Los Angeles Riptide weekly update
August 8, 2006 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Los Angeles Riptide News Release
L.A. RIPTIDE TO FACE DENVER OUTLAWS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 12: The Los Angeles Riptide concludes the 2006 regular season this week against the Denver Outlaws. The Riptide looks to get its first victory against the Outlaws and clinch a playoff spot on Saturday, August 12 at 4:30 p.m. (PT) at the Home Depot Center Track and Field Stadium.
RIPTIDE COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF DRAGONS: The Riptide completed the season sweep of the San Francisco Dragons with a 20-11 victory last weekend in San Francisco. The Riptide played its final road game of the season at Kezar Stadium to take on the Dragons for the third and final time this season. The first two games between the two teams were played in a home-and-home series on July 22 and 23. On July 22 at the Home Depot Center, the Riptide earned an important 17-10 victory, which began the team's current winning streak and helped the team bounce back from two disappointing losses to the Denver Outlaws. The following day, the Riptide earned a 15-11 victory at Kezar Stadium.
THE DRAGON SLAYER: Riptide attackman Andrew "Buggs" Combs scored another five goals against the San Francisco Dragons last weekend. He was named Bud Light MVP of the Game for the third time this season, the second time against the Dragons. Combs played very well against the Dragons this season. In the three games against the Dragons this season, Combs scored 13 goals and one assist. That is the most of any Riptide player. Graham Gill and Spencer Ford also performed well against the Dragons, registering 12 points each in the three games.
PLAYOFFS OR DONE: Whether the Los Angeles Riptide advances to the playoffs hinges on one day. With the victory at San Francisco last weekend, the Riptide tied the Dragons with 12 points for the final playoff spot. If the Riptide wins this Saturday against the Outlaws, the Riptide will clinch the playoff spot and advance to Championship Weekend, regardless of what San Francisco does. If the Riptide loses and the Dragons win against the Chicago Machine this Saturday, the Dragons will clinch. If the Dragons lose to the Machine and the New Jersey Pride loses, the Riptide will clinch. If the Riptide and Dragons lose, but the Pride wins, the Pride will clinch. It might be difficult for L.A., though. The Riptide has yet to beat the Outlaws this season. In fact, San Francisco is the only team to have defeated Denver at all this season. Also, San Francisco will be playing the Chicago Machine, the only remaining winless team in Major League Lacrosse.
PLAYOFF FORMAT: Four teams advance to the MLL playoffs. The Eastern Conference and Western Conference leaders advance to the playoffs. There are also two wild card spots, which are won by the two teams with the next best regular season records, regardless of the conference they are in. If there are teams tied in points, the tie-breaker would first be the team's records against each other, then goal differential. The conference winner with the best record plays the wild card team with the lesser record in one semi-final game, while the remaining two teams play in the second semi-final game. The winners of the two semi-final games will play each other in the Championship Game, which will be broadcast live on ESPN2. All three games will be played at the Home Depot Center Track and Field Complex during the New Balance Championship Weekend on Friday, August 25 and Sunday August 27.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Attackman Andrew "Buggs" Combs scored five goals for the Riptide in the team's 20-11 victory over the San Francisco Dragons on August 5. That performance earned him MLL Offensive Player of the Week honors. This is the third consecutive week in which a Riptide player was selected player of the week by the League and the second of three weeks in which Combs was selected. Riptide goaltender Tillman Johnson was selected MLL Defensive Player of the Week last week for Week 10.
ROOKIE TOPS ON DEFENSE: Rookie D.J. Driscoll continues to impress with his defensive skills and put up a good case for becoming Rookie of the Year. He scooped up four groundballs for the second consecutive game last week at San Francisco and leads the team in groundballs with 35 in just nine games of action. He had the most impressive defensive performance of his young MLL career against the San Francisco Dragons on July 22, scooping up nine groundballs. In the team's first-ever Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft on May 31, the Riptide selected Notre Dame defenseman Driscoll. He has picked up groundballs in every game he has played in this season. Driscoll, the Great West Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, was selected with the first pick of the second round of the draft.
UNDEFEATED PLAYER: Rookie J.J. Morrissey remains undefeated in 2006. A defensive midfielder from the University of Virginia, Morrissey helped lead the Cavaliers to a 17-0 record this season before being selected by the Rochester Rattlers in the MLL Collegiate Draft. Since the Riptide acquired him on July 11, the team has gone 4-0, the longest winning streak of the season. Morrissey's team has won all 21 games in which he has played this season.
FORMER RATTLERS SHOWING BITE: When the Riptide acquired midfielder J.J. Morrissey from the Rochester Rattlers on July 11, he became the third player to have spent time on the Rattlers roster this season to be acquired by the Riptide within a month. Attackman Andrew "Buggs" Combs was the first, acquired on June 13, and attackman Spencer Ford was the second, acquired on July 5. All three former Rattlers continue to contribute to the Riptide. In last weekend's victory at San Francisco, Combs scored five goals, Ford scored three goals and added four assists and Morrissey registered one assist and one groundball. Since Combs joined the Riptide lineup eight games ago, he has scored at least one goal in every game he has played in and at least two goals in six games. Ford has registered at least two point in the last four games with the Riptide. The defensive midfielder Morrissey has picked up at least one groundball in three of the four games he has played in since joining the Riptide.
BLOGGING BICE: Los Angeles Riptide defenseman Greg Bice is now an ESPN.com blogger. ESPN.com is now featuring weekly blogs written by two MLL players, Bice and San Francisco's Trey Whitty. Bice's first two blogs are now up at espn.com now. Keep checking http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/lacrosse/index for Bice's current blog and get some "Bicecream" humor.
FIRST GOALS: In last Saturday's victory over the San Francisco Dragons, a couple of Riptide players reached a milestone. Riptide defender Greg Bice and midfielder Matt Ogelsby each scored their first career MLL goals. Ogelsby scored the first goal of the second half at 2:21 of the third quarter. Bice scored the final goal of the game at 13:54 of the fourth quarter.
VETERAN LEADERSHIP: Veteran MLL attackman Michael Watson continues to lead the Riptide in offense. He had another multi-goal performance last week at San Francisco. He registered two goals and two assists against the Dragons on Saturday at Kezar Stadium. His 36 points for the season place him in the team's scoring lead. After getting off to a slow start, not scoring any points in the first game of the season on May 27 at Philadelphia, Watson has contributed at least two goals in each subsequent game. His goal-scoring streak was extended to ten games.
LINDSAY LEADS MIDFIELDERS: Midfielder Sean Lindsay continues his offensive consistency for the Riptide. He scored his fifth hat trick of the season on Saturday, August 5 at San Francisco. Lindsay scored four goals and picked up one groundball. He continues to lead all Riptide midfielders in scoring with 34 points (20 goals, 3 two-point goals, 8 assists). He is also second among all Riptide players in scoring. After not scoring any points in the first game of the season, Lindsay has picked up the offense, netting at least one point in each subsequent game this season. He has registered at least one goal in nine games this season.
WEBSITE FEATURES: Don't miss the two weekly columns on the Riptide's revamped website, www.lariptide.com. Each Monday, look for "Inside the Numbers," written by lacrosse analyst Nick Ammazzalorso. Ammazzalorso takes a look back at the previous game and ahead to next week's game. Each Friday, there's "Shannon's Slant," written by Inside Lacrosse Magazine Assistant Editor Geoff Shannon. Shannon brings you highlights of the past week and his slant on the week ahead, as well as in depth and personal looks at the Riptide's superstars.
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
