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Attackman Spencer Ford scored two goals and added a game-high five assists as the Los Angeles Riptide (4-2) remained in first place in the Western Conference with a 21-13 victory over the Chicago Machine (1-4) at The Home Depot Center on Saturday evening.

The win allowed Los Angeles to remain perfect at home and extended their win streak against the Machine to five straight games.

The Riptide jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter as attackman Xander Ritz scored twice during the period while Ford had two assists. Midfielder Sean Lindsay also had a two-point goal as the Machine were held without a goal for the first 15:29 of the game.

Midfielder Brad Heritage scored two goals in the first two minutes of the second quarter to cut Chicago’s deficit to 7-2, but midfielder J.J. Morrissey and attackman Wes Green answered with back-to-back goals to regain the seven-point advantage.

Heritage scored his third goal of the quarter with 9:28 left in the second quarter before midfielder Dan Deckelbaum followed with an unassisted goal, narrowing the margin to 9-4. However, attackman Terry Riordan helped Los Angeles extend its advantage to 11-5 at the intermission by scoring two of the final three goals in the second quarter.

After attackman Sean Morris opened the third quarter with a goal off a feed from attackman Kevin Leveille, the Riptide scored four of the next five goals to lead by a 15-7 margin with 1:29 left in the period. The teams traded goals in the final 44 seconds of the stanza, upping the Riptide cushion to 16-8.

The two teams traded goals twice to begin the fourth quarter before midfielder Graham Gill and attackman Kevin Dougherty scored unassisted goals, giving the Riptide a 21-10 lead. Midfielder Billy Looney scored to narrow the Machine’s deficit to 21-11 before midfielder Doug Shanahan taliied a two-point goal with 1:24 left.

Ford, the MLL leader in assists, was named as the Bud Light MVP while Lindsay scored three goals, including a pair of two-point markers, along with an assist. Riordan had four goals in the victory.

Heritage led Chicago in a losing effort with four goals and two assists while Shanahan scored two goals, including a two-pointer, and added an assist. Goalkeeper Mike Gabel made 16 saves in 51 minutes before being relieved by rookie Harry Alford, who made two saves in his MLL debut.

A.J. Stevens wrote:It was good to see the on-field photographer wearing a college lax t-shirt. LA has done a good job of mentioning the MCLA teams that are coached by MLL players and coaches. I heard UCSB, UCLA and USC mentioned during a scouting video I watched before our game.