The Saturday night clash between the New York Riptide and the Rochester Knighthawks had the feel of a playoff game. The winner of this game would leapfrog into the top eight in the unified standings, while the other continues to stay beneath the “make it” line. The unified standings make things interesting in games like these because of regular old win/loss scenarios as well as tiebreaker potential.
This matchup was quite even through the first two quarters. The third quarter was the story of the game. New York outscored Rochester 5-0 in the frame, which was presumably the nail in the coffin. Rochester made a bit of a comeback in the fourth, but it wouldn’t be enough, giving us our final from Blue Cross Arena, 14-9 Riptide.
Along with the playoff implications of this game, a sight to see was going to be Jeff Teat and Connor Fields doing battle. Surprising to probably no one, those two scored the first two goals of the game. Kyle Waters scored the other Rochester goal in the first, and Reilly O’Connor and Larson Sundown gave New York the 3-2 lead after one.
Rochester saw their second, and unfortunately their final lead of the game to begin the second quarter, as a pair of Ryans scored to kick it off, one from Smith and the other from Lanchbury. Teat saw those two and matched it with two of his own, giving him the early hat trick, and gave New York a 5-4 lead at the half.
Both goaltenders were as stout as could be in the first half, but as we know, Doug Buchan had a rough go of it in the third. Buchan stopped 21 of 26 in the first half. On the other side, Cameron Dunkerley continued to prove why he’s a young stud for New York, as he stopped 23 of 28.
“Tight game here,” said Teat at the half. “Want to start off the second half with a good energized possession and continue that from there.”
We’re sorry to make you relive it, Rochester faithful. The third quarter started and the Rochester scoring stopped. Five unanswered in the quarter was the perfect recipe for success for the Riptide. Scorers for New York were Stephen Keogh three times, O’Connor, and Kevin Brownell. The first goal from Keogh was downright silly. As the shot clock was expiring, Teat collected a loose ball, threw a pass to Keogh, who, with his back turned to the net, fired a through the legs shot like he was snapping a football. Swipe that turf. Blink your eyes and it was 10-4 New York after three.
Rochester must have taken exception to that run, especially being in their home barn and they attempted to mount a comeback. The first three goals of the final quarter were courtesy of the Knighthawks, specifically, Curtis Knight, Waters, and Lanchbury. Mitch Wilde stopped the run, but here came Rochester again with two straight, one from Smith and the other from Lanchbury. The hecticness of this recap should directly emulate how hectic this quarter was. Unfortunately, Lanchbury’s tally would be it for Rochester. New York scored the game’s final three goals, one from Connor Kearnan, Damon Ewards, and Teat, and that’d be all she wrote. Your final from the 585, 14-9 New York.
Players of the game for Rochester were Lanchbury (3+2), Waters (2+2), and Smith (two goals). Buchan had the tale of two halves, stopping 35 of 46 in total. We saw the return of Rylan Hartley for a brief stint, as he let in one goal in 20 seconds of game play. For New York, Teat (4+5), Keogh (3+2), and O’Connor (two goals) led the way. Dunkerley was outstanding down the stretch, stopping 49 of 58 in total.
“The coaches told us to go out and play a full 60 minutes,” said Keogh. On the outrageous goal in the third, he said, “Teater found me in the middle, you just have to be creative and put it on net and luckily it scored.”
New York (8-8) now sits in the top eight in the unified standings. They look to maintain or better that positioning in their next contest this Saturday at 10 p.m. when they travel to Vancouver (7-9). Rochester (6-9) is going to have to run the table the rest of the way and get a bit of help. Their next game is this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Toronto (13-3).
