The Rochester Rattlers capped off an exciting lacrosse weekend in Western New York.
Just 14 hours after the Rochester Knighthawks made history by being the first team to three-peat in the 28-year history of the MILL/NLL, the Rattlers defeated the Florida Launch 18-11.
The Rattlers kicked off the scoring with a goal from Jordan MacIntosh just 21 seconds into the game. The Launch would respond with goals at the 1:11 & 2:33 mark from Kevin Crowley and Roman Lao-Gosney.
Tewaaraton Award winner Miles Thompson made his professional debut for the Rattlers and netted his first career goal at the 3:02 mark on a pass from Mark Matthews. Miles Thompson along with his brother Lyle were named co-winners of the award for the best lacrosse player of the year. Lyle will have a chance next season as a senior at the University of Albany. Miles and Lyle are the first Native Americans to win the prestigious award. The Thompsons also did the ceremonial face-off the night before at the Knighthawks/Roughnecks Championship game.
During the second quarter, Jordan Hall and Garrett Thul combined for three of the four Launch goals putting them up 8-4. The Rattlers would quickly respond with a five-goal run, the last one with 2.3 seconds left by Lawson giving the Rattlers a 9-8 lead at the half.
A scary moment occurred in the second quarter when Garrett Thul fired a shot that went off the side of Joel White’s helmet. White was face down on the turf for a couple minutes but was able to walk off on his own. After being checked out by team physcians, White returned to the game with a minor cut on his ear. After the game Thul said, “I’m happy that Joel was able to return. We play together for the Wings and last thing you want to see is a teammate in another league get hurt. I always try to shoot around the defender, those balls hurt when they hit you, no matter who is shootng”.
As the second half started the Rattlers continued to dictate the pace and outscoring the Launch 9-3 in the final 30 minutes, including a four goal run in the final three minutes of the game to seal the victory. With the win the Rattlers have pulled into a three-way tie for second place with a 3-2 record.
Garrett Thul and Jordan Hall led the attack for the Launch, each recording a hat-trick and Kevin Crowley registered a goal and three assists.
For the victorious Rattlers, Jordan MacIntosh (four goals) and Kevin Leveille three goals and two assists led the Rattler attack. These teams will meet again on June 20 in the sunshine state of Florida.
