Thursday, October 1, 2026
Three heartbreaking overtime losses within the first six games ultimately dug a deep playoff hole for the New York Riptide, which has enjoyed better results in the second half of the NLL season and is serving notice as a team to watch in 2022-23.
In its penultimate home game Saturday evening, the Riptide recorded its fourth win in the last six games by defeating the Rochester Knighthawks, 15-7, at Nassau Coliseum. New York is 6-10 with two games remaining and kept its slim playoff hopes alive. Six of its defeats are by two goals or one. Rochester fell to a league-worst 3-13.
“Still alive in the playoff picture is the position everyone wants to be in,” Riptide coach Dan Ladouceur said. “The rest of the stuff you can’t sweat. Yes, we probably need some help from other teams. But we can only control what we can control.”
Dynamic forward Jeff Teat, the first-overall pick of the draft, continued his stellar rookie campaign with a hat trick and seven assists and has 19 points in the past two games. He leads all rookies in points (93), goals (34) and assists (59) despite missing two games and is just three points shy of the league’s all-time rookie single-season record.
“He’s probably one of the greatest players in the world,” Ladouceur said of Teat, who just a week earlier netted six goals and assisted on three others to lead the Riptide to an eye-opening 15-12 road victory over the Buffalo Bandits.
Another rookie, goaltender Steven Orleman, continues to shine for the Riptide and appears destined to set the NLL record for saves in a season by a rookie. With 43 stops against Rochester, Orleman has 596 saves this season and needs only eight more to break a 20-year standing league mark.
“It’s been fun to watch him grow,” Ladouceur said of Orleman, who has a .777 save percentage. “I’ve got confidence in him and so does everyone on this team.”
Orleman blanked the Knighthawks in the opening quarter and was staked to a 4-0 lead, including a dynamic opening goal by an airborne Dan Lomas from behind the cage and a pair of Jake Fox tallies. Fox had four goals on the night. Teat made it 6-0 early in the second quarter before the visitors finally solved Orleman.
It was the Riptide’s third straight game without veteran leader and second-leading scorer Callum Crawford due to injury. Crawford, who has 33 goals and 44 assists, last played April 2 versus Philadelphia but there’s a possibility he can return for the final two games.
Through 16 games, the Riptide scored 192 goals while allowing 193. It has identical 3-5 records at home and on the road.
The Riptide are back home on Saturday to face the Halifax Thunderbirds at 7:30 p.m. It’s New York’s final game at Nassau Coliseum this season and will be Fan Appreciation Night. Tickets are available at NewYorkRiptide.com for a special price of $15 when using the code FANAPP. Halifax took the first meeting on Feb. 4, 13-10.
The season concludes April 30 with a trip to Albany. The Riptide got the best of the FireWolves last month in a 15-6 blowout.
