Calgary Gets Stuck Between the Rock and a Hard Place
Toronto is on a hot streak after beating the Calgary Roughnecks on Friday night and picking up their second straight win after a rocky (no pun intended) start to the season. The Rock dominated early in the contest, leading 5-1 by the end of the first, padding their lead without letting up steam through the final minutes. Calgary had a tough time on both sides of the ball: rushed transition and overthrown passes halted their offensive momentum, and ball-watching and miscommunication during settled situations allowed Toronto to stretch and back-cut the overworked Roughnecks defense.
The Rock create space by floating a forward out into space above the box – usually Chris Boushy – while the offense crashes and seals their defenders in the middle. The defender covering Boushy is then forced to move up to initiate contact and prevent the downward dodge to the goal. But, they’re usually intercepted by a Toronto forward breaking away from their defender to set a pick, which separates the ball carrier from coverage and empties space in the corner to attack the net. Combined with their quick reaction to loose balls and effective short-clearing game, Toronto was able to stamp out the bones of Calgary’s comeback late in the game.
Saskatchewan takes Albany to (Robert) Church
Expanding upon a string of intense starts, the Albany FireWolves found themselves leading 4-0 just five minutes into Saturday night’s road game in Saskatchewan. Though the Rush defense moved quickly to answer Albany’s attack, they were twitchy: overrunning loose balls, missing slides and ball-watching top side, allowing back cuts and uncontested shots to go unanswered. Saskatchewan was also unable to adjust to the FireWolves’ behind-the-net play. By sending a forward behind the net, Albany not only drags a defender out of the play, but also generates an extra passing option down low and keeps the offense balanced following the initial dodge, taking advantage of the defensive shift.
The Rush’s Robert Church and captain Ryan Keenan looked to scratch up a shootout, putting up a collective four goals to take the lead before the half. Though an exciting prospect, a two-quarter shootout isn’t maintainable, especially against Albany’s bench of offensive specialists. To maintain their lead, the Rush tightened up defensively by recognizing the back cuts early, moving over picks and quickly readjusting, and taking their time in the clear to prevent an Albany put-back in transition. Saskatchewan’s ball speed also helped to stretch an already rattled Albany defense and pull FireWolves’ goalkeeper Doug Jamieson off his stick-side pipe, allowing Zach Manns to pick up his second in the fourth quarter, and Church to put back his fifth to stamp out Albany’s bid for overtime.
Colorado Builds Win From the Outside In
Rochester’s defense was built around neutralizing Colorado’s perimeter play, switching quickly off the pick and re-establishing contact with the ball carrier to prevent long shots from Will Malcom and Eli McLaughlin. Additionally, by hedging the backside, the Knighthawks were able to control Colorado’s shot selection, dictating shooters to Riley Hutchcraft’s stick side. Though the Mammoth ended the first half leading 5-4, Colorado needed to find a way to split the defense and pull Hutchcraft out of the pipes while maintaining a heavy defensive presence to support goalkeeper Dillon Ward.
Colorado looked anxious to score in the third quarter, working hard to control the rebounds and generate quick transition opportunities. However, with the loose ball in the back of their minds, they allowed the Knighthawks to compress the defense, making them slow to initiate contact and opening easy skip lanes to the crease following the slide, allowing doorstep feeds to unmarked Rochester forwards.
The Mammoth entered the fourth quarter chasing Rochester 9-7, but an early goal in transition by Tim Edwards put them back on track. Colorado’s defense began crashing hard to the middle after the pick, shutting down the feed to the crease, and pressing out on the adjacent forwards, preventing the next pass to Curtis Knight and Thomas McConvey. On offense, Colorado’s forwards were working hard off the ball, dragging the low defenders away from the pipes to expose Hutchcraft’s off-side hip, and cutting to the crease with the intent to receive and shoot, allowing McLaughlin to make it a one-goal deficit late in regulation, and Zed Williams to secure the win with three seconds remaining.
Ottawa’s passive defensive play on Friday allowed the Warriors to muscle out an 8-4 home win at Rogers Arena. Eric Fannell, the bionic man from Albany, opened the scoring for the evening, drawing first blood for Ottawa, but it didn’t take long for the Warriors to take control. Vancouver forward Adam Charalambides put the Warriors on the board first, putting his shoulder down and dodging hard to the middle, slipping through small gaps in the defense to find himself right on the doorstep for two back-to-back goals in the first quarter.
It was a GOOD night at the office for Adam Charalambides as the Warriors take down the Black Bears 8-4.
Miscommunicated adjacent slides and overplayed man-defense also left the Ottawa crease subject to pick-and-slip feeds by Vancouver, as well as uncontested rockets from Keegan Bal in the top corner. Despite a fourth-quarter fight and individual goals from Fannell and Connor Kearnan, the Black Bears were ill-prepared to stack up against the Warriors’ physical play and were easily thrown off their marks by miscommunicated back picks. The flat-footed, one-on-one defense allowed the Vancouver forwards to pick up plenty of steam and blow through coverage.
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