By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester erupts for 21 goals to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In a must-win situation, to keep their Major League Lacrosse (MLL) playoff hopes alive, the Rochester Rattlers put together their biggest offensive output of the season while routing the Boston Cannons, 21-9, before an guest-timated crowd of 600 at Capelli Sport Stadium. The victory ended a 3-game losing streak for Rochester.
Jordan Wolf tallied a natural hat trick with the first 3 goals of the game. He also added a fourth goal in the first quarter as the Rattlers established a 5-2 lead. Wolf finished the game with 6 points on 5 goals and 1 assist.
Four Rattlers amassed 4 points, led by 4 goals from Jordan MacIntosh. Eric Fannell and Ryan McNamara each scored 3 goals and had 1 assist as Ned Crotty collected 1 goal and 3 assists.
The other Rochester goal-scorers included: Michael Lazore (2), Drew Simoneau, Dhane Smith, and Ty Thompson. Thompson’s and Lazore’s first tally would have made the highlight reel. Simoneau also won 23-of-34 faceoffs as his goal came off a faceoff.
Rochester outscored the Cannons, 7-1, in the second stanza for a 12-3 advantage at intermission.
Players who picked up assists included: Smith (2), John Ranagan, Jordan Stevens, and Donny Moss.
Rattlers starting goalie John Galloway faced 9 shots through 3 quarters and yielded 4 goals. Fairport native Blaze Riorden played the fourth quarter and gave up 5 goals on 8 shots.
Rochester has been involved in five 1-goal games and sport a 3-2 record in those contests. Those two defeats started the 3-game losing streak.
Playoff picture
Rochester moved into a 5-way tie for the fourth and final playoff berth in the MLL with the victory. All 5 teams have a 5-6 record with 3 games remaining in the regular season. However, the Rattlers are on the short end of the tie-breakers with the 4 other teams: Charlotte Hounds, Atlanta Blaze, New York Lizards, and Chesapeake Bayhawks.
The Rattlers 3 games include 2 at home against the two top teams in the league, the Denver Outlaws (8-2) on THursday night, and the Ohip Machine (7-4) in the regular season finale on Aug. 5. Rochester beat both of those teams on the road in the first meeting of the season.
Rochester travels to Atlanta on July 29. The Rattlers lost to the Blaze at home earlier.
The Rattlers are 0-1 against both Charlotte and New York as they faced those teams just once this season. Rochester needs each of those teams to pick up at least one more loss, while the Rattlers need to win out to have a shot at making the playoffs.
Rochester is 1-1 against Chesapeake but the Bayhawks own the tie-breaker on goal differential, so the Rattlers also need the Bayhawks to lose one more game.
The Florida Launch hold down third place with a 6-5 record. The Rattlers are 0-2 against them this season as well.
To summarize, the only way the Rattlers will make the playoffs is if they win out (8-6) and the four teams they are currently tied with at 5-6 (Charlotte, Atlanta, New York, Chesapeake) each lose a seventh game.
*NOTES — MLL playoff determination if three or more teams are tied:
a) Best won-lost percentage in all games among the tied teams.
b) Best total scoring margin (total point scored differential) in all games among the tied teams.
c) Best total scoring margin (total point scored differential) in all games.
d) Strength of victory (all games).
e) Coin Toss.
(Note: If two Teams remain tied after the third or other Teams are eliminated during any step, tie-breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-Team format).
2. Other Tie-Breaking Rules/Procedures
a) Only one Team advances in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the first step of the next applicable tie-breaker. For example, if two Teams remain tied in a three Team tie-breaker after all other clubs have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of the two-Team format to determine the winner.