Riptide Defeat Wings 16-9 for First Win of Season
January 7, 2024 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
New York Riptide News Release
On Sunday the New York Riptide cemented their first victory of the 2023-2024 season, defeating the Philadelphia Wings 16-9. Jeff Teat delivered his best statistical performance of the season, leading the Riptide offense with 9 points, including five goals and four assists. The Riptide defense had its most complete game of the season in front of Cameron Dunkerley, who limited Mitch Jones, Joe Resetarits, and Blaze Riorden to just four goals combined. The Riptide's efforts on Sunday were dominant from top to bottom, as they held the advantage in faceoffs, shots on goal, as well as powerplay goals.
The Riptide offense set the tone for the team early on as they scored the game's first three goals, getting tallies from offensive leaders Larson Sundown, Connor Kearnan, and Reilly O'Connor. The Riptide got an additional goal in the quarter, courtesy of Kiel Matisz, following a Holden Cattoni goal for Philadelphia. The four goals in the first quarter were the most the Riptide has scored in the opening frame all year. The Wings scored the final two goals of the quarter and the opening goal of the third to tie the game up at four. However, the rest of the quarter was dominated by the Riptide, who reestablished their lead behind goals from Jeff Teat, Mitch Wilde, Austin Madronic, and Connor Kearnan once again. The Riptide went to the locker room with an 8-5 lead at halftime.
To begin the second half, Jeff Teat scored his second goal of the game and 100th of his career. Teat completed his hat trick just four minutes later in the quarter, marking his second straight 3-goal game. Connor Kearnan also registered his third goal of the night later in the quarter as the Riptide extended their lead to a five-goal advantage at the end of the third quarter. Kearnan also registered his 100th assist of his career. On the other side of the ball, the Riptide defense was sensational in the middle two quarters, keeping the opponents off the scoreboard for twelve minutes straight in the second quarter and an eight-minute stretch in the third. Ron John, Jay Thorimbert, and Mitch Wilde all contributed goals as well to the Riptide's high-powered offense on Sunday.
Riptide forward Jeff Teat led the offense with nine points on the day but credited the performance to the week of practice and the amount of work the team did in preparation for this contest. "I think it started earlier in the week in practice that set the tone for the week. It was a Week's effort." Teat's five goals are the most in a game for a Riptide player since the final game of the 2022 season where he scored five goals against the Vancouver Warriors. His ten goals and twelve assists rank him within the Top 20 in the NLL in both categories.
Similar to Teat's postgame comments, Riptide head coach Dan Ladouceur acknowledged the team's best performance of the year starting with a strong week leading up to the game. "100 percent it started in practice. We challenged our leadership group to be the hardest working group and they did, and like great teammates, everyone picked up when they were leading. It translated tonight and it is one of those things that can't be a one-night thing. It's got to be our character and I think that leadership group has it in them to lead like that every night."
The Riptide will return to action next Saturday, January 13th against Panther City back at home. The last time Panther City was in Long Island was during the 2022 season when they beat NY, which was their first win in their franchise history. Familiar face Callum Crawford will be returning to New York for the first time since being traded away last season. Crawford led NY in goals during the 2022 season with 39. The game will start at 7:30 PM on Saturday, January 13th, and will be played at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. For Tickets to that game, head over to https://newyorkriptide.com/tickets/single-game-tickets/.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 7, 2024
- Riptide Defeat Wings 16-9 for First Win of Season - New York Riptide
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