The Rochester Rattlers ended final home game the 2015 MLL season with a win over the Charlotte Hounds in Brockport, NY last night. Led by Jordan Wolf’s four goals and one assist and Kyle Denhoff’s four goals, great plays in each quarter along with a fired up John Galloway made this their best win of the season since the 13 – 6 domination of Boston five weeks ago. An onslaught of goal scoring along with good transition defense allowed Rochester to control the game throughout, especially in the second and fourth stanzas, ultimately gaining the victory 18 – 10.
Rochester started off with two goals from a returning Jeremy Thompson and what would be the first of five for Jordan Wolf. The quarter ended with each team tied up at three after Randy Staats scored off a feed from Wolf after two straight from Charlotte’s Mike Chanenchuk then a goal from Kevin Cunningham. The second quarter was an offensive showcase for the Rattlers, as they led in scoring 6 – 2 with Wolf having a second quarter hat trick and St. John Fisher grad Kyle Denhoff’s first two of the game. In the Second half, Jordan Wolf seemingly disappeared, and was replaced with what appeared to be everyone else on the team save Mark Matthews, including a 2 point goal from Michael Lazore and the next two by Kyle Denhoff. It’s probably obvious by now, but the biggest take away from this game was how varied the scoring for Rochester actually was. In a game in which they scored 18 goals, Mark Matthews and Kevin Rice combining for 1 point on the night, a goal from Rice to start the fourth. Outside of Jordan Wolf, the midfield really did the damage last night. However, what was varied wasn’t who scored, but how. Outside of the usual suspects, Staats, MacIntosh, Lawson, even White, the only seemingly new names said were Kyle Denhoff and Mike Lazore. It’s true that both had huge games, and it was how each offensive possession was carried out that helped them break out. The midfield was a step ahead of Charlotte the entire game, and despite having a great face-off night, with Poppleton losing half his draws, Charlotte’s defense wasn’t prepared. Particularly in the second quarter, shots came everywhere. From range, from behind the cage, off broken plays, and in transition.
That, plus an inexperienced goalie in Jack Runkel helped the Rattlers dictate the pace the offense wanted throughout the game. Meanwhile, the primary concern affectionately called “The Rochester Rattlers’ defense” was alleviated. Throughout the game, they were finally able to hold a team to single digits in a game since Mike Manley went down, until the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. In the last article I wrote, I mentioned how Joey Sankey and Charlotte’s transition offense was a key thing for the Rattlers to look out for, as they are most comfortable shooting early in the shot clock. It was weathered early on, as Charlotte scored three of their first four shots in the opening, but the Rattlers were able to put the clamps down on the Charlotte for the most part of the game. Part of this came in the form of Jeremy Thompson. The NLL Champion and one of the four Thompson Brothers, the Syracuse grad’s role was brought up in the game. Coach Soudan wanted him to take on a more defensive transition role along with potentially facing off if need be, and it showed, as his presence on the field helped limit Charlotte transitions, though he lost his one Face-Off, he was able to help them take the possession after the draw. When Charlotte DID have good possessions, John Galloway was there to stop them. Coach Soudan
mentioned that he was starting to feel comfortable with the guys in front of him, coaching less and doing his own job more. It showed, as the Syracuse grad and 2014 Warrior Goalie of the Year had a fantastic game, with 14 saves on 24 shots. The special teams were stymied as well, as Rochester kept Charlotte 0 for 2 on the man up.
