The New York Riptide opened the season on Canada’s East Coast at the Scotiabank Centre in front of 6,847 taking on the expansion Halifax Thunderbirds.
They came up short and dropped a 12-4 decision that saw goalie Alec Burque face 58 short making 46 saves for the Riptide.
The T-Birds opened with 7 goals through the first quarter that saw both clubs exchange a pair of goals in the second quarter, while the lone goal in the third quarter was by the Riptide.
The fast paced game was played in two hours and three minutes with a total of nine minors, five to New York and four to Halifax.
Hill was the winning “tender” for Halifax facing 44 shots, stopping 40 through 60 minutes sending New York home getting ready for Vancouver.
While the Warriors were coming off a loss in their first game, they were poised and ready to see what the Riptide had to offer up.
Vancouver offers up a talented group of players that are still looking for the offensive start they need to get them rolling in the early stages of the season.
The night was a tribute to “First Responders” in which the opening ceremony was impressive to watch and see up close.
It was interesting to note that I was sitting beside a couple of reporters from ‘The Big Apple” and they were in shock when the “Responders” propelled down from the roof of Rogers Arena.
As well the team held a moment of silence for lacrosse legend and Father of Warriors Coach Chris Gill who had recently passed away.
Sohen Gill is a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and was a force in the game in the Lower Mainland at all levels.
He worked with the Minor Lacrosse as well as the Senior levels of the game and was commissioner of the Western Lacrosse Association and President of BC Lacrosse Association.
On a soggy Saturday night in Vancouver the Warriors entertained the expansion New York Riptide in hopes of getting off to .500 on the early NLL season
The Vancouver Warriors are coming off a 12-7 loss to the Calgary Roughnecks, the defending NLL Champs two weeks prior.
The Warriors had high hopes in their opener entering the second half after trailing by seven (10-4) in the opening 30 minutes and playing smarter lacrosse in the second half shutting down the Roughnecks offence.
Delta’s Mitch Jones and Logan Schuss led the Warriors with a pair of goals that saw singles go to Keegan Bal,Jordan McBride and John Rahe that saw the Warriors test Coquitlam’s Christian Del Bianco with 70 shots stopping 63 for the Roughnecks.
The fast paced game was played in front of 5,120 enthusiastic fans that saw Bal get the Warriors on the board first only to have Riptide’s McArdie get them even ending the first quarter.
It was Delta’s Mitch Jones that managed to bulge the twine netting four goals while adding five assists on the night for an impressive nine point night.
One of the newest Warrior’s Riley Loewen got his first, while Warrior Captain Matt Beers had high expectations of himself getting one goal and three helpers, considering it was Matt Beers Bobble-Head Night that saw the first 3,000 get a souvenir.
The Riptide elected to go with Boque in net who faced 45 shots stopping 31, while Warriors “tender” Bold faced 50 shots turning aside 40 for the win.
The officials had an easy night dealing out 11 penalties with 7 going to the Warriors and 4 to the visiting Riptide through 60 minutes of play.
While this was “First Responders Night’ there were “give-a-ways” for the fans, but they truly have to work on their Tee-Shirt machine.
Another point they have to work on and the Giants have this issue as well, if you are going to have a Tim’s Coffee Cup Challenge, here’s a word to the not-so-wise who set this contest up.
YOU SHOULD HAVE A WINNER AND NOT MAKE THEM LOOK FOOLISH BY GETTING THE ANSWER WRONG!!!!!!
SIMPLY WRONG!!
The Warriors next home game is Sunday December 29th with the face-off set for 1 pm
