Riptide vs. Rock – Game Preview

The New York Riptide head to Ontario this Saturday to face the Toronto Rock for the second and final time this season. Their last meeting was a 15-7 loss for the Riptide on home turf, which was the first of a 4 game active win streak for Toronto. In that game, Larson Sundown led the Riptide offensively with 3 points, while Jay Thorimbert had a team leading 7 loose balls. Steve Orleman and Gowah Abrams combined to make 56 saves in net.

The Rock build up from the back, with goaltender Nick Rose currently leading the NLL in save percentage (0.826) and goals against average (8.29), while also being third in total saves (272). The defense in front of him, which kept Jeff Teat off the scoresheet in the previous meeting, is spearheaded by Brad Kri and his league-leading 14 caused turnovers, Mitch de Snoo, whose 71 loose balls are fourth among non-faceoff specialists, and Challen Rogers, who has 8 blocked shots.

Offensively, Corey Small and Dan Craig are both coming off of 7 point performances in Calgary last weekend, and Tom Schreiber, who recorded 7 points on Long Island last month, sits tied for third in the league with 21 goals. The offense has plenty of possessions thanks to faceoff specialist TD Ierlan, whose 119 faceoff wins are second in the league.

New York is looking to rebound from a 16-10 loss to the Buffalo Bandits where the team struggled offensively in the second half. Reilly O’Connor had 6 points in that game, bringing him up to 26 on the season, while also picking up 12 loose balls. Defensively, Ron John and Brent Noseworthy each had 7 loose ball recoveries against Buffalo, with Noseworthy also scoring his first goal of the season, and Kevin Brownell blocked 3 shots. The Riptide will need to tidy up their penalty kill in order to win this game, as they killed off just five of the seven penalties they took last weekend.

Saturday’s game will be available to watch on 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.