Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Christian Bender
The New York Riptide (1-6) visited the Toronto Rock (6-2) on Saturday night February 4, 2023 in a game where 36 goals were scored between the teams. The crowd of 9,419 left happy as the Toronto Rock defeated the Riptide 22 – 14 on the back of Tom Schreiber’s 14 point game. This extended their win streak to five in a row and keeps them in stride with the top teams in the Eastern Division.
The scoring started less than three minutes into the first quarter. Tom Schreiber (3G, 11A) came over the top, passed to Corey Small (5G, 4A) and his low to low shot beat Steve Orleman (29 saves) between the legs to give the Rock an early 1 – 0 lead. A minute and a half later while on the power play Jeff Teat (4G, 6A) fired a shot from the top and beat Nick Rose (23 saves) over the shoulder to tie the game at one. A minute later the Rock regained the lead. Stephen Keogh (4G, 3A) received a pass from Small, cut through the middle and beat Orleman with a twister shot to the short side. Schreiber also received an assist which gave him his 400th career point. Shortly after that Dan Craig (3G, 5A) cut under his defender, dove across the crease and went far side to give the Rock a 3 – 1 lead. Small would score his second of the quarter off a cross floor pass from Latrell Harris (3G, 1A) and his shot went through the legs increasing the Rock lead 4 – 1. The Riptide would cut into the lead 90 seconds later. Larson Sundown(1G) got the flip pass from Teat and his overhand shot went through the legs to make it 4 – 2 still in favor of the Rock. With just over a minute left in the first Tyler Digby (3G, 1A) fired a shot from the top which would also go through the legs with a bounce shot to end the quarter with the Riptide trailing the Rock by one 4 – 3. The shots on goal at the end of the first quarter favored Toronto 13—New York 8.
The scoring started early in the second quarter and the Riptide would tie it up 33 seconds in. While in transition, Teat got the pass from Kevin Brownell (1G, 1A), went in on a breakaway and went far side to tie the game at four. Thirty seconds later Toronto would regain the lead when Craig at the top threw a fake that the defender bit on and his high to low shot went five-hole and it was 5 – 4 for the Rock. A minute later while on the power play Small shot around his defender and beat Orleman to the far side for his hat trick goal which extended the Toronto lead to 6 – 4. Toronto would score again when Keogh took a high to low shot from the outside that squeezed through Orleman’s legs and just over the line to make it 7 – 4. Small would add his fourth of the first half when his sidearm shot from the outside went short side and it was 8 – 4 for Toronto. It was then that New York decided to pull Orleman in favour of Gowah Abrams (9 saves). Less than halfway through the second quarter the Rock continued their scoring. Harris received a BTB pass from Schreiber and his bounce shot beat Abrams to the short side making it 9 – 4 Rock. With just over a minute left in the quarter New York stopped the Toronto run while on the power play. Connor Kearnan (3G, 2A) got a pass from Teat and beat Rose to the far side still in favor of the Rock 9 – 5. In the last 30 seconds of the first half Teat fired a sidearm shot that went short side and the half ended 9 – 6 for Toronto. The shots on goal after the first half still favored Toronto 29—New York 20.
Just over a minute into the third quarter Teat made a cross crease pass to Kearnan who’s quick stick shot beat Rose to the short side and the Rock lead was cut to two at 9 – 7. Toronto responded with a four-goal run starting when Schreiber sent a laser side arm shot to the top corner over the shoulder to extend the Rock lead 10 – 7. Thirty seconds later Harris picked up a loose ball behind the Riptide net and from a sharp angle fired it at the net and beat an unsuspecting Abrams through the legs and it was 11 – 7. The Riptide would get nabbed with a holding the stick penalty and on the power-play Keogh took a high to low shot that went far side increasing the lead to five 12 – 7. With less than half of the third quarter over Dan Dawson (2G, 5A) cut to the net short handed and his twister shot went five-hole and the lead was six 13 – 7. While on the same power play Digby beat Rose with an over hand shot that went in under his glove to stop the run and make it 13 – 8 Rock. Keogh continued his hot shooting with a bounce shot from the outside to the far side for his fourth of the game extending the Rock lead 14 – 8. New York tried to shake things up again and put Orleman back in net at this point. With 3:56 in the frame, the Riptide would go man-down again. While on the power play a loose ball came out front and Challen Rogers (1G, 1A) scooped it up and beat Orleman to the short side to make it 15 – 8. In the last minute of the third quarter Teat took a sidearm shot that squeezed between Rose’s arm and side and fell over the line to make it 15 – 9 for the Rock. But 30 seconds later while in transition Harris ran the floor and fired an over hand shot to the short side for his hat trick goal and it was 16 – 9 after three quarters. The shots on goal after three quarters still favored Toronto 44—New York 28.
Again New York scored early in the quarter. Kearnan got the pass from Teat on the crease and his quick stick beat Rose to the short side to make it 16 – 10 Toronto. Less than a minute later Kevin Brownell (1G, 1A) in transition fired a shot to the bottom corner cutting the lead to five 16 – 11. Toronto would stop the mini-New York run. Brad Kri (1G) picked up a loose ball in transition and fired one over the shoulder to make it 17 – 11. Less than 30 seconds later Schreiber was behind the net, faked one way and dove the other to beat Orleman to the empty side and the lead was back at seven 18 – 11. Digby would get that one back as he cut in front, received a pass from Kearnan and his twister went five-hole to make it 18 – 12. But less than a minute later Dawson went one on one, beat his defender and his bounce shot went through the legs and it was 19 – 12. Two minutes later Schreiber was again behind the net and even though the goalie and a defender were blocking the top of the net Schreiber fooled them by diving and shooting low through Orleman’s legs to make it 20 – 12 Rock. Toronto continued to score at will. While Small was falling, his shot beat Orleman through the legs and that made it 21 – 12 for the Rock. New York stopped the latest Rock run while on the power play. Brett Hickey (2G, 4A) took a sidearm shot that went to the far side and it was 21 – 13. At this time Toronto would pull Rose and replace him with Troy Holowchuk (2 saves). The Rock responded as Craig took a shot to beat the 30 second clock and it squeezed through Orleman’s legs and over the line for his hat trick goal and final goal of the game for Toronto. The Riptide finished off the scoring while on a five-minute power play on a roughing penalty by the Rock. Hickey shot for the outside and beat Holowchuk to the far side to make it 22 – 14 for the Rock.
Toronto had the upper hand on shots for the game having 63 over New York with only 39.
The Three stars of the game were:
Tom Schreiber – Toronto Rock: 3 goals and 11 assists(1 short of the All-Time points record for the Rock)
Corey Small – Toronto Rock: 5 goals and 4 assists
Jeff Teat – New York Riptide: 4 goals and 6 assists
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (6-2) will travel to Georgia for the first half of a back-to-back against the Georgia Swarm (0-5) on Friday February 10, 2023, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The New York Riptide (1-6) will host the Albany FireWolves (2-4) at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday February 11, 2023, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©