Seals survive the Surging Riptide
J.J. Pavlick
12/3/22
The fans start to fill the seats at Nassau Coliseum for the home/season opener for the New York Riptide. There is a good size crowd in attendance for the match between the two playoff favorites. The San Diego Seals have been a powerhouse in the league and always a threat to win it all. The Riptide spent the offseason bolstering its defense and offense to make a push for the playoffs this season. Many have the Riptide making the playoffs after the moves they made both in the draft and through free agency/trades.
The Riptide got off to a slow start going down 2-0 after Stony Brook University standout Kevin Crowley opened the scoring for the Seals. Callum Crawford got the Riptide on the scoreboard a few minutes later. O'Conner and Teat would help bring the game even 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. Tate and fox would open the 2nd quarter scoring to give the Riptide a 5-3 lead early in the quarter, but the Seals would score four of the next five goals to retake the lead. The Seals would hold on to the lead going into the half up 8-6. The Riptide is already a noticeably different team than last year.
“The biggest thing between this team and the [2021-22] one is our lacrosse IQ in situational play which we saw tonight.” head coach Dan Ladouceur said. “There were all kinds of situational play where you know we didn’t necessarily make the right decision. We didn’t protect the ball. Again, and it feels like I’m making an excuse but I’m not. I think you add some Noseworthy’s, your MacRae’s and your Stouros’ back in that lineup, Callum on the offensive end, I think we make some better decisions.
The third quarter would be one that the Riptide will want back, Dan Lomas scored to bring the Riptide within one goal. But the Seals would counter and go on to take an 11-7 lead into the final quarter of play.
The Seals trying to put away the Riptide came out strong scoring twice to take a demanding lead, however, Jeff teat and the Riptide had something to say about that. With four minutes left to the game and the Riptide down 15-10, the team went on a huge surge scoring 4 goals in a row to pull within 1 goal with 33 seconds left to play. The Riptide won the faceoff and flew down the field setting up their final attempt to tie the game. With just 6.2 seconds left the entire arena thought Jeff Teat and tied it up for the home side. However, upon official review, they determined it was inconclusive and declared no goal. The arena let the officials know what they thought of their decision. The Riptide would lose possession and the Seals ran the last 6 seconds off. Steve Orleman was solid in goal for the Riptide making 38 saves on 56 shots.
The home opener for the Riptide didn't go as planned, but the team made a late push to take the Seals down to the final shot of the game. The offense was in full swing for both teams and the game was chippy throughout. Neither team was able to dominate for any long period in the back-and-forth contest. The Riptide had a shaky start in the first half and the Seals played their best that 1st half. The new and improved Ripetide held their own and outside of a short window in the third quarter after an injury they went toe to toe with the heavily favorited Seals of San Diego. This Riptide team is really good they netted 7 goals in the 4th quarter to pull within 1 goal and when their big 3 on defense return from injury, they will be scary good. No team ever wants to make excuses but there is no denying being without the big 3 on defense was noticeable. Fans can feel confident leaving the game though knowing this team is built to win and go hang with the big boy teams in this league. The next game will be December 17th, 7:30 pm ET at Nassau Coliseum against Halifax. See everyone there and LET'S GO RIPTIDE!!!