Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: New England Black Wolves
The NLL’s Game of the Week saw the New England Black Wolves (2-0) visit the Saskatchewan Rush (1-1) at the Sasktel Centre. The Black Wolves won their second straight road game to start the season behind a strong game from Doug Jamieson (43 saves) in net and Callum Crawford’s (3G, 3A) second consecutive hat trick. Saskatchewan was not able to get a run of goals until early in the third quarter, and by then the Black Wolves had a convincing lead. They were able to weather the run and trade goals in the fourth quarter to hang on and stay undefeated on the season. Final Score: New England-12, Saskatchewan-8.
New England started off with a bang in the first quarter. Reilly O’Connor (2G, 3A) swung around a high screen and darted towards the net. He passed to an open Dave Emala (1G) behind the net who then proceeded to dive and wrap in the first goal of the game. Just over a minute and a half later, O’Connor fired a laser from the top to give the Black Wolves a 2-0 lead just five minutes in. The Rush needed a penalty shot to score their first goal of the game. Since an illegal substitution penalty disrupted the break away, Mark Matthews (4G, 1A) was given the free shot and capitalized to cut the deficit in half. But the Rush couldn’t gain any momentum as the Black Wolves ended the opening quarter with two more goals. The first came from rookie Andrew Kew (2G, 4A) and the second on a beautiful twist shot from a running Crawford. At the end of the first quarter, New England led Saskatchewan 4-1.
The New England run continued to start the second quarter. Joe Resetarits (1G, 3A) scored just 29 seconds in after picking up a juicy rebound off an O’Connor shot. Just over two minutes later Jordan Durston (1G, 1A) unloaded a cannon from outside that beat net minder Evan Kirk. After Kirk allowed six goals on the first 17 shots faced, he was replaced by Adam Shute. The switch provided temporary momentum as Matthews scored his second of the game just under five minutes in. It was short lived again as the Black Wolves went up on the power play and Crawford buried another twister from the middle. Mike Messenger (1G) answered on the next Rush possession with a beautiful diving goal to make the score 7-3. This time New England answered with two in a row. Crawford completed his second hat trick in as many games before Stephan Leblanc (1G, 3A) buried an over the top dunk from behind the cage. Kyle Rubisch (2G) got one back for the Rush before the half, scoring unassisted in transition. At the half, New England led Saskatchewan 9-4.
Coming out of the half, Rubisch again scored an unassisted goal just 24 seconds in. From there, the defenses stood tall. Both teams got a few good looks, but the goalies were up to the task. After a hot start in the first half, New England was held scoreless in the third quarter, but was able to hold Saskatchewan to only two goals. Jeff Shattler (1G, 1A) scored the only other goal of the third with 5:13 remaining. At the end of the third quarter, New England led Saskatchewan 9-6.
O’Connor ended the Rush run with his second goal of the game after executing a perfect cut and catch in the middle. Almost nine minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed as yet again the defenses found their footing. Saskatchewan broke the drought with Matthews scoring his hat trick goal. Again, the Black Wolves answered. This time it was Nick Chaykowsky (1G, 1A) with a break away to get the lead back to four with 2:40 remaining. 39 seconds later, Matthews scored his fourth to keep up the fight, but with little time left on the clock, Kew was able to score an empty netter to bring us to our final. Final Score: New England-12, Saskatchewan-8.
UP NEXT:
The New England Black Wolves (2-0) enjoy a bye week before hosting the New York Riptide (0-2) on Friday, December 27 at 7:30 PM EST.
The Saskatchewan Rush (1-1) enjoy a bye week before visiting the New York Riptide (0-2) on Saturday, December 28 at 76:30 PM EST.
Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©