In the second part of a Home-And-Home series, The Rochester Rattlers (6 – 5) defeated the Ohio Machine (6 – 5), in front of a great crowd of over two thousand in Delaware this past Fourth of July weekend (sorry guys, it wasn’t Columbus. Heh, My bad!). Led by a five point afternoon for Mark Matthews in just his second game played this season, the Rattlers used a strong second half push to help surge them ahead of Ohio 16 – 15 in a fantastic game chalked with offensive flair.
The game began in much the same way as the first game in the series between the two teams. Ohio’s well-oiled offense seemed to have all the answers to a Rochester defense that is desperately missing Mike Manley. Harrison and Schreiber, the same old suspects, along with a few others all contributed for Ohio in that first quarter, while Matthews and Lazore were able to find the back of the net being guarded by Brian Phipps, who was an absolute gem in the previous matchup.
The second quarter saw the same, with Ohio leading 8 – 3 into the half, though the Face-Offs weren’t as clean, as Mike Poppleton was able to take command, ultimately going 25 for 33.
In the third, Rochester responded, but not in the way it usually did. In their last games, Rochester concentrated most of its offense on its attack, in the form of the amazing Jordan Wolf. This has caused them problems at times, reported on plenty of highlights and reviews. Ultimately, the Rattlers never seemed to have a strong Plan B if the opposing team’s defense focused solely on Wolf. The midfield, Rochester’s strength last season, was seen as that Plan B, but with the exception of a few games, Rochester has been content to have the attack lead the offense with the midfield being shooters and dodgers.
Introduce Picks.
Heavy picks. Big picks. Picks so devastating they can only be called picks because there is no other way to describe how terrifying they were. Rochester remembered that its heavy dose of Canadian box players gave it the underutilized Plan B it had all along. Instead of merely using their midfielders as long dodging threats up top, mostly done by John Ranagan, or either a low-angle outside shot or a re-dodge towards the middle of the field in the form of a Justin Turri, the Rattlers changed their midfield into initiators and creators.
This all came to Rochester during the game. Multiple times, a Rochester middie would try to bomb from the outside, and three things would happen: It would be blocked, Phipps would save it, or they missed. Ohio’s defense had its confidence shot up each time this happened, but it had no answer for picks then set up by the Rattlers. Most of their picks were on the wings, usually by either Jordan MacIntosh or David Lawson, who ended that day with a hat trick. Other times, Jordan Wolf would end up with the ball in his stick as a Boltus or an inverting MacIntosh was able to free him up, putting the defense on high alert. Said defense would then swarm towards Wolf, who would laugh as he passes it to a cutting Matthews or Turri or whoever was left in the wash. Syracuse rookies Kevin Rice and Randy Staats proved to be beneficiaries as well, as both would tally points, Rice ending the day with four of them.
John Galloway and the Rochester defense thanked them mightily. Despite allowing over 13 goals (for the third game in a row), Galloway’s 14 saves on 28 shots in the second half along with excellent FO work threw a cog in the Ohio machine (bad double – entendre type pun thing there). Whether it was necessity or design, a devastated Rochester accepted the cold truth that they will never achieve the dream of being the 2015 Boston Cannons. Abandoning outside shots, Coach Soudan reassessed his offense, and it ultimately led them to a much needed victory over a dangerous Ohio team, who they’ve only beaten once in the last two seasons before that game.
