Orlin & Cohen Postgame Report: Thunderbirds down Riptide 20-11

(UNIONDALE, NY) – An eight-goal surge of a run through the first and second quarters essentially sealed the deal for the Halifax Thunderbirds on Saturday night, as the New York Riptide were unable able to claw their way back in front of a home crowd, eventually falling 20-11 to the Thunderbirds.

Jake Fox of the Riptide opened the scoring 1:50 into the first quarter, and New York looked to be in good shape early with a 3-1 lead after goals from Connor Kearnan and Larson Sundown.

The Thunderbirds veteran offence took flight midway through the opening quarter. Thunderbird forward Chris Boushy scored his first of four to give his team the 4-3 lead, one that Halifax would command for the remainder of the game.

“The first five minutes, I thought we got off to a great start. We just got away from our game plan,” said Kearnan. “Reverse transition was killing us, not getting off the floor quick enough. We really just never found our footing after that first five minutes.”

.@kearnan10 explains what went wrong for the Riptide following tonight’s 20-11 loss to the @hfxthunderbirds. pic.twitter.com/IrpFWSkEZN

— New York Riptide (@newyorkriptide) December 18, 2022

Kearnan was a bright spot for the Riptide, as the 26-year-old right handed forward scored three goals and added an assist, giving him four points on the night, which helped him to pass the 100 career point plateau.

The Thunderbirds would take a 13-6 lead into half after chasing Riptide starting netminder Steven Orleman. Back up netminder Gowah Abrams provided some stability for the Riptide to start the second half, who outscored their opponents 4-1 in the third quarter after a pair of goals from Jeff Teat.

The Thunderbird’s offence stepped up in the fourth quarter, as the team went on to score six times in the final frame, setting a new franchise record for goals in a game with 20, and handing the Riptide their second loss of the season.

“When we’re on, we’re on. We’re stopping them, we’re holding them. The third quarter, we could hold them,” said veteran defender Jay Thorimbert, who played his 200^th career NLL game on Saturday night. “When it’s in the back of our net, we’re not giving our offence a chance. We can’t be giving up 20 goals.”

“That’s not us.” @jthorimb75 shares the message in the locker room following the Riptide’s loss to Halifax on Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/ACajffhrML

— New York Riptide (@newyorkriptide) December 18, 2022

The Riptide have a chance to regroup with three weeks off before returning home to the Nassau Coliseum to take on the Toronto Rock on January 7^th. Toronto sits 1-2 early in their season after back to back losses to Rochester and Buffalo, respectively. The Riptide’s third game at home will be first of three home games in January. The Riptide will also travel to Albany to battle the FireWolves in their first road game of the year on January 21^st.

January 7th’s game will be available to watch on MSGSN 2 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.

Back at it in three weeks at home vs. @TorontoRockLax pic.twitter.com/akElKxPq8W

— New York Riptide (@newyorkriptide) December 18, 2022