes in, Joel McCready (2G, 1A) came off a high screen and ripped a bounce shot through defenders and past goalie Aaron Bold. After seven minutes of scoreless lacrosse where both offenses seemed rather stationary, the Stealth struck again. This time it was Brandon Goodwin (2G, 3A) scoring on yet another bounce shot around a screen. The Black Wolves offense finally got something going with under a minute remaining in the quarter. Reilly O’Connor (2G, 1A) scored with 43 seconds remaining, and Jay Thorimbert (1G, 1A) won the ensuing faceoff, bolted down the floor and tied the game just five seconds later. At the end of the first quarter, New England and Vancouver were tied 2-2.
New England used the momentum gathered at the end of the first quarter to come out strong in the second. After a stagnant possession, a great ride by the Black Wolves’ offense caused a turnover. Kevin Crowley (2G, 1A) took advantage and gave New England their first lead of the night. Kyle Buchanan (3G) lit the light on the next Black Wolves’ possession with a Sports Center worthy behind the back goal. Less than 30 seconds later, Buchanan scored again to give the home team a three-goal lead. Vancouver goalie Brodie MacDonald was injured trying to make the stop and was replaced in net by former Black Wolves goalie Tye Belanger. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Crowley added another just over a minute later. In the first 2:43 of the second quarter, New England rattled off four goals, to bring their unanswered run to six straight going back to the first quarter. Both offenses would go another seven minutes with slow possessions and no good looks. Corey Small (1G, 2A) broke the Vancouver drought with just under five minutes remaining in the half, and
Goodwin scored with 36 seconds remaining to bring them back within two goals. At halftime, New England led Vancouver 6-4.
Much like the Black Wolves in the second quarter, Vancouver came out on fire in the third quarter. Peter McFetridge (1G) scored first, 2:53 in on an odd man break. On the next possession, Evan Messenger (1G) tied up the game at six. Four minutes later, Ryan Fournier (1G, 1A) took advantage of another odd man break to give Vancouver the lead. Out of the ensuing TV timeout, McCready got his second of the game to extend the Stealth lead. Just over two minutes later Cliff Smith (1G) found the back of the net. In response to New England’s six goal run, Vancouver had now scored seven in a row. More importantly, they held the Black Wolves scoreless in the third quarter to take a three-goal lead headed into the fourth. At the end of three quarters, Vancouver led New England 9-6.
New England did not start off on the right foot to mount a comeback in the fourth as Seth Oakes was called for an illegal cross check 55 seconds in. But Vancouver could not score on the man advantage and gave the Black Wolves a power play opportunity four minutes later. Kyle Buchanan found twine less than a minute in to complete his hat trick. But again, New England found themselves a man down shortly after with a bench minor for too many men. Flipping the script, they allowed no goals and scored two shorthanded to tie the game at nine. Shawn Evans (2G, 2A) found the net first and Joel Coyle (1G) bullied his way down field to score the equalizer. Aaron Bold, who consistently was looking for the breaking defender after making saves found Adam Bomberry (1G) streaking just over a minute later. Bomberry ran straight for the net and beat Belanger to give New England the lead and bring the unanswered run to four goals. The Black Wolves never looked back. They held Vancouver scoreless for the rest of the game and added three more before time expired. O’Connor scored with 3:29 remaining; Colton Watkinson (1G, 2A) got his first NLL goal on the empty net with 1:05 left on the clock; and in the last minute of play Evans scored his second goal. The crazy back and forth game of just runs ended with the Black Wolves keeping the Stealth winless in the young season. Final Score: 13—Vancouver 9.
UP NEXT:
The Vancouver Stealth (0-3) will host the Toronto Rock (1-2) on Saturday, January 6 at 10:00 p.m. and the New England Black Wolves (2-1) travel to play the Rochester Knighthawks (2-1) on Saturday, January 13 at 7:30 PM.
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor & Beat Writer New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome