Rochester Snares Lizards for 5th Straight Victory

[Sonny]

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Midfielder Colin Doyle scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Rochester Rattlers (5-2) to their fifth straight win, a 13-7 victory over the Long Island Lizards (4-3) in an Eastern Conference game at Mitchel Athletic Complex on Thursday evening.

With the victory, the Rattlers match their franchise record with the five-game win streak, which has been accomplished two other times. The Rattlers won the final five games of the 2005 regular season in addition to a five-game win streak during the 2001 season.

After the teams exchanged goals in the first seven minutes of the game, attackman Tim Goettelmann gave the Lizards a 2-1 lead when he scored his second goal of the quarter, an unassisted marker with 4:28 left in the first quarter.

But, the Rattlers scored four straight goals to take a 5-2 lead with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter. Attackman Brandon Spillett tied the game at 2-2 with an unassisted goal just 39 seconds into the period before Doyle scored three straight goals, giving Rochester the three-goal edge. Midfielder Blake Miller ended the spurt with 1:18 left in the first half, scoring a power-play marker off an assist from Keith Cromwell.

Spillett and attackman John Grant, Jr. opened the second half scoring by recording back-to-back goals to extend the Rattlers' cushion to 7-3 before the Lizards answered with consecutive goals. With 4:53 left in the stanza, rookie attackman Frank Resetarits scored to cut the margin to three before Miller added his second goal of the game just 46 seconds later.

The Rattlers countered by scoring back-to-back goals in a 44-second span, upping their lead to 9-5, but midfielder Stephen Berger scored off a Cromwell feed with 1:36 left to narrow the gap to 9-6.

Midfielder Chris Fiore began the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal with 13:54 left in regulation, but the Rattlers ran off four straight goals to end any hopes of a Long Island comeback as attackman Jeff Zywicki posted a goal with an assist during the spurt.

Doyle was named as the Bud Light MVP while three other Rochester players scored two goals each. Goalkeeper Mike Levin made 14 saves as the Rattlers allowed a season-best seven goals. It was the first time the Rattlers had held an opponent to under ten goals since June 30, 2005 when Rochester defeated New Jersey by an 18-8 margin.

Goettelmann and Miller each scored two goals to lead the Lizards in the loss while Cromwell had two assists. Midfielder Joseph Mascaretti won 13 of 25 face-offs and also added seven ground balls along with his assist.

Rochester (5-2) 1-4-4-4 / 13
Long Island (4-3) 2-1-3-1 / 7

Goals:
ROC – Colin Doyle 4, Joe Walters 2, John Grant, Jr. 2, Brandon Spillett 2, Pat Dutton 1, Gavin Prout 1, Jeff Zywicki 1.
LI – Tim Goettelmann 2, Blake Miller 2, Frank Resetarits 1, Stephen Berger 1, Chris Fiore 1.

Assists:
ROC – Jeff Zywicki 3, John Grant, Jr. 2, Joe Walters 1, Colin Doyle 1.
LI – Keith Cromwell 2, Stephen Berger 1, Joseph Mascaretti 1.

Saves:
ROC – Mike Levin 14 (60:00, 7 goals allowed).
LI – Nick Murtha 20 (60:00, 13 goals allowed).

Attendance: 3,172