In a game that the Chesapeake Bayhawks knew that they needed to win, Attackman Drew Westervelt rose to the occasion. Westervelt tallied three goals and had two assists to help the Bayhawks claim victory over the Rochester Rattlers, 12-8.
“If we’re going to be a team that has a chance to be successful at the end of the year, this is as game we had to get,” Chesapeake president and head coach Dave Cottle said. “I thought we moved the really well against a good defensive team. We slid well on defense and helped each other out. I thought it was a really good effort overall.”
While Chesapeake jumped out to leads of 3-0 in the first quarter and 7-3 at the end of the second, Rochester would not go quietly, cutting the Chesapeake lead to 7-6 in the third quarter, but that would be as close as they would get.
Goals by Midfielder Matt Abbot and Attackman John Grant, Jr. would push the Chesapeake lead back to three goals, a lead that would reach four by the sound of the final horn.
The Chesapeake defense looked very strong over the second half, holding Rochester scoreless over a 17 minute section of the third and fourth quarters. Goalie Kip Turner stopped nine Rochester shots to help his team.
“Rochester has a lot of weapons, but we knew what we needed to do in order to contain them,” Chesapeake defenseman Michael Evans said. “We had a game-plan and did a pretty good job executing it. We held a good offensive team to eight goals, which is difficult to do.”
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will be the site of the Bayhawks season finale as they host Charlotte at 7 P.M. Chesapeake will be looking to grab the second or third seed for the playoffs.
