The New England Black Wolves (6-3) visited the New York Riptide (1-10) in National Lacrosse League action Friday night.
New York had been struggling all year, and were looking for big nights from Dan Lomas, Travis Longboat, and Keiran McArdle to secure their second victory of the year.
The Black Wolves, after a hot start to the year, came back to earth with three consecutive losses, but a strong showing last week against Rochester put them back in their winning ways.
The Riptide played New England tough, but in the long run the Black Wolves were just too strong an opponent, winning 12-8 in front of 3,001 fans.
New England started quickly when Callum Crawford (3g,5a) fired a laser off a Reilly O’Connor pass on the powerplay at 1:16, but the Riptide stormed back when Jean-Luc Chetner (1g,2a)scored off a Tyson Gibson pass also on the powerplay at 2:33 to tie the game.
New York took the lead when Keiran McArdle (1g,1a) converted a Travis Longboat pass at 9:19, and increased it to 3-1 when Travis Longboat (3g,2a) scored himself off a Dan Lomas pass at 13:01.
Gowah Abrams, who got the start for New York in this game, played a strong first quarter in net.
After one quarter, New York 3 New England 1.
The second quarter opened with Callum Crawford scoring his second of the night off a Reilly O’Connor pass at 3:48, but Travis Longboat answered with his second of the night, converting a Tyson Gibson pass at 4:20 restoring the two goal lead. Dan Lomas (1g,1a) increased the lead to 5-2 when he scored off a Jean-Luc Chetner pass at 5:49.
Joe Resetarits (3g,3a) got New England back in the game when he scored the next two goals. Resetarits converted an Andrew Kew pass at 9:28, then scored off a Stephan Leblanc pass on the powerplay at 11:21.
At the half, New York 5 New England 4.
Tony Malcom (1g,0a) opened the third quarter scoring for New England, tying the game up unassisted at 1:27, followed by Reilly O’Connor (3g,3a) scoring off a Callum Crawford pass at 4:02. Crawford then scored his third of the night when he converted an Andrew Kew pass at 7:55, followed by Stephan Leblanc (1g,2a) scoring off a Joe Resetarits pass at 12:23.
The quarter was all Black Wolves, with Doug Jamieson (Black Wolves goalie) playing solid in net.
After three quarters, New England 8 New York 5.
The fourth quarter had Gale Thorpe (1g,0a) open the scoring for the Riptide at 1:28, stopping a six goal Black Wolves run, but Andrew Kew (1g,4a) answered back for the Black Wolves off a Callum Crawford pass at 2:49.
Connor Kelly (1g,2a) converted a Keiran McArdle pass at 4:39 with a crease dive, making the score 9-7 for New England, but Reilly O’Connor scored his second of the night converting a Callum Crawford pass on the powerplay at 8:18, followed by Joe Resetarits scoring his third of the night off a Jordan Durston pass at 10:01.
The Riptide kept pressing, and were rewarded with Travis Longboat scoring his third of the night on the powerplay off a Jean-Luc Chetner pass at 12:37.
Reilly O’Connor scored his third of the game off a Joe Resetarits pass at 13:12, and that’s how the game ended.
Final score, New England 12 New York 8.
Shots on goal slightly favored the Riptide 49-46.
The loose ball battle went to the Black Wolves 106-87.
New England dominated the faceoffs 15-9.
New England went 3 for 4 on the powerplay, while New York went 2 for 4.
The Three Stars:
1. Callum Crawford
2. Joe Resetarits
3. Travis Longboat
Top scorers,
New England:
Callum Crawford 3g, 5a
Joe Resetarits 3g, 3a
Reilly O’Connor 3g, 3a
New York:
Travis Longboat 3g, 2a
Tyson Gibson 0g, 4a
Jean-Luc Chetner 1g, 2a
New England’s next game is at home on Sunday March 1st against the Halifax Thunderbirds. Game time is 5pm.
New York’s next game is Saturday February 29th in Rochester, NY, against the Knighthawks. Game time is 7pm.
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
