From Georgia to Vancouver: NLL week 7

Georgia 17 vs. New England 15

Shawn Evans’ 12-point night wasn’t enough on Saturday as the league leading Georgia Swarm defeated the New England Black Wolves 17-15. Evans had four goals and eight assists as his Wolves looked to be in control in the final quarter, scoring five straight to give them a 15-13 lead. They didn’t count on Jordan Hall, however, who had a natural hat-trick in a two minute and 25 second span. Lyle Thompson sealed the deal with a goal at 14:15.

Kevin Crowley had five goals and three assists in the effort for the Wolves and Kevin Buchanan added three goals and four assists. Kyle Buchanan added two and Chad Culp one. Evan Kirk took the loss making 52 saves.

For the Swarm, Lyle Thompson led with four goals and six assists. Captain Jordan MacIntosh had a hat-trick and six assists. Hall had four goals overall. Miles Thompson chipped in two.

Jerome Thompson, Randy Staats, John Ranagan and Shayne Jackson had singles.

 

Saskatchewan 21 @ Rochester 12

What a frustrating game for Knighthawks fans. What a fantastic game for Rush fans.

The Hawks led 4-3 after one and 9-7 early in the third against the defending champs before the Rush’s experience took over and they scored ten straight goals through the fourth quarter. The frustrated Knighthawks allowed five power play goals and one shorthanded.

Josh Currier led the Knighthawks with four goals. Kyle Jackson added a pair. Graeme Hossack, Cory Vitarelli, Ian Llord and Scott Campbell also scored. John Rae had his first career goal, and Andrew Suitor had a goal in his home debut along with a couple of near-fights as he tried to spark his club. Dan Dawson chipped in four assists.

Robert Church had four goals and seven assists for 11 points. Mark Matthews was right behind him with 10 – four goals and six assists. Curtis Knight, Adam Jones, Matthew Dinsdale and Ben McIntosh each had a pair. Singles were recorded by Mike Messenger, Chris Corbeil, Ryan Dilks, Adrian Sorichetti and Matt Hossack. In fact, only three runners for Saskatchewan failed to record a point.

 

Toronto 11 @ Calgary 8

A day after his 29th birthday, a 40-save performance from Nick Rose carried the Toronto Rock to an 11-7 win over the Calgary Roughnecks at the Saddledome on Sunday afternoon. Tom Schreiber led the Rock with three goals and three assists.

Frankie Scigliano was pulled after Stephan Leblanc scored the Rock’s 10th goal 22 seconds into the fourth. Realistically, 10 goals aren’t bad in the game of lacrosse. It only looks worse when your offense doesn’t support your goaltender, which, with the exception of Curtis Dickson, was the case. His five goals accounted for 72% of the Roughnecks offense.

The Rock built an 8-2 lead into the third quarter. Dickson’s fourth quarter natural hat-trick made the game interesting late.

Kieran McArdle and Brett Hickey had a pair of goals each for the Rock. Turner Evans had a single. Latrell Harris scored his first NLL goal while falling and tossing his stick along with the ball.

Wesley Berg and Dane Dobbie provided Calgary’s other goals.

Christian Del Bianco played 14:37 of shutout lacrosse to end the game. Billy Hostrawser scored his first of the season into an empty net to seal the deal for the Rock.

 

Colorado Mammoth 10 @ Vancouver Stealth 9 (OT)

A back and forth game at the Langley Events Centre ended in overtime Sunday evening. Tye Belanger got a piece of Brent Adams’ shot 1:09 into overtime but it took a bounce off his shoulder and trickled in.

The game was even throughout with the Stealth holding the lead most of the way. They went up 9-8 with 57 seconds to play but an early possession shot gave the ball back to the Mammoth on the ensuing face-off, and Zack Greer evened it up with 26 seconds remaining.

Vancouver capitalized three times on a match penalty to Nick Ossello for high-sticking. The unusual power play situation meant the Stealth actually went 5 for 4 on the man advantage.

Adams exploded offensively to lead the Mammoth with a hat-trick and two assists. His first of the night was his first career goal. Greer and Joey Cupido had two goals each while Mike Mallory, Jacob Ruest and Creighton Reid had singles. Eli McLaughlin had four assists. Dillon Ward stopped 38 shots in the Mammoth goal.

Logan Schuss had a seven-point night for the Stealth with three goals and four assists. Rhys Duch had two goals and three helpers while Garrett Billings, Corey Small, Joel McCready and Peter McFetridge also tallied. Billings added four assists while Small added three. Belanger made 43 saves in the loss.