We are now into week 7 of the 2021-22 season and despite the league having to postpone some games, the Riptide are back in action this Saturday night to take on the newest team in the league, Panther City Lacrosse. PCLC was awarded an expansion draft in 2021, and made a selection that would soon work in the Riptide’s favor. Panther City selected Scott Dominey 13th overall in their expansion draft, but the Riptide were lucky enough to make a trade and Dominey was on his way to the Big Apple.
“Getting to New York was extremely exciting for me,” Dominey said. “Every single person involved with this organization welcomed me with open arms and I can’t wait to see what we can do as a whole in the future.”
Dominey, an Ontario native, grew up playing lacrosse his entire life. When he was very young his mother was driving past the arena in Orangeville when she saw a flashy sign with “try lacrosse” in big lettering and couldn’t resist turning around to find out what lacrosse was. After his mother had a conversation with one of the managers inside, the stage was set, it would lacrosse in the summer and hockey in the winter for Dominey.
Dominey continued to play for Orangeville through his junior lacrosse career and at the same time, played field lacrosse in the CUFLA for Nipissing University. While with the Lakers, Dominey was the scoring leader in 2017 and 2018, earning East MVP in the 2017 season.
“A lot of people talk about the NCAA route for college lacrosse, but I was honestly just a decent lacrosse player at the time,” Dominey said. “I never got recruited, but playing at NU allowed me to compete in full junior seasons, and make friends who pushed me to the point I believed I could make something out of my career.”
Dominey was not looking to make anything of lacrosse until going to NU. He started putting in the work on and off of the field and it immediately translated to his box game. He was a member of the Junior B Orangeville Northman and thought of himself as a “bubble player,” meaning he was on the cusp of playing Junior A. He finally made the jump to play on the A squad in 2018 when his head coach, Bruce Codd, also made the switch to coaching at the higher level.
Dominey mentioned that when this transition was being made, about 11 other players were able to make the push for Junior A, and that’s when he knew he could have a future in lacrosse.
“My family and I honestly didn’t know there was lacrosse after junior,” Dominey said. “It wasn’t until Codd told me that Toronto and other teams were looking to draft me so I should probably declare.”
With Dominey’s name in the draft pool, he was finally called 56th overall to the Toronto Rock where he spent two years before joining the Riptide for this season. Dominey has only improved through his years in the NLL, and he is making waves early in his debut with the Riptide. Dominey has been a key part of the Riptide transition, and that is exactly where head coach Dan Ladouceur saw him fitting in.
“When I got to New York, Laddy told me I’m here to help with the transition, so that’s what I’m going to do,” Dominey said. “I’ve taken on that role and I want nothing more than to keep producing for this team.”
In just three games Dominey has tallied 3 goals, 15 loose balls and 3 blocked shots. He knows that in order to continue producing, he has to stick to the systems, play solid D and capitalize on fast break opportunities. Despite the Riptide’s current record of 0-3, Dominey knows that with the talented veteran leadership mixed with a strong core of young guns, this team will be able to turn things around and create the start of a great organization.
“Honestly we just need a win and things will turn around,” Dominey said. “We have some of the best in the business with Callum Crawford, Dan MacRae, Jeff Teat and so many others. If we can get a W under our belt, the confidence will get going and we will start to roll.”
Dominey knows that this team has what it takes, they just need that W to start the momentum. He feels he can be an impact player that can help turn the tide for New York, and with the way his season has been going, he will definitely be an integral part to this team’s future success.
