Gary Groob
Lax Philly – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The red hot Toronto Rock (6-4) visited the New York Riptide (2-7) in the first half of a home and home series. The Rock had won four in a row, looking to build on their momentum.
The Riptide team have a lot of familiar faces to Rock fans. Damon Edwards, Kieran McArdle and Scott Dominey, as well as GM Jim Veltman, and Head Coach Dan Ladouceur all have played for the Toronto Rock.
The New York Riptide, losers of three in a row, were looking to get on track in this game. An explosive offense with Callum Crawford, Jeff Teat, Tyson Gibson, and Connor Kearnan have the ability to blow any game wide open, and would test a stingy Rock defense in this one. Toronto’s powerful offense would also test a young Riptide defense.
The goalie match-up had Nick Rose in net for the Rock, While rookie Steven Orleman got the start for New York.
The Riptide came to the game with a game plan. Throughout the night they were able to execute the plan effectively holding on for a one goal victory 14-13.
To the game…
Tom Schreiber (3g,4a) got the Rock on the board with two quick goals inside the first four minutes. The first was on the power play firing a laser off a Dan Dawson pass at 3:08, then diving across the crease in a beautiful individual effort making the score 2-0 just 0:41 seconds later.
Connor Kearnan (1g,2a) got one back for New York in transition finishing off an Andrew Borgatti pass at 8:59, then Damon Edwards (2g,1a) tied the game going coast to coast in transition, scoring with just one second left in the quarter.
After one quarter, Toronto 2 New York 2.
Second Quarter:
Dan Craig (1g,3a) opened the second quarter scoring with an outside shot off a Tom Schreiber pass just 0:24 seconds in, but Damon Edwards struck back again in transition off a long lead pass from Darryl Robertson at 0:59 seconds.
Zach Manns (2g,0a) fired a howitzer at 3:44 giving Toronto the lead once again, but Callum Crawford (4g,2a) got it back converting a Jeff Teat pass at 4:59. Jeff Teat (4g,3a) gave New York their first lead of the night at 5:19 with a blistering outside shot beating Nick Rose over his shoulder.
Dan Dawson (2g,4a) tied the game with a beautiful swim move then beating Orleman at 5:52, but Callum Crawford used an outside jump shot beating Rose high to low to restore the one goal lead again just 0:21 seconds later.
The Rock tied the game up once more on the power play when Reid Reinholdt (2g,1a) finished off a Tom Schreiber pass at 8:26, but Callum Crawford scored his third of the night off a Connor Kearnan pass to again restore the lead at 9:31. Jeff Teat scored high to the shortside at 13:58 to give the Riptide a two goal lead, but Mitch de Snoo (1g,1a) answered back in Transition 0:23 seconds later.
At the half, New York 8 Toronto 7.
Third Quarter:
Jake Fox (1g,0a) started the second half scoring when he fired a shot high to low at 1:01 increasing the Riptide lead, but Challon Rogers (1g,1a) converted a Dan Craig pass diving across the crease scoring shortside at 4:09.
Keiran McArdle (1g,2a) fired a screen shot from the restraining line which found the net at 6:08, followed by Jeff Teat scoring his third of the night at 6:44 giving the Riptide an 11-8 lead.
Dan Dawson scored his second of the night with a quick stick off a Tom Schreiber pass at 8:56, followed by Zach Manns scoring at 12:09 to bring this back to a one goal game.
After three quarters, Riptide 11 Rock 10.
Fourth Quarter:
The Rock changed goalies, replacing Nick Rose with Riley Hutchcraft to start the quarter.
Tyson Gibson (1g,3a) opened the fourth quarter scoring when he got his own rebound and shoveled it past Hutchcraft at 3:34.
Toronto thought they had scored when Dan Dawson scored his third of the night off a Rob Hellyer pass at 4:17. The Riptide challenged and it was overturned – No Goal.
Callum Crawford scored his fourth of the night converting a Tyson Gibson pass at 5:11, giving New York a three goal lead, but Tom Schreiber scored his third of the night at 9:02, followed by Rob Hellyer (1g,2a) scoring his first of the night 0:45 seconds later to bring the game back to one goal. Reid Reinholdt scored off a Tom Schreiber pass at 11:11 to tie the game.
The pace for the last few minutes was frantic!
Jeff Teat gave the Riptide the lead once again converting a Damon Edwards pass at 13:09, and a win was in grasp.
The Rock, with the goalie on the bench, put a flurry on at the end of the game, but solid defense and great goaltending by Steven Orleman saved the “W”.
Final score, New York 14 Toronto 13.
- Shots on goal was in favor of Toronto 43-31.
- Toronto held a slight edge on faceoffs 16-14.
- Toronto went 2 for 2 on the power play.
- New York went 0 for 1 on the power play.
The Three Stars
- FIRST STAR: Jeff Teat
- SECOND STAR: Callum Crawford
- THIRD STAR: Steven Orleman
Milestones:
Top Scorers
Toronto Rock:
Tom Schreiber 3g, 4a
Dan Dawson 2g, 4a
Dan Craig 1g, 4a
New York Riptide:
Jeff Teat 4g, 3a
Callum Crawford 5g, 2a
Tyson Gibson 1g, 3a
- These teams play each other next Saturday, March 5th at the First Ontario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
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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