74:02, the final game time on Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena when Brad Gillies finally put the game-winning goal past Steven Orleman, 57 seconds short of only the second double overtime game in NLL history. That game took place between the last two teams to be dispersed in the league: The Boston Blazers and Orlando Titans on February 20, 2010.

The only archive I could find on the ol’ interwebs for this game was a fight featuring the only player to appear in both games: Knighthawks captain Paul Dawson. Thanks to Pointstreak, however, we do still have the game sheet and a recap from Oursportscentral.

But anyways, back to 2023.

The Riptide controlled the play in the first quarter, with Jeff Teat scoring on his off-side on the first possession of the game and then adding another one from outside minutes later to give them a 2-0 lead. A Scott Dominey cross-checking penalty allowed the Knighthawks to get on the board for the first time thanks to Ryan Smith, and then the defenses started their takeover by entering the scoresheet. Ryland Rees scored on a 3-on-2 to tie the game before Kevin Brownell scored not once but twice on a breakaway to close out the first quarter. It became Brownell’s first multi-goal game since January 6, 2018.

Connor Fields opened scoring in the second quarter with a low-to-high laser from outside to bring the game back within one before Brad Gillies got in on the action with an unassisted goal 25 seconds later. Minutes later, the exchanging of goals continued with another goal from Brownell to give him his first career hat trick. Connor Fields and Jeff Teat each countered to make it 6-5 Riptide, and then Holden Cattoni scored in the final possession of the half for a powerplay marker to make it 6-6, or Knighthawks 6, Jeff Teat 3, Kevin Brownell 3.

Into the second half, the Knighthawks’ defense took over with a shutout third quarter, interrupting countless pass attempts from the Riptide in close, where they had been feasting on defenses pretty frequently since re-working their offense following the Callum Crawford trade. With the defensive spotlight shining, it was fitting that they continued to add to the scoresheet in the quarter as well, most notably from Paul Dawson’s first goal since March 8, 2020 – the literal last game in the NLL before COVID.

Connor Fields and the second of the game for Brad Gillies were the other goals to make it 9-6 Knighthawks after 3. Another weekly installment of the Ryan Smith to Thomas Hoggarth flip pass for a goal made an appearance to open the fourth to give the Knighthawks the 4-goal lead, but the defense remained the story. The Riptide finally broke through with 11 and a half to go as Tyler Digby became the first forward not named Jeff Teat to score on the night and did so in sentimental fashion.

At this point, the spotlight turned back to the Knighthawks’ defense, who were hoping to not repeat the near-collapse that took place in their last game against the Thunderbirds. The Riptide broke through once again with 3:06 to play as Reilly O’Connor got open for his first goal of the gave and the only goal from the Riptide set offense that didn’t feature Jeff Teat getting a point. With Steven Orleman out of the net, the Riptide 6-on-5 offense was able to make it a 1-goal game with 1:38 left as Jeff Teat fired a rocket from outside that was quick enough to send the head of Rylan Hartley’s stick sideways and the ball bouncing slowly past him.

After a Riptide timeout, the Knighthawks were able to get a stop, with Mitch Ogilvie blocking a Connor Kearnan shot and then getting the ball back after Digby touched it following a run through the crease. Rochester took the shot clock down to the final 10 seconds as Curtis Knight looked to the middle of the floor for Ryan Smith, but an off-ball screen from Thomas Hoggarth was just strong enough to send Damon Edwards to the ground and right into Smith’s legs. Ron John intercepted the now-uncontested pass, went coast-to-coast, and tied the game at 10.

The Knighthawks did get the ensuing faceoff and two more shot attempts in the final 40 seconds, but the first was stopped by Orleman and the next went wide, and we were headed to overtime, each team’s first extra frame of the season.

After 60 minutes of the defense, it didn’t disappear in overtime, but the goalies took over for their turn to put on a show. And I threaded the whole thing because when you have the thought to thread an NLL overtime game, “This is going to be the second longest game in NLL history” doesn’t go through your head.

OT Thread ROC v NY:

Thorimbertwins the clamp and the draw

— First Line Lacrosse (@FirstLine_Lax) February 26, 2023

Here are some highlights:

• Riptide opening possession: Teat denied by a patented Hartley split
• Jay Thorimbert’s rebound off of a Curtis Knight wide shot with about 12:30 left allows him to break free for a fast break, but Ryland Rees chases him down to force the turnover. Knighthawks call their timeout and Holden Cattoni shoots over the net on the ensuing possession
• Riptide call their timeout with 9:18 left on the clock. Teat and O’Connor play pick-and-roll but Hartley makes the 5-Hole save. The Knighthawks come back the other way, Ryan Smith fires a laser of a backhand, and it tattoos the crossbar. We play on.
• With under 4 to play, the Knighthawks get three straight transition shot opportunities. Gillies stopped on the first, Tyler Halls shoots wide on a 2-on-1, and then a clean save from Hartley on Connor Kearnan leads to a WIDE open break away for Connor Fields with 2:30 left that Orleman robs with the leg pad.
• In the final two minutes following the breakaway, the teams exchanged wide shots. Jeff Teat got the reset after he hit the outside of the post. Teat fed Kearnan who was stopped by Hartley, and the ball was rebounded by O’Connor.
• Tyler Digby went to back down Mitch Ogilvie with a shade over a minute to play, but Ogilvie poked the ball out with a tip drill stick check, Brad Gillies went the other way on the breakaway and, at long last, beat Orleman over the shoulder. The clock read 57.5, and this one was over.

It’s been an up-and-down year for the 24-year-old Orleman, as it is for most goalies in their first handful of seasons, yet despite the loss, this was a performance that showed the potential and the trajectory that his career could take. The final number for him was 53 saves as the Knighthawks were able to muster up 64 shots on goal. 54 shots on goal for the Riptide in a winning effort meant 44 saves for Rylan Hartley.

Working our way back out from the net, there were 9 combined goals from defense/transition players: Brad Gillies with a hat trick and a goal apiece for Ryland Rees and Paul Dawson for Rochester, and for New York, 3 goals and an assist for Kevin Brownell and a goal and an assist for Ron John. Connor Fields (3G 2A) and Ryan Smith (1G 4A) led the Knighthawks with 5 points apiece, while Jeff Teat matched that total to lead the Riptide with 4 goals and an assist.

The Knighthawks will head to Hamilton this weekend for a rematch against the Rock with a spot at the top of the conference possibly on the line.

Week 13 Around The League

Colorado Mammoth 14 – Panther City Lacrosse Club 12

The fireworks picked up right where they left off in Fort Worth as these two rivals made their way up to Denver for the rematch.

The Mammoth controlled the pace for most of the way, and while Panther City would get right back into the mix, they were never able to take the lead back from Colorado after scoring the first two goals of the game. The Mammoth offense finally got reinforcements as Ryan Lee played in his first game since last year’s playoffs where he suffered a knee injury, and he immediately stepped back in as the top dog with 2 goals and 8 assists for a 10-point night. Connor Robinson had 2 goals and 3 assists, while Zed Williams and Ty Thompson each had 3 goals and an assist. Callum Crawford led Panther City with 2 goals and 4 assists, and Patrick Dodds had 4 goals. The Mammoth’s defense was able to hold Jonathan Donville and Will Malcom to a combined 2 goals and 5 assists.

Dillon Ward made 46 saves in the win, but he was not the goalie in the spotlight, as Nick Damude scored in the third quarter after an unsuccessful sneak goalie pull from Colorado. The last goalie goal in the NLL also took place in Colorado…last year…from Nick Damude.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 11 – Calgary Roughnecks 9

The Desert Dogs became the latest team to go up big on Calgary early, as they scored 6 in the first quarter to only 1 from the Roughnecks, but the visitors countered with a 6-1 quarter of their own in the second. A 2-0 third quarter ended up making the difference as the Desert Dogs finished with a gritty 11-9 home victory. 22-year-old Landon Kells made 32 saves against his former team, outdueling his former goalie partner Christian Del Bianco’s 35 saves on 46 shots against. Jack Hannah led the Desert Dogs with 2 goals and 3 assists in a balanced effort from the Vegas offense. Zack Greer (2G 2A), Rob Hellyer (1G 3A), and Charlie Bertrand (4A) each had 4 points. Josh Currier and Shane Simpson each had 3 goals and an assist while Jesse King also had 4 points, with 2 goals and 2 assists. Calgary remains in second in the West at 7-4, while Vegas is now only one win behind 5-5 Colorado and two wins behind 6-5 Panther City in the race for the 4th seed in the West.

Georgia Swarm 20 – Albany FireWolves 4

The easiest way to sum up this game is the image of a scorer (in any sport really) who just ended a long drought and shouted “FINALLY” and moved on to the next one, as the Swarm finally found themselves in the win column and left zero doubts in anyone’s minds by halftime that they were the better team in this one. A 6-0 second quarter blew the game wide open, only to be padded by a 6-2 third quarter, and a 5-1 fourth.

Lyle Thompson had a vintage 5 goal, 7 assist performance to lead the Swarm, while Andrew Kew recorded a sock trick plus one with 7 goals and 3 assists to also eclipse the double digit point total. Brett Dobson finished with 32 saves in the win, and near-emergency backup (signed to the active roster earlier in the day as Craig Wende had to attend to a personal matter), Dustin Hill, stopped the lone shot he faced in his first 1:20 of NLL play.

Brett Dobson only allowed 4 goals in Saturday's game. Only 18 other goalies in NLL history have allowed 4 or fewer goals while playing over 55 minutes in a game. Dobson is the first rookie to do it.

— NLL Fact of the Day (@NLLFactOfTheDay) February 26, 2023

Meanwhile for Albany, while Georgia spotted them 10 powerplay attempts, they were only able to score on 4 of them – the only four goals they scored for the game. John Piatelli had 2 of them while Kieran McArdle assisted on 3. Justin Geddie was hooked after the sixth Georgia goal, only to return after 13:50 of gameplay across the third and fourth quarter as Doug Jamieson let up 7 goals on 17 shots faced of his own. Georgia improves to 1-7 while Albany falls to 2-7, and the two teams get to do it all over again on Saturday in Albany.

