The Rochester Rattlers fell to the Ohio Machine 17 – 12 yesterday evening in front of a home crowd at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium in Brockport, NY. Led by Marcus Holman who had five and rookie Jimmy Bitter, who was in just his third game with a hat-trick, the Machine’s “well-oiled” offense looked efficient and dominant throughout the contest, particularly in the first and final quarters.
Ohio exploded in the first with seven goals. Rochester’s defense was seemingly unraveled that entire first quarter. Two goals from Bitter, two from Holman, and two from Schreiber showed just how much the Rattler’s usually strong D miss Mike Manley, whose injury reportedly has sidelined him for an extended period of time. However, the defense for Ohio also did extremely well. Shuffling inside for the majority of the game, the Ohio defense and Brian Phipps held Rochester scoreless for 13 straight minutes. Phipps ended the game outstandingly finishing 22 of 34. One of the biggest takeaways was both the special team play and transition. Rochester went 1 – 4 on the man-up, but also let in two man-down goals, despite leading the MLL on the power kill. Meanwhile, Ohio severely limited the Rattlers’ transition play, Rochester turned it on in the third, outscoring Ohio five to two, to pull the game within two-point range. Mark Matthews, fresh off his championship season in the NLL, returned and had a hand in this surge, notching two goals and an assist. However, a Phipps save on a returning Mark Matthews led to an Ohio goal at the end, which quickly became another five goal deficit thanks to two straight from Holman. The game was ultimately decided by long-time MLL veteran Kyle Harrison’s 2 point goal late in the fourth.
The story of the game, however, was FO specialist Greg, no, not Gurenlian, Puskuldjian. The recently acquired FO man for Ohio won 11 of 17 draws alone in that entire first half, squashing any real chance for Rochester to get back into the game, even in the third when Jordan MacIntosh had several good draws against him. Last week, I brought up the problem of Rochester’s defense, but made the case that if they can win face-offs and Galloway remain consistent, they should have no problems. This game was reminiscent of the early season Long Island game, where Rochester couldn’t get the ball, limiting any real flow on offense, with an unsteady and vulnerable defense that can’t match up.
Sitting at 5 and 5 with three other teams, Rochester has to do battle again with Ohio next week in Columbus. This isn’t the first time the Ohio Machine has had the best of the Rattlers, as the two losses from last year in the regular season for the then 10 – 4 Rattlers came from being sweeped by the Machine.
