The New York Riptide is the most dangerous 1-5 team I have seen in years. The have all the ingredients to be a too level team in the near future, but just haven’t put it all together yet. In the teams five losses, three have come in overtime, one game by two goals, and one game by four goals. A bounce or two the other way and the Riptide are near the top of the East Division with a 4-2 record.
A Potent Offense:
The team has scored 76 goals in their first six games, and have no shortage of star power. Rookie Jeff Teat has had a great start to the year with 10 goals and 21 assists so far. Callum Crawford, who just scored his 400th career goal last weekend, has 12 goals and 27 assists. Add Keiran McArdle (8g,19a), Connor Kearnan (17g,8a), Larson Sundown (9g,11a), and Tyson Gibson (6g,13a), and you have a very explosive offense.
Speed in Transition:
Getting Scott “Flash” Dominey in a trade over the off season, and the free agent signing of Damon Edwards has increased the transition game of the Riptide enough to make any opposing team jumpy. So far the tandem has accounted for 10 points, but more importantly have kept their opposition on guard for their potential quick breaks.
Bruising Defense:
The Riptide’s head coach “Big Dog” Dan Ladouceur was an integral part of the Toronto Rock dynasty of the early 2000’s with his aggressive, and often times punishing defense. He has a good mix of veterans and youth to patrol the back end. Dan MacRae leads a group which consists of Leo Stuoros, Darryl Robertson, Andrew Borgatti, as well as Matt Marinier, and MacKenzie Mitchell.
Faceoff and Loose Ball Stud:
Jay Thorimbert just moved into fifth all time in loose balls Sunday against Buffalo with 1642 loose balls in his career. A reliable faceoff guy consistently around .500, even getting as high as .659 in 2014-15, he can get the offense many more possessions with his ability.
Goaltending:
The Riptide have a great up and coming goalie in Steven Orleman. Orleman just finishing his Junior career where he saw action in 67 games with 1,333 saves, a goals against average of 7.60 and a save percentage of .735%. As he gets acclimated with the NLL, Steven is only going to get better. Orleman will move to the upper echelon of goaltenders sooner rather than later.
Management:
With GM Jim Veltman, Head Coach Dan Ladouceur, Assistant coaches Jason Crosbie, and Pat Jones, this team has a winning lineage. It is only a matter of time before the winner culture rubs off on the team themselves.
Don’t worry about the growing pains, or the heartbreaking losses in the short term. The Riptide will find it’s way very soon, and when that happens, this will be a perennial winner for years to come.
Don’t forget to check out Gary and his co-host Candid Frank Stanisci’s weekly Lacrosse talk show…”NLL Lacrosse Talk” . This past week’s guest was Hall of Fame Coach Dave Pietramala
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.
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