Thursday afternoon the Philadelphia Barrage (2-3) defeated the New York Lizards (0-5) 12-11. Colin Minicus would net the game winner with 1:55 remaining. This was a game where the winner would increase their chances at a playoff berth, and the loser would go home and wait for next season.
The first quarter started out with a bang as the Barrage and Lizards would combine for three goals in 34 seconds. Kyle Marr would score first on the man up for the Barrage. Dylan Molloy would score unassisted for the Lizards just six seconds later. Tyson Gibson would then net his first of the night to give the Barrage a 2-1 lead.
After trailing 2-1 the Lizards would score the final two goals of the quarter and lead 3-2; this was part of a four-goal run that went into the second quarter.
With 6:26 left in the first half the Lizards’ Sean O’Brien re-aggravated a quad injury from Wednesday night and was forced to leave to the game.
Mark Matthews would end the four-goal run by his former team at 5:07 but the Barrage trailed 5-3 at the half.
As the second half started the Barrage would battle back to tie the game 6-6 as Tyson Gibson and Brendan Sunday would find the back of the net, but the Lizards would go on another four-goal run to increase their lead 10-6 with 14:28 left in regulation. The Lizards were desperate for a win, but that is when the Barrage came to life.
“We had a slow start just as a team overall,” Gibson said. “We said to ourselves, ‘Hey 30 minutes left, if we don’t win, we’re not in.’ We dug deep, and we’re proud of all our guys. We worked hard and got the dub.”
The Barrage would outscore the Lizards 6-1 in the fourth. Jon Mazza and Gibson scored 36 seconds apart, and Sunday and Ryan MacSpadyen would net goals 56 seconds apart.
Nick Aponte and Connor O’Hara each recorded hat tricks to lead the Lizards offense.
For the Barrage it was Tyson Gibson with the hat trick. Brendan Sunday, Jon Mazza and Ryan MacSpadyen each recorded a pair of goals to lead the Barrage to victory. Faceoff specialist Alex Woodall was dominant, winning 20-27 draws.
The Lizards will not be making an appearance in the final four, but there are a few scenarios that can put the Barrage into Championship Weekend:
- A loss by Connecticut.
- Losses by Connecticut AND Boston would put Boston, Philadelphia and Connecticut at 2-3. If that happens it would be decided by head-to-head records and then goal differential.
Two Team Tiebreaker: Head to Head
Philadelphia over Connecticut
Connecticut over Boston
Boston over Philadelphia
The Barrage will be eliminated if Connecticut wins over Chesapeake.
