Justin Ivey, Co-Editor and NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Halifax Thunderbirds (3-2) hosted the Albany Firewolves (2-2) for the first of two NLL games on Friday, January 13. As expected with two excellent goaltenders, the game was a low scoring affair and eventually needed overtime to decide the winner. Despite a good offensive night from Eric Fannell (3G, 1A) the Thunderbirds couldn’t keep Kieran McArdle (4G, 4A) from netting the game winner 1:44 into the extra time. The road win was special to Albany, as Brett Manney played in his 200th career NLL game. Final Score: Albany-11, Halifax-10.
Both teams started with an empty possession to start the game, but off the Warren Hill (11GA, 40SV) save Halifax found the first goal in transition. Colton Armstrong (2G) caught the quick long outlet, beating the Albany defense down the floor and blew the ball past Doug Jamieson (10GA, 53SV) low and away. Nearly three minutes later, Albany tied the game on a power play goal from Ethan Walker (2G, 1A). After setting a wonderful screen, Walker rolled to the middle and was found by Tanner Thomson (1G, 3A) with a crisp pass for the game tying goal. Again, almost three minutes passed before another goal. Wake:Riat BowHunter (1G) scored his only goal of the game with 8:23 remaining, giving the one-goal lead back to Halifax. Not to be outdone by Hill’s game opening assist, Jamieson found Colton Watkinson (1G) streaking in transition. Watkinson caught the ball one handed over the shoulder and found the net with 50 seconds left in the opening frame. At the end of the first quarter, Albany and Halifax were tied 2-2.
Albany took their first lead of the game on a Justin Scott (1G, 1A) goal 2:25 into the second quarter. His laser from outside beat Hill low and away, but the lead lasted all of 35 seconds. Chris Boushy (2G) scored his first of the game on the next Thunderbird’s possession. Clarke Petterson (1G, 3A) somehow picked up his own rebound in traffic from an outside shot and flipped it to Boushy on the crease while falling backwards. In the unsettled set, Boushy simply stretched his stick and buried the ball past Jamieson to tie the game 3-3. Albany again would break the tie and take the lead. John Piatelli (1G, 2A) dodged across the turf up high and painted the top left corner while falling down. That goal came with 9:20 left on the clock and was the last score of the half. At halftime, Albany led Halifax 4-3.
Just in case no goals for the last 9:20 of the first half didn’t cause enough anxiety, it took 8:24 of game time in the third quarter before the ball met net again. Transition man Jackson Nishimura (1G, 2A) found the net and gave Albany the largest lead of the game. Just over a minute later, McArdle extended that lead to three. After a transition attempt, he scooped up a juicy rebound while splitting two defenders. In two quick strides, he released the shot past Hill and the Firewolves led 6-3. Austin Shanks (1G, 3A) stopped the bleeding just over a minute later when he launched a shot from outside through the five hole of Jamieson. The goal sparked a little run from Halifax and Albany squandered the three goal lead allowing Halifax to score two more in the next minute. Fannell scored both. The first came with 4:08 left and was the product of a beautiful lane dodge and resilience. His second came with 3:24 remaining. With a delayed penalty called on the Albany defense, they were forced to space out as an extra attacker came on. Fannell was found left alone in the middle by Cody Jamieson (2A) and he turned and buried the shot in one motion. At the end of the third quarter, Albany and Halifax were tied 6-6.
Halifax continued to run with momentum from the end of the third quarter. Boushy and Petterson scored 20 seconds apart to propel the Thunderbirds to a two-goal lead. Thomson finally stopped the onslaught. He used a perfect fake pass to move his defender and create space for a snipe from up top. Fannel answered again for the Thunderbirds. Catching a long cross crease pass from Randy Staats (2A) he jumped into the crease defender and scored while in the air to extend the lead. A tumultuous five and a half minutes passed, with the defenses clamping down allowing no goals. McArdle reopened the scoring with his second goal of the game coming with 4:31 left, but Halifax quickly answered this time. An errant Firewolves’ shot bounced way back over the midline where a streaking Armstrong picked it up and geared to the net. With 3:40 left, Halifax led 10-8. Albany kept fighting. With 2:48 on the game clock, McArdle completed his hat trick scoring in an unsettled transition situation and then Walker tied the game with 33 seconds left. The set play with an extra attacker had him roll off a crease in the middle. Piatelli found him with a sharp pass for a quick finish. The fourth quarter would end with Albany and Halifax tied 10-10.
Halifax won the opening faceoff to start overtime but could not get the ball past Jamieson. In turn, Albany could not find the net on their first possession. Finally, on the Firewolves second possession, McArdle rolled from low to high off a screen and found space. He picked the far lower corner and unleashed a shot that beat Hill for the game winning goal. Final Score: Albany-11, Halifax-10.
Up Next:
The Halifax Thunderbirds (3-2) travel to play the Toronto Rock (2-2) on Saturday, January 14 at 7:00 PM EST.
The Albany Firewolves (2-2) host the New York Riptide (0-3) on Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 PM EST.