The Rochester Rattlers may have started out slow, but stellar goaltending by John Galloway kept the game close in the first quarter and enabled the Rattlers to start their comeback as they came away with a 15-11 victory over the Ohio Machine. The Rattlers will face the Denver Outlaws who defeated the Lizards 14-13. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 pm (ET) next Saturday in Atlanta, GA.
Head coach Tim Soudan said with the team down 6-3 after the first 15 minutes, he told his players to relax, let the game come to you. The Rattlers did just that as they outscored the Machine 12-5 in the final 45 minutes including a six-goal run to end the game.
Kevin Leville led the way for the Rattlers by scoring six times, including three of the final six goals of the game. Jordan Wolf (3 G, 2 A) and Dave Lawson (2 G) led the way for Rochester. Goalie of the Year John Galloway played outstanding and kept the Rattlers in striking distance. Justin Turri scored his only goal in the final period—it was the game winner. Turri also added two assists.
For Ohio, Marcus Holman, Logan Schuss and Peter Baum had two goals each after the first 30 minutes, and only registered one goal in the second half and that was at 1:36 of the third quarter. Ohio looked as if they would make it three wins in a row over the Rattlers as they started out by building a 4-0 lead after only 5:27 into the game. But the defense for the Rattlers stood tall and the offense started to strike.
Again history can be made by a lacrosse team from Rochester. A win by the Rattlers would make it the first time a team from the same city won both the NLL Championship and the MLL Championship.
