Tonight the Albany FireWolves looked to extend their winning streak to 3 games, and they did so in a convincing manner by taking down their state rival the New York Riptide at home in The Den by a score of 14-8. Two Albany players recorded hat tricks in tonight’s game, those being rookie sensation Alex Simmons, who brings his goal total to 25 this season as he continues to push for rookie of the year, while the other hat trick came courtesy of assistant captain Ethan Walker as he was able to put together a stellar night yet again. While Simmons and Walker were two of the key factors that contributed to this impressive win, the entire team was making some amazing plays to help the FireWolves hold onto this win. The rest of the offensive contribution came from all over the roster, starting with yet another rookie sensation for Albany this year in Tye Kurtz, while Marshall Powless, Nathan Grenon, Travis Longboat, Sam Firth and last but certainly not least captain Colton Watkinson rounded out the scoring for the FireWolves. With all of the scoring that was happening opposite of him, goalie Dougie Jamieson was able to put together yet another outstanding performance as he stopped 45 of 53 and continues to make his case for goalie of the year in the NLL but maybe more important to him is that Dougie back stopped the FireWolves to their 9th win this season as they
continue to march towards the playoffs.
The New York Riptide looked to take control of this game early by bringing a very physical style of play to the young guns of the FireWolves, however the skill and speed over the size and strength was a key factor that helped the FireWolves keep their eyes on the prize. Albany would take the opening faceoff at the start of the game and it wouldn’t take them long before they were able to take control of the scoresheet less than a minute into the first quarter, and this something that they were able to at the start of the first three quarters. Something that seemed to motivate the FireWolves in this game was the physicality that was brought to them, as every single time that a big hit was laid out, Albany used that pain and anger to put together more scoring chances in the first quarter where they scored 6 of their 14 goals on the night. It also helps that three of the goals that were scored by the FireWolves in the first happened on the man advantage. While the FireWolves were the offensive juggernaut that they expect out of themselves, Dougie Jamieson was once again the backbone to this Albany team as he was making some absolutely fantastic saves to keep the lead the FireWolves had built the entire night, and even during the first quarter it was announced that Dougie Jamieson had hit a very impressive career milestone as he reached 4,000 career minutes played in his seven year career.
After the first quarter was finished it seemed like it was all FireWolves and as the second quarter started it certainly seemed to stay that way with yet another early goal from the FireWolves put them up by five, that was until the Riptide seemed to find their own game backed by some fantastic saves by Cam Dunkerley. With Dunkerley making all of these types of saves the Riptide were able to capitalize on two straight goals and start a bit of a push back, but that was quickly shut down as the FireWolves would score quickly after the two by New York. After this small volley of goals by the Riptide, the game went more into a back and forth contest, with Albany keeping up their style of play and maintaining their lead through the second quarter and into the half. As the second quarter came to an end the FireWolves would add two more goals to extend their lead to four goals over the Riptide.
As the third quarter started up not only did the FireWolves put up yet another quick goal, they were also really getting under the skin of the Riptide and that showed as they racked up 13 penalty minutes alone in the third quarter. However the Riptide were able to put the clamp down on defense as they only let in one goal that was on the powerplay after the three goals they let in during the first quarter that were on the man advantage. While the Riptide were taking a lot more penalties, they were also playing a lot less physically then they were in the first half, but that seemed to take the edge away as Albany was only able to score a combined six goals through the second half of the game, compared to the nine they had through the first half. When it came to the fourth quarter for these two teams there was a lot less scoring and more of a defensive showing as Albany would be able to shut down the Riptide during their attempted comeback, but more importantly were able to shut down the leading scorer in the league Jeff Teat and hold him to only five points throughout the night, which is something that the FireWolves seemed to pride themselves on.
The FireWolves do have a short break as they will be right to The Den this Friday as they will take on the Vancouver Warriors and then they take the trip to Rochester to take on the Knighthawks on Saturday, March 9th. The FireWolves will look to continue to extended their current winning streak but they will also be looking to close the gap on a playoff berth and
come closer to the objective that not only head coach Glenn Clark wants to achieve, but the entire squad for the FireWolves which is to bring a championship to Albany.
Caden Balint is a graduate of La Salle Institute in Troy, NY and Merrimack College in North Andover, MA and has been in love with sports forever. Whether it is watching, playing, writing, sports have always been a passion. Getting the chance to start his dream of sports journalism with Stream Punk is just the start of a long journey. In his spare time Caden enjoys playing hockey, spending time with his loved ones and playing video games but you will soon get to know him a lot more!