It’s Jeff Teat’s world, and the rest of us are just living in it.
Teat made NLL history on Saturday night, breaking both the all-time rookie assists and points records. He has one game left in the season to add onto his current totals to set the final mark to beat for the next generation. With numbers like these, though, the records will stand for a very long time.
It’s unfortunate that the records came during an emotional loss, 16-13 to Halifax, in which the Riptide were eliminated from post-season contention, because it dampens the incredulity of the moment.
“I know it won’t meant much to him at this time because of the loss like that but it really is a huge accomplishment,” said Riptide head coach Dan Ladouceur. “For a rookie to come in and put up those numbers, he missed two games with Covid as well, so just imagine where he’d be with a full schedule.”
The assists record belonged to Tom Schreiber, who set the mark with 61 in 2017. The points record belonged to Randy Staats, who tallied 95 points in 2016. Heading into the game versus Halifax on Saturday night, Teat needed just three points to break both of those records.
The assist that did it came on Dan Lomas’ power play goal at 10:29 of the first quarter, and it was a hell of a pass. Teat slyly passed the ball behind his back to Lomas who put it over Aaron Bold’s right shoulder.
Teat went on to tally eight assists, while adding two fourth quarter goals as the Riptide attempted to tie the game. That puts the marks at 67 assists and 103 points, although there is still one game to play in the season, so those totals will increase. That 103 points puts him in third place in the overall league scoring race behind Dhane Smith and Ryan Lee.
He is also the first rookie to ever break 100 points.
Teat himself was subdued after the loss, but did say that he never had the records on his mind throughout the season.
“You play the game to win, try to be the best teammate you can, and everything else falls into place,” he said.
When personal success comes despite team failure, it’s often your teammates and coaches who are more excited about your records than you are.
“He make the players around him better, and you won’t meet a better human being as well. I’m very proud of him, I’m very happy for him to have that accomplishment,” said Ladouceur.
Teammate Callum Crawford even admitted that Teat is probably a better lacrosse player than he is.
“For me to say somebody is better than I am, speaks volumes,” Crawford said. “It’s fun to be a part of a team like that. It’s exciting for a fanbase and an organization. I think they have, in my opinion, the best lacrosse player in the world right now on this roster.”
