LA Riptide Score Early and Often in 21-13 Victory Over Chicago
June 23, 2007 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Los Angeles Riptide News Release
CARSON, CALIFORNIA - Bud Light MVP/attackman Spencer Ford (Towson '99) led all scorers with seven points (2 goals and 5 assists) and attackman Terry Riordan (Hopkins '95) finished with a team-leading four goals as the Los Angeles Riptide beat the Chicago Machine, 21-13, before a crowd of 2,361 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
With the win, the Riptide improved to 2-0 on their home field this season and 4-2 overall. They lead the Western Conference of Major League Lacrosse at the midway point of the season and they are 5-0 in five all-time meetings with Chicago over the past two seasons. With the loss, the Machine dropped to 1-4 in the Western Conference this year.
"I'll be honest with you, it's outstanding for the program and the organization because it just so happens that Denver got beat today and that extends our lead in the division," said Ford. "When this team plays like a team, there's no stopping us. Everybody shares the ball and whose ever stick the balls ends up in, it's always a goal."
The Riptide tied a season high with seven goals in the first quarter and led 8-0 through 15 minutes of play after holding their opponent scoreless in a quarter for the first time this season. Los Angeles stormed out to an early two-goal lead in the quarter with markers from Riordan (on the power play at 1:08) and midfielder Greg Downing (1:32). For Downing, it was his first goal in a Riptide jersey. The scoring spree continued with a goal from attackman/midfielder Xander Ritz (5:59), his first of the season, and the Machine was forced to call a timeout after witnessing two more tallies from midfielder Sean Lindsay (2 pt. goal at 9:03) and attackman Michael Watson (10:12). Following the timeout, Ritz added another goal at 13:08 to give the Riptide a lead of 8-0 after one quarter of play. Ford finished the quarter with two assists, adding to his league-leading total. He entered the contest with 18 helpers through five games this season.
Chicago finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter, but the Riptide held a lead of 12-5 after 30 minutes thanks to one goal each from midfielder J.J. Morrissey (2:35) and attackman Wes Green (3:48) and two more markers for Riordan (8:51 and 13:22), who led the Riptide with three goals at the half.
Los Angeles opened a nine-point lead after three quarters at 17-8 thanks in large part to Ford, who collected two goals and added one assist to give him a game-leading six points through 45 minutes. Riordan also scored his team-leading fourth goal in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Riptide added goals from Lindsay (2 pt. goal at 2:11), Watson (5:47) and Kevin Dougherty (9:55) to complete the scoring, with Dougherty's goal giving the Riptide a franchise-record 21 points for the game.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from June 23, 2007
- LA Riptide Score Early and Often in 21-13 Victory Over Chicago - Los Angeles Riptide
- Cannons Fall to Pride 13-10 - Boston Cannons
- Barrage Fall To Rattlers 11-16 - Philadelphia Barrage
- Pride defense silences Cannons 13-10 - New Jersey Pride
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