The New York Riptide and Saskatchewan Rush will play on March 16th at 8:30 PM EST at the Saskel Centre in Saskatoon. The Riptide are heading back on the road following a 13-11 win over the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in Long Island. Larson Sundown was the catalyst for the New York offense, scoring six goals on the night, which is a career-high for him. The offense was able to build a lead that was just enough to hold off a valiant second-half comeback attempt by the Desert Dogs. The Rush lost a very tight contest to the Buffalo Bandits last Friday in overtime. Robert Church tied the game up with 30 seconds remaining to force overtime, but the Rush did not have enough gas left in the tank to knock off the defending champions.
Playoff Picture:
The New York Riptide improved their chances of making the 2024 NLL playoffs with their win last week. Now sitting 6-7 and in the eighth and final playoff spot, the Riptide will have to hold off multiple teams behind them in the standings, as there are four teams within one game of them (Roch, Calg, Philly, Sask). The Riptide and the Rush play back-to-back weeks and will help clear up the playoff picture entering the final month of the regular season. If the season were to end today, the Riptide would be playing the Toronto Rock, who hold the #1 seed, a game in front of the Albany Firewolves. The playoff picture will guarantee to be extremely tight until the final games of the season.
The Opponent:
The Saskatchewan Rush currently sit at 4-6 but still have a +1 positive score differential. With two overtime losses so far this year, the Rush could be 6-4 if the ball bounces a different way in those games. In the Rush’s most recent loss, the Bandits and Saskatchewan traded goals for the whole second half, and was an even matchup until the final whistle. That Overtime loss was their second OT loss of the season and their fourth loss of two goals or less. Luckily for the Rush, they have played the least number of games in the NLL so far and will have eight games remaining this season to get themselves back in the playoff picture. The Riptide have only five games remaining on their schedule in comparison.
Sunny’s Career Day:
Larson Sundown had the best game of his professional career last week against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. Sundown, or “Sunny” as his teammates call him, had six goals and one assist, the most goals and points he has registered in an NLL game in his 3-year career. Larson has 39 points through 13 games this year, which has already passed his career high from his rookie year of 38 points. The 26-year-old has eight powerplay goals this season, scoring three last weekend against Vegas. Larson’s eight Powerplay goals are just two back on Panther City’s Callum Crawford for the league lead. The third-year pro is consistently in the right spots, making it easy on his teammates to find him.
Milestone Watch:
The New York Riptide will enter this game with multiple players closing in on career milestones. Jeff Teat has already registered his 100th goal of his career as well as the 300th point of his career and will need just one assist against Saskatchewan to achieve the 200th in his career. Connor Kearnan is another player who has hit multiple milestones this year, tallying his 100th assist and 200th career point so far. Connor is now just 2 goals away from scoring his 100th career goal in the NLL. Kearnan is third on the Riptide with 21 goals on the season. Another player to keep an eye on will be Jay Thorimbert. Jay needs just 5 loose balls to become the fourth player in NLL history to reach 1900 LB. For the Opposition, Ryan Keenan needs just three more points to reach his 400th in his career. Keenan has 15 points in the last two games combined.
New Addition:
The Riptide added depth to the right side of their offense this week with the addition of Taggart Clark. The Riptide acquired right-handed forward Taggart Clark and a second-round pick (via SD) in ’24 from the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for a first-round pick in ’24 (via COL) and a second-round pick in ’25 (via SD). Clark has produced well so far in his first year with 7 goals and 5 assists on the year. He will look to make an immediate impact across from Jeff Teat on the right side.
