Socks and Hats All Over the Place in a Wild Week 6
January 6, 2024By: Jon Rapoport
The FireWolves Cannot Be Stopped
With up to a foot of snow barreling down on New York’s state capital, the hometown Albany FireWolves extended their season-opening winning streak to five games, outlasting the Halifax Thunderbirds in a hard-fought 12-10 triumph. Albany now stands alone as the only five-win team in the NLL. Not bad for a squad that won all of three games last season.
Eight players found the back of the net for the FireWolves, with Travis Longboat, Patrick Kaschalk, Alex Simmons and Sam Firth each scoring on two occasions. Down 10-8 in the fourth, Simmons brought the game even with consecutive goals. Firth then nabbed his second on what turned out to be the go-ahead tally with 8:43 remaining. A Nick Chaykowsky empty netter sealed things for improbable FireWolves.
Austin Shanks put together a strong game for the Thunderbirds, capturing a hat trick in defeat. Ryan Benesch and Dawson Theede added two more, but the now 2-2 Halifax club came up just a little bit short.
Muscle 💪
Air Time ✈️
Goal 🥍
Dawson Theede buries one in the corner and we’re all tied in Albany at the end of the third! pic.twitter.com/FoZHVx9ykb
Two teams that have grown accustomed to battling for all the marbles during the month of June, took the field in downtown Buffalo in a matchup of franchises who have yet to really find their stride in 2023-2024. And on this particular snowy January night, it was the defending champion Bandits taking down the 2022 champion Mammoth 12-8.
Buffalo jumped out to 6-0 and 9-2 leads, with Colorado never coming within four goals. The Bandits star duo, Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne, found that extra gear, each posting seven points in the victory, with Byrne putting a whopping 17 shots on net. Brad McCulley and Chase Fraser did their parts, contributing a combined 10-point effort, helping Buffalo back to an even 2-2 record on the season.
Despite hat tricks from Eli McLaughlin and Connor Kelly, Colorado’s up-and-down campaign rolled on, with the club now staring at a 1-3 mark heading into next weekend’s home game with the San Diego Seals.
BUFFALO, NY – JANUARY 6: Chase Fraser #95 of the Buffalo Bandits and Jalen Chaster #71 of the Colorado Mammoth argue during the NLL regular season game between the Colorado Mammoth and the Buffalo Bandits.(Photo by Mike Hetzel/NLL)
Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson Dazzle For The Upstart Swarm
Georgia Swarm standouts Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson lit the lamp early and often, leading their suburban Atlanta team to a thrilling 12-10 conquest of the always tenacious Panther City Lacrosse Club. Jackson found the net an incredible six times, leaving Gas South Arena with a sock trick to go along with four assists. The 2020 NLL MVP reached the six-goal strata on only eight total attempts on goal. Talk about efficiency!
The aforementioned Mr. Thompson added yet another hat trick to his sterling resume, with the Jackson/Thompson pairing scoring the go-ahead and clincher goals for the Swarm.
Georgia cruised to a 9-4 second quarter lead, only to watch PCLC claw their way back in the second half, tying the game 9-9 early in the fourth. The Fort Worth-based franchise just would not go away, squaring the game 10-10 before Jackson and Thompson took matters into their own hands. 39-year-old Callum Crawford had a massive night for PCLC, tabulating three goals and five assists.
The Swarm now stand at 4-1, with Panther City holding a disappointing 1-3 record.
Shayne Jackson was an absolute MONSTER tonight 💪🏼
His 6-goal, 4-assist performance led the way as the @GeorgiaSwarmLAX defeat Panther City 12-10 and improve to 4-1.
With the New York and Philadelphia NFL teams battling it out at MetLife Stadium, the NLL provided fans with a simultaneous New York/Philadelphia matchup, 97 miles to the south at Wells Fargo Center. And what a momentous day it was for the team from Long Island!Entering the game as the league’s only winless club, the Riptide looked like a well-oiled machine, cruising past the host Wings 16-9.
Jeff Teat had by far his best effort of the season, posting five goals and four assists, with his second score marking the 100th of his already brilliant career. Connor Kearnan added three goals and four assists, with former Wing Kiel Matisz collecting two goals and two assists against his old team. On the Philadelphia side, Taggart Clark reached a milestone of his own, achieving the first hat trick of his rookie campaign. Mitch Jones added five total points for a Wings squad that was completely overmatched on Sunday, even with Holden Cattoni and Blaze Riorden coming off the IR to assist the team.
The now 1-3 Riptide host Panther City next weekend, while the Wings will continue a stretch of home games that will not see them take to the road until a February 16 visit to Las Vegas.
Jeff Teat reached and surpassed the 100 career goal mark with a 5-goal, 4-assist effort in the @newyorkriptide‘s 16-9 win over Philadelphia.
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