Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Waterdogs (4-3) faced the Cannons (1-6) in a Sunday afternoon battle in the Premier Lacrosse League.
The Cannons had made a few additions to try and change things up. Mark Cockerton, Andrew Newbold, Chris Aslanian, Alex Smith, Jonathan Donville, and Matt Abbott all were added.
Jake Withers returned last week for the Waterdogs, giving them a much needed presence on faceoffs.
The goaltending match-up had Nick Marrocco for the Cannons against Dillon Ward in net for the Waterdogs.
The Waterdogs had the game well in hand until the last five minutes 15-9. In those five minutes, the Cannons scored five goals to make it just a one goal game.
Kieran McArdle (3g,4a), Michael Sowers (3g,1a), and Zach Currier (1g,2a) led the attack for the Waterdogs. Lyle Thompson (2g,3a), Chris Aslanian (2g,2a), and Mark Cockerton (3g,0a) were the leaders for the Cannons in the 15-14 loss.
To The Game:
The Waterdogs got off to a fast start with Keiran McArdle scoring off a Zach Currier pass at 1:07, followed by Ryan Conrad scoring off a Michael Sowers feed at 2:27.
The Cannons came back with Chris Aslanian converting a Lyle Thompson pass at 2:51, followed by Thompson himself scoring at 3:55.
The Waterdogs fired back with three.more goals. Charlie Kitchen scored off a Kieran McArdle pass at 4:37, followed by McArdle himself scoring at 5:31. Connor Kelly made it a three goal lead blasting a Kieran McArdle pass at 6:38.
The Cannons made another comeback with Chris Aslanian scoring his second goal of the game with a laser at 7:14, followed by Mark Cockerton with a sharp angle shot off a Lyle Thompson pass at 8:32.
Michael Sowers answered for the Waterdogs at 9:10 followed by Steven DeNapoli scoring off a Chris Sabia pass at 10:29.
Jake Withers scored off the faceoff 0:06 seconds later, but was answered by Stephen Rehfuss of the Cannons with a bounce shot at 11:09.
After one quarter, Waterdogs 8 Cannons 5.
Second Quarter:
The Waterdogs increased their lead with Jack Hannah converting a Kieran McArdle pass at 4:17, followed by Ethan Walker also converting a McArdle pass at 6:09.
The Cannons came back with three of their own to finish the quarter. Lyle Thompson ripped a shot past Dillon Ward at 6:45.
Jonathan Donville scored at 9:10, followed by Ryan Drenner converting a Stephen Rehfuss pass at 9:59.
At the half, Waterdogs 10 Cannons 8.
Third Quarter:
The Waterdogs got on the board first when Kieran McArdle scored his third of the game from the top of the crease off a Ben Randall pass at 4:14. Mark Cockerton answered back with another sharp angle shot off a Chris Aslanian pass at 4:56.
The Waterdogs got on another run with Zach Currier going coast to coast scoring at 5:44, followed by Michael Sowers increasing the lead at 6:28.
Connor Kelly added one more for the Waterdogs before the quarter was over to take a commanding lead heading into the fourth.
After three quarters, Waterdogs 14 Cannons 9.
Fourth Quarter:
Michael Sowers opened the fourth quarter scoring while diving across the crease at 5:21.
The Cannons finished with a flurry!
Jonathan Donville scored for the Cannons on a shovel shot off a Chris Aslanian pass at 7:05, followed by Stephen Kelly off the faceoff to score 0:06 seconds later.
Mark Cockerton scored next for the Cannons off a Lyle Thompson pass at 10:15, followed by Andrew Newbold scoring with the long pole at 11:17. Ryan Drenner scored off a Lyle Thompson pass with just 0:15 seconds left to make it a one goal game, but it was too little too late.
Final score, Waterdogs 15 Cannons 14.
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal were in favor of the Waterdogs 31-24.
- Faceoffs were slightly in favor of the Cannons 17-16.
- Both teams went 0 for 1 on the power play.
- Nick Marrocco made 16 saves, while Dillon Ward made 9 saves.
Top Scorers:
Cannons:
- Lyle Thompson 2g, 3a
- Chris Aslanian 2g, 2a
- Mark Cockerton 3g, 0a
Waterdogs:
- Kieran McArdle 3g, 4a
- Michael Sowers 3g, 1a
- Zach Currier 1g, 2a
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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 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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