People say that “stats don’t lieâ€, but try telling that to the Rochester Rattlers (4-4) after beating the Long Island Lizards (5-3) last night. The Lizards went into the game with better stats in nearly every category, but still ended up losing 13-8. The win over the Lizards helps increase the Rattlers hopes for a playoff spot and also could result in the Cannons or Outlaws moving up into the 2nd spot in the league.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night happened at the face-off X. The Lizard’s Greg Gurenlian went into the game leading the MLL in face-off percentage but only won 11 of 25 last night. Tim Fallon of the Rattlers won 13 of 24 and Jordan MacIntosh went 1 for 1 at the X. Losing possessions due to face-offs really makes it hard to score and win games.
The Lizards were led by Max Seibald who had 4 points on 3 goals and 1 assist. Brian Langtry, Grant Catalino and Ryan Young each added 2 points to help the Lizards. To cap their scorers, Will Mangan and Tommy Palasek each added a goal while Greg Gurenlian had an assist.
Jordan MacIntosh continued his scoring tear by scoring 4 goals to lead the Rattlers. Ned Crotty and Matt Striebel each added 3 points to help lead the Rattlers to a much needed win. Also scoring goals were Steven Boyle with 2, Brad Ross, Steve DeNapoli, Kevin Drew and Roy Lang. Dan Hardy, Joel White and John Lade each had an assist for the Rattlers.
John Galloway played a full game in goal for the Rattlers on his way to earn game MVP honors. Galloway stopped 21 of 29 shots for a .724 save percentage. Drew Adams stopped 14 of 27 for the Lizards giving him a .518 percentage.
The Rattlers desperately needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive and they got it. These two teams play again tomorrow night at 7:30 and both teams really need to win that one. With Long Island losing, they’ve dropped from 2nd in the league to 4th. A win tomorrow at home could push them back up to 3rd or 2nd. Expect another great game from these two teams tomorrow.
