The Albany FireWolves had the ever treacherous back-to-back this past Friday and Saturday. They have been atop the standings and looked to continue their hot play as of late. Friday night they took their home floor against a Vancouver Warriors team who was in desperate need of a winning streak of their own. Albany’s defense and goaltending was the story, as they continued to put the league on notice with a 13-8 victory.
Saturday’s contest didn’t go their way, though, as they fell to state rival Rochester 18-12.
Friday, both defenses were the real story in the first quarter as no goals were scored. There wasn’t a single penalty called either, so while it seemed a little monotonous, the goaltenders and defenses deserve all the credit in the world.
The Albany offense showed up to begin the second with three-straight goals. Travis Longboat got two of those and Nick Chaykowsky got the other. Vancouver found their stride with the last two of the quarter, one from Adam Charalambides and the other from Keegan Bal. 3-2 ‘Wolves at the break.
Albany kept the slow and steady pace in the third quarter, outsourcing Vancouver three to one. The first two belonged to Albany, both of which were on the power play. The first was from Marshall Powless, the other from Ethan Walker. Longboat got his third to close the quarter out and in between, Owen Grant notched the sole Warriors goal. 6-3 FireWolves after three.
We now have to throw everything out the window that we’ve learned in this game. After a slow first three quarters, the game exploded in the fourth. With 12 goals scored, Albany continued to dictate the pace, outsourcing Vancouver 7-5 in the quarter. Vancouver goal scorers were Bal three more times, Brad McCulley, and Kyle Killen. Albany’s seven were scored by Nathan Grenon twice, Longboat, Tye Kurtz, Alex Simmons, and Colton Watkinson twice. When all the dust settled, we had our final, 13-8 Albany.
Players of the game for Albany were Longboat (4+1), Grenon (2+1), and Simmons (1+6). Doug Jamieson was a stud all game, stopping 41 of 49 in total. For Vancouver, Bal (4+1), Charalambides (1+4), and Killen (1+2) led the way. Aden Walsh had a fourth quarter to forget, nonetheless, he stopped 37 of 49.
“It was awesome, I was a little extra motivated tonight,” said Jamieson. “I thought the D was great, they didn’t have that many shots there until the end, but overall a pretty good game.”
Vancouver (3-9) is slowly slipping and seeing their playoff chances disappear. Anything is possible with a win streak, their next chance is at home against Las Vegas (4-8) this Friday at 10pm. Next up for Albany was a road trip down the I-90 to Rochester the next night.
If Friday night’s game for the FireWolves was a goaltending and defensive masterclass, Saturday night looked a lot different. Rochester came out with guns blazing, and put it to a presumably exhausted FireWolves club. If Connor Fields wasn’t on your MVP watch, he should be now as for the second week in a row, he put up video game numbers.
There’s no delicate way to put it, this was an absolute track meet all game. The first quarter saw ten total goals scored, with Rochester outscoring Albany 6-4. Scorers for Albany were Tye Kurtz, Travis Longboat, Marshall Powless, and Sam Firth. Connor Fields almost outscored Albany on his own, as he had a first quarter hat trick. The others were scored by Kyle Waters and Thomas McConvey twice. That’d be it for the first.
Albany showed why they are a feared offense and team in general, as they completely flipped the game on its head by tying it up going into the break. Ryan Smith and Waters tallied the first two for Rochester, and Kurtz got his second, but after that it was all Albany. Four-in-a-row for the ‘Wolves, scored by Jackson Nishimura, Kurtz, Ethan Walker, and Firth actually gave Albany their first lead of the game. Smith tied it back up in the final minute, and we sat at 9-9 going into the break.
The third quarter was the slowest scoring quarter of the game, but this is where Rochester really took control. Fields and Alex Simmons traded goals to begin the frame, but that’d be it for the Albany scoring. Smith, twice, and Fields’ fifth gave Rochester a huge three-goal lead going into the fourth.
Firth and Simmons scored the first and last goal of the fourth quarter, and that’s all she wrote for the FireWolves. Rochester wore them down in between those two goals, with five-in-a-row. Scorers in that span were Smith, Waters, McConvey twice, and Fields, giving him the sock trick. Your final from Blue Cross Arena, 18-12 Knighthawks.
Players of the game for Albany were Kurtz (3+2), Firth (3+1), and Simmons (2+3). Justin Geddie got the start in net, but only lasted 17:04 and stopped seven of 14. In relief, Doug Jamieson made 26 saves on 37 shots. For Rochester, Fields (6+5), Smith (5+5), and McConvey (4+2) led the way. Ryan Lanchbury didn’t have a goal, but contributed a whopping eleven assists. Riley Hutchcraft had a shaky second, causing his exit for only a minute. He stopped 51 of 63 for the game. Doug Buchan, in his very short stint, stopped the only shot he faced.
“It’s just a testament to this team, this offense,” said Fields. “It can be anyone’s night, I guess tonight was mine. We’re going to take that win and use it as momentum and keep going.”
These two teams better stay acclimated with each other as they have a rematch this Saturday at 7 p.m. This time, Rochester (5-6) does the driving down to Albany (10-3).
