Orlin & Cohen Postgame Report: Crawford Scores Five Goals As Riptide Defeat Knighthawks On The Road

Rochester, NY – Callum Crawford scored six points on five goals and an assist, Jeff Teat finished with nine points on two goals and seven assists, and Steven Orleman finished with 46 saves as the New York Riptide (3-8) defeated the Rochester Knighthawks (3-8) 15-12 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY Saturday evening.

“I thought tonight was a solid win from Orley straight out,” Riptide head coach Dan Ladouceur said. “The offense was sharing the ball and being creative. Defensively we pressured out and limited their quality looks. We need to work on adjusting to broken plays and transition runs, but this group is growing and learning which is a huge positive for us.”

Crawford’s five goals set a new season high for the veteran, and he now needs just two assists to become the eighth player in NLL history to reach 700 in his career. Teat’s nine point effort marked the third time that the rookie has scored nine points or more in a game this season.

It was a tale of two quarters for the Riptide in the first half, as New York got off to a quick start in the first, scoring the game’s first six goals. Kearnan opened up the scoring by netting a pair just 1:36 into the contest. The Riptide followed it up with goals from Teat and Dan Lomas, before Kearnan completed his first quarter hat trick. Callum Crawford scored his first of the game to close the opening frame.

In the second, the Knighthawks caught up, scoring six of the next seven goals, with the lone Riptide goal coming from Scott Dominey. Teat was awarded a penalty shot to end the second half and converted to make it an 8-6 game heading into halftime.

In the second half, just four goals were scored, with each team netting two apiece. Larson Sundown scored before Crawford followed it up for the Riptide and New York headed into the final frame with an 10-8 lead. In the fourth, the teams continued to trade goals as Crawford scored his third, fourth, and fifth of the game to put the Riptide up 13-10. Jake Fox scored on a dunk goal from behind the net to make it a 14-11 lead, and Mack Mitchell followed it up with an empty netter to ice the game at 15-12.

The Riptide will have their final bye week of the season next weekend. The team will return home on March 26 to take on the Albany Firewolves at 7:30 p.m. at Nassau Coliseum, as the team hosts Lacrosse is for Everyone Night. The game will be available to watch on MSG+, and ESPN+, and listen to on WRHU 88.7 FM, WRHU.org and the WRHU iPhone App. Live stats and periodic in-game updates will be available via Twitter @NewYorkRiptide.