The Baltimore Bayhawks clashed with the Rochester Rattlers tonight in Ravens Stadium before an announced crowd of 3, 625 fans. Baltimore jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they defeated the Rattlers 13- 10. The sloppy play and small fan attendance can be somewhat attributed to the constant downpour throughout the afternoon and evening making for a somewhat low scoring game. Both teams went extremely hard and it turned out to be a rather exciting game considering it was opening night for both squads. Read on for the full story.
After jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead, primarily due to some tough Baltimore defense, Rochester finally got on the board when a dodging Jake Bergey found Josh Coffman cutting across the top of the goal. Coffman never stopped running and found the net with a lefty crank from out front. Aside from several back and forth goals, the 1st half was filled with sloppy, slow play contributing to a somewhat low scoring first half. With the score at 5-2, each team split the final two goals of the half with Rochester striking first. There was a huge scramble right in front of the net and Matt Hahn found himself alone on the crease with the ball right at his feet. Without being touched, Hahn picked up the ball and tossed it in right over goalie Greg Cattrano.
The final score of the first half came off of a stupid play by Rochester defenseman Ryan Mollet. While middie Paul Cantabene was lying on the ground, Mollet took a wind up slash connecting with the Bayhawk's shoulder sending flags flying from all over. Rochester ended up one man down for two minutes as Mollet was called for both unsportsmanlike conduct and slashing. After several failed attempts, Baltimore finally got what they were looking for as Tom Marechek scored a wide open goal right on the crease. Goalie Brian Dougherty was out of the net fighting with Sean Radebaugh over a loose ball at x, when Radebaugh scooped up the ball and made one easy move to the other side of the net. With Dougherty sprinting to get back in the goal, Radebaugh hit the alone Marechek as Baltimore made it 6-3 at half.
The second half opened up all Rochester with some quality defense and an opening double pipe goal from middie Craig Kahoun. Tim Soudan closed the gap to 6-5 Baltimore, as Rochester looked like they were going to make it a close one. Charlie Lockwood caught a clearing pass and took it down the length of the field drawing the Baltimore defense's attention. Lockwood tossed it back to the trailing Soudan who found the back of the net on a nice underhand rip with his foot on the two- point line. Baltimore struck right back however, scoring two goals off of the ensuing face- offs. Cantabene took a huge hit at the midfield line but somehow managed to hold onto the ball. Getting to his feet he saw a streaking Josh Sims and fed him on the run. Sims made one move and scored on a righty high to high shot from out top on the un- even break. Baltimore up 8-5.
The end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters saw the Bayhawks finally gather their composure and begin playing as they were in the first half. With the lead up to 12-6, Tim Soudan again kept Rochester in it with a righty dodge from out top. Soudan split two d- men with an overhead swim move and found the goal with around ten minutes left to play. The Rattlers would go on to score the next three goals with Soudan finding Craig Kahoun to make it 12-8. Soudan was dodging lefty out top when he rolled and saw Kahoun cutting towards the net. Kahoun made a nice move as he dove across the goal righty firing a one handed shot past Catranno.
The Rattlers' final attempt at closing the gap came off of some pretty ball movement around the outside of the goal eventually finding Josh Coffman cutting lefty from behind the goal. There was little the keeper could do as Coffman was wide open for the easy put in. With the momentum shifting towards Rochester for the comeback, Baltimore again tightened up on defense making a steady offense difficult to run. The nail in the coffin came off of what was an amazing Dougherty save just when Rochester was making their comeback. The ball fell right at his feet but Dougherty was unable to spot it until a wide open Marechek picked it up standing right on the crease. Marechek threw it into the goal as he was pushed to the ground, scoring the game's final goal with two minutes left. Final score 13-10.
Baltimore Bayhawks vs. Rochester Rattlers
| Scoring | |
|---|
| Josh Sims | (2, 2) |
|
| Mark Millon | (3, 0) |
|
| Tom Marechek | (1, 2) |
|
| Mark Frye | (1, 1) |
|
| Rob Shek | (2, 0) |
|
| Jeff Sonke | (0, 1) |
|
| Paul Cantabene | (1, 0) |
|
| Sean Radebaugh | (1, 0) |
|
| Gary Gait | (1, 0) |
|
| Jude Collins | (1, 0) |
|
| Current Record | |
|---|
| Baltimore Bayhawks | 1-0 |
| Current Record | |
|---|
| Rochester Rattlers | 0-1 |
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