Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Rochester Knighthawks (8-2) hosted the New York Riptide (2-8) at Segar Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
New York had won two of the last three meetings between the intrastate rivals dating back to last season, including the Riptide’s previous visit to Rochester. The Knighthawks and Riptide, who both joined the league as expansion franchises prior to the 2019-20 season, have two of the NLL’s top six point-getters in Jeff Teat and Connor Fields, both of whom lead their respective teams in scoring and are on pace to surpass the 100-point mark. The duo is also first and second in the league in goals, respectively, while Teat is also tied for second in the NLL in power-play scoring with 17 points on the man-advantage.
The matchup also featured two of the NLL’s top three scoring rookies from last season in Teat and Rochester’s Ryan Smith. Teat, the first overall selection in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft led all rookies in scoring as part of a remarkable record-setting season while Smith, who was taken third overall that same year, finished second among all first-year players in goals and third in points.
The goalie match-up had Steven Orleman in net for New York against Rylan Hartley in net for the Knighthawks.
A first half hat-trick for Jeff Teat had the Riptide’s aggressive play pay dividends, jumping out to 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4 leads. Rochester was able to tie the game just before halftime. The second half had Rochester jump out to a four goal lead, but the Riptide clawed back to tie the game with less than a minute left, sending this game to overtime.
In overtime, after a number of chances by either team, Brad Gillies (3g,0a) finally ended it on a coast to coast transition goal for Rochester. The Knighthawks came away with the 11-10 OT win.
To The Game:
New York got jumped out to a lead with Jeff Teat scoring twice. The first goal he fired a screen shot past Rylan Hartley off a Connor Kearnan pass just 0:30 seconds into the game, followed by a low to high shot again off a Connor Kearnan feed at 5:26.
Ryan Smith got the Knighthawks on the board on the power play firing a laser off a Connor Fields pass at 7:00. Rochester tied the game in transition when Ryland Rees converted a Thomas Hoggarth pass at 9:37.
The Riptide regained the lead when Kevin Brownell scored twice in transition. First he went coast to coast scoring unassisted at 11:53, followed by his second off a turnover at 14:04.
After one quarter, New York 4 Rochester 2.
Second Quarter:
Connor Fields opened the scoring for Rochester firing a shot from the outside off a Curtis Knight pass at 5:23, followed by Brad Gillies intercepting a pass, going in alone 0:24 seconds later unassisted.
Kevin Brownell scored his third transition goal of the night off a Ron John lead pass at 9:13, but the Knighthawks tied it again when Connor Fields got his second of the night off a Ryan Smith pass 0:19 seconds later. Jeff Teat scored his third of the night with a laser to the far corner off a Tyler Digby pass at 10:11.
Rochester would score once more before halftime to tie the game. Holden Cattoni scored on the power-play off a Connor Fields pass at 14:56.
At the half, Riptide 6 Knighthawks 6.
Third Quarter:
Rochester took their first lead of the night with Connor Fields third of the game from the outside off a Ryan Smith pass at 3:35. Paul Dawson scored his first of the year unassisted at 11:58, followed by Brad Gillies with his second of the night at 13:55.
After three quarters, Rochester 9 New York 6.
Fourth Quarter:
Thomas Hoggarth scored his first of the night converting a Ryan Smith pass from in close at 1:21 giving the Knighthawks a four goal lead.
New York finally got New York on the board after nearly 25:00 of scoreless play. Digby converted a Jeff Teat feed at 3:32. Reilly O’Connor converted a Tyler Digby pass from the outside at 11:42, followed by Jeff Teat’s fourth of the game that just trickled in after the initial save by Hartley at 13:20. Ron John tied the game for the Riptide going coast to coast with just 0:52 seconds left in the quarter.
After regulation time, Rochester 10 New York 10.
Overtime:
Both goalies were spectacular in overtime, making save after save at both ends of the floor.
Brad Gillies finally ended the game in transition, going coast to coast for the game winner with just 0:58 seconds left in the quarter.
Final score, Rochester 11 New York 10.
The Three Stars:
- Brad Gillies
- Connor Fields
- Jeff Teat
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal had Rochester outshooting New York 63-54.
- Faceoffs were almost even. The Riptide had a slight edge 13-12.
- The loose ball battle went to Rochester 95-85.
- The Riptide went 0 for 6 on the power-play, while Rochester went 2 for 5.
Top Scorers:
New York Riptide:
- Jeff Teat 4g, 1a
- Reilly O’Connor 1g, 3a
- Kevin Brownell 3g, 0 a
Rochester Knighthawks:
- Connor Fields 3g, 2a
- Ryan Smith 1g, 4a
- Brad Gillies 3g,0a
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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 10 years ago. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob had 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).
Mr. Groob 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.
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