Vancouver Warriors 16 – Saskatchewan Rush 12

In the upset of the week, the Warriors went into Saskatoon and came out with a victory for the first time since they were still the Stealth – January 15, 2016 (And in fact, it would be the only time they won in Saskatchewan because the season before, the Rush were still in Edmonton). A 6-1 second quarter ended up making the difference for Vancouver’s first road win of the season to improve to 2-9, while the Rush’s loss drops them to 5-4, despite still holding onto the third spot in the west.

Week 14 Preview – The Calendar Turns To March

(I wonder if anyone wrote anything about the Sabres as it pertains to the calendar turning to March)

It’s certainly the most uniquely scheduled week in the NLL this season coming up. Let’s take a closer look

Friday March 3 – Buffalo Bandits (8-2) @ Halifax Thunderbirds (5-5) – 6:30 pm (TSN Game of the Week)

Coming off of a bye week riding a 4 game win streak, the Bandits start a grueling stretch to their schedule in March. Before their final bye week the weekend of April 8th, the Bandits will play Halifax twice (once home and once away), host Colorado in a rematch of last year’s finals, and then travel to San Diego and Toronto over their next 5 games. Talk about a test of will to remain atop the East!

Fortunately for the Bandits, the already loaded roster is strengthening back up, as Josh Byrne has been activated from IR and will play Friday, and Chase Fraser has also re-joined the Bandits after recovering from injury on the Protected Player List to start the year. His official status is the Active Roster – Evaluation List, so it is yet to be clear if he will play this week.

From the Thunderbirds perspective, their next three games against Buffalo and then Toronto will be an opportunity to either gain ground and solidify a playoff position or find themselves in the mix with a loaded middle pack between the East and West (remember the 5th team in the East could crossover to the West bracket if they have a better record than the 4th team in the West).

Saturday March 4

New York Riptide (2-8) vs Philadelphia Wings (3-5) – 11:30 am

With Villanova and UCONN set to tip off at 7:30 pm on Saturday Night at Wells Fargo Center, the Wings will host the Riptide for a brunch time affair to kick off a full day of lacrosse. Despite their combined 5-13 record, neither team is out of the mix yet in the East, but they will need to make their move soon. The Riptide’s next two games are against these Wings, making for a good opportunity for both teams to try and make ground. We’ll get back to the Wings later. New York will finish out March with home games against Albany and Georgia before traveling to Georgia the week after to start a 4 game road trip to end the season. The two teams have yet to face each other this season

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-5) vs San Diego Seals (6-2) – 4:30 pm

*Announcer Voice* Pack your sunscreen if you’re headed to this one because the Desert Dogs and Seals are playing outside this week! The first of three Joe Tsai Bowls (he owns both teams) takes place at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday – the first NLL outdoor game. The Seals are hoping the week off helped them regroup coming off of a loss to the Rush in their previous game to drop to 6-2, while Vegas looks to (here it comes) ride the wave of their three-game win streak to move back to .500.

Rochester Knighthawks (8-2) vs Toronto Rock (8-2) – 7:00 pm

When Rochester defeated the Rock in their home opener on December 10, it was the first sign to put the young Knighthawks on notice. Now in March, they are no longer the surprise darlings; they’re contenders in the East. Their two losses have both come on the road against the rest of the top 4 in the east: Can they steal one in Hamilton? Since scoring 7 and 8 goals in their two losses to drop to 1 and 2, the Rock’s offense has averaged 15.1 goals for and 8.7 goals against per game.

Georgia Swarm (1-7) vs Albany FireWolves (2-7) – 7:00 pm

Saskatchewan Rush (5-4) vs Panther City (6-5) – 8:00 pm

A big one in that middle of the West, as the Rush will travel to Fort Worth for the second of two matchups between them and Panther City this season. Saskatchewan won the first matchup 11-9 in Saskatoon. Panther City will be wearing specialty jerseys to pay tribute to their home state of Texas

Bid now on special edition Texas Forever jerseys! Net proceeds benefit Bridge Lacrosse, DFW's youth program providing equal lacrosse access to under-resourced & urban communities.

Learn more about Bridge Lacrosse and their mission at https://t.co/lEqzRXBY4Z.

— Panther City Lacrosse Club (@PantherCityLax) February 27, 2023

Monday, March 6 – Toronto Rock (8-2) vs Philadelphia Wings (3-5) – 7:30 pm

A change of pace comes as we have a rare Monday Night Lacrosse matchup in Philly for each team’s second game of the weekend. This will be the second of three matchups between the Wings and Rock. Philadelphia has some obstacles on the calendar as they look to take their stride, in addition to two more matchups against Toronto, they will face the Thunderbirds for a second time and still have three games against the Knighthawks, so stealing one on the second leg on the back to back could be huge after playing the Bandits tough but coming up short in overtime in their last game.

Photo Credit: Micheline Veluvolu