Lacrosse the Ages: Rookies Win Game for Nationals

While thinking about the biggest story from yesterday's Hamilton Nationals victory over the Rochester Rattlers, I could have easily written up about how the Nationals put up their season high for goals in a game without John Grant Jr. or how a lapse in defense ended up costing the Rattlers the game, heck! I could even talk about how Ned Crotty was contained so well and the implications that it led to for the Rattlers. Instead, the story that really seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel for both teams (who held a combined record of 1-7 coming into the game) was the surge of youth talent that showed up for this game.

This rook show definitely stole the show in the 19-16 Nationals victory. Hamilton was led by Jeremy Boltus who contributed 7 goals to earn himself the MVP for the game. Boltus scored 2 goals in each of the first two quarters before netting himself a hat trick in the third quarter to help Hamilton gain the lead during a 9 goal run. Now, if we move back a line to our middies we run into Kevin Crowley and David Earl. Crowley got the ball with about 6 minutes left in the game and proceeded to cut and spin all around the 2 point arc before making his cut towards the net. When he got to the crease, he ripped a nice shot to give the Nats a 2 goal lead. Earl added 3 goals as his contribution. The fourth rookie that I'll look at is Matt Dolente. I love seeing ball movement in all sports. Without passes you can't always guarantee the best look at the goal or waste time to hold onto your lead. In order to pass the ball though, you must first have possession of the ball. Dolente was the face off specialist for Hamilton in this game. The commentators were thinking that he would be a little off of his game due to his last face off was in the Johns Hopkins vs. Denver game when his Blue Jays lost. When he bent over against Anthony Kelly the first time, I knew he was going to lose because he was over 1 foot shorter and just looked like an ant out there. Then the whistle blew and Dolente went on to go 21 for 36 on his faceoffs and proved to be quite annoying out there (in a good way of course).

On the other side of the ball we had another four freshman make their impact. Grant Catalino...where do I start on this guy? Possibly with his MLL record tying 9 goals. Yeah, that's a good place to start. Hat tricks in both of the first two quarters and his debut 2 point goal to end the game. The thing that really impressed me about Catalino was not just his goals scored total, it was every aspect of his game. When he had the ball, he usually managed to find his way to be able to get a good shot off, and when he wasn't able to fight his way in, he was smart enough to drop back and pass the ball around instead of forcing it. Grant took 13 shots in the game with 11 of them being on goal and 9 of those finding the back of the net. I'm not sure if it was just Joe Marra being a little bit off of his game or not, but Catalino was making his scoring look easy. Greg Niewieroski scored the first goal of the night for the Rattlers and later added an assist to give him a 2 point game. Usually the defense doesn't get much credit, but in Joel White's case, he deserves to get the credit that is usually reserved for attackers. He finished the game with 13 ground balls, but what really amazed me was how he was able to break up passes to create turnovers. In case you missed the game, go to ESPN3.com and watch at around 6 minutes left in the game to see an example. Finally, John Galloway played the entire game in goal for the Rattlers and made 18 saves off of 36 shots on goal. He really seemed on his game during the first half which allowed Rochester to hold on to their lead once they grabbed it early.

Even though these two teams are at the bottom of the standings with Hamilton being 2-3 and Rochester sitting at 0-5, keep an eye on these teams because they will be making a run for the playoffs once their rookies develop. It might not be until next season but it will happen. The youth will grow into great players under the guidance of veterans such as Matt Striebel and Joe Walters. 

These two teams won't have to wait long to face each other again, their next face off is in 6 hours at 7pm eastern. My keys for the game are as follows

Rochester Rattlers

• Get the ball to Grant Catalino and Ned Crotty
• Don't allow Hamilton to go on a scoring run (tighten defense around the crease, force them to shoot from a distance)
• Transition, transition, transition (it is one of their best aspects, expect to see it come into play)

Hamilton Nationals

• Get an early lead
• Don't be afraid to double team, make Rochester earn their goals
• Give Jeremy Boltus the ball, he's magic