Battle of the Expansion Teams Knighthawks vs Riptide 2/29/2020

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Christopher Crane, Correspondent Rochester Knighthawks
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Featured Image Photo Credit: Micheline V

On Leap Day 2/29/2020 the Rochester Knighthawks (2-8) played host to the New York Riptide (1-11) on Military Appreciation Night at the Blue Cross Arena in front of 6,006  fans.  This was a game of runs.  Rochester would get off to a slow start with New York finding the back of net first and the ‘Hawks would gain momentum midway through the contest only to lose steam again in the fourth. New York would turn the tide and make a run late to come within one goal in the closing minutes.  But it would Rochester’s Rylan Hartley who would have another amazing night in goal as he would face 61 shots and make 49 saves to hold off the Riptide to give the Knighthawks their second win of the season. Hartley would notch his first career NLL win as Rochester takes the victory.  Final Score:  Rochester 13—New York 12.

Game Highlights: Rochester vs New York 2/29/2020

First period action saw the Riptide tallying the first two scores coming from Tyson Gibson (2g, 5a) and Dan Lomas (6g, 2a) to put New York up 2-0.  Rochester’s Dan Michel (2g, 1a) would get the Knighthawks on the board with back-to-back goals at 10:06 and would tie the game up 2-2 at 11:36.  New York would have a 3-2 lead at the end of the first as Gibson would net his second of the night for the Riptide at 11:55.

Rochester’s would tie it up at the 5:03 mark in the second with a goal from Ryland Rees (1g, 1a). A couple of minutes later New York would take a 4-3 lead when Lomas would net his second of the night at the 7:16 mark of the second period.  The Knighthawks would then go on a seven goal run that started at the 9:05 mark of the second with Holden Cattoni (4g, 2a) getting it going; followed by teammate Mark Cockerton (2g, 2a) giving Rochester a 5-4 lead heading into halftime.

The Knighthawks would keep things rolling in the third period tallying the first five scores of the frame.  Netting scores for Rochester were Turner Evans with two; Doug Utting (1g); Phil Caputo (1g, 3a); and Cockerton with his second to give Rochester a 10-4 lead at the 4:33 mark.  The Riptide would show signs of life when Kieran McArdle (1g, 2a) would net the first of only two scores for New York in the frame making it a 10-5 game at 5:01 of the period.  The Riptide’s second score of the period came from Gale Thorpe (1g, 1a) getting them to within four at the 6:18 mark.  However, Rochester’s Cattoni would net the last two for the Knighthawks.  Rochester would double up New York 12-6 at the end of the third.

The fourth was all New York with the Knighthawks Cattoni netting the lone score for Rochester just 41 seconds into the period making it a 13-6 game.  From then on it would be all Riptide as they would go on a six-goal run.  Leading the way for New York was Lomas netting four; Travis Longboat (1g, 2a); and John Wagner (1g), but it wouldn’t be enough as Rochester would hold on for the win.  Final Score:  Rochester 13—New York 12.

Rochester would get their second win of the season while New York’s woes continue.

“It feels great,” Hartley said when talking about the win. “We have deserved this for a while now and after getting it, we are going to enjoy it. We came in and had a good practice this morning and had our heads focused. We knew we had to have this one.”

Post Game Interview: Holden Cattoni

Post Game Interview: Rylan Hartley

TEAM STATS:
New York:  61 SOG; 18 SOFF; 80 LB; 22-29 FO; 2-3 PP; 8 PIM
Rochester:  48 SOG; 26 SOFF; 72 LB; 7-2 FO; 2-4 PP; 6 PIM

NET-MINDER STATS:
New York Alex Buque:  39 SOG; 29 Saves; 10 GA; .744 Sv%
New York Gowah Abrams:  9 SOG; 6 Saves; 3 GA; .666 Sv%
Rochester Rylan Hartley:  61 SOG; 49 Saves; 12 GA; .803 Sv%

NEXT UP:

The Rochester Knighthawks have a West Coast double-header this coming weekend.  On Saturday March 7, they will face the San Diego Seals (5-6), game time 10:30 p.m. EST. Then on Sunday they head to Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth (6-6) 0n Sunday March 8, 2020, game time 7:00 p.m. EST.  This will be the only meeting of the teams this season.

The New York Riptide (1-11) will host the Georgia Swarm (6-4) for a North Division match up on Saturday March 7, game time 7:30 p.m.  The teams have split the series and as we know the Riptide are due for a win…will Georgia fall to the ‘Tide once again?

Christopher Crane, Correspondent Rochester Knighthawks
Lacrosse is Awesome©