WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attackman John Grant, Jr. scored a game-high five goals and added two assists to lead the Rochester Rattlers (4-2) to their fourth straight win, a 16-14 victory over the Washington Bayhawks (4-4) at Multi-Sport Field at Georgetown University on Saturday afternoon. After winning four of their first five games to start the season, the Bayhawks have now dropped three straight games.
Attackman Conor Gill gave the Bayhawks a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal before Grant tallied back-to-back markers for a 2-1 advantage with 7:51 left in the period. Midfielders Mark Frye and Bill McGlone answered with goals just 31 seconds apart, which regained the Bayhawks' one-goal advantage.
However, the Rattlers countered with consecutive goals from attackman Brandon Spillett and midfielder Colin Doyle to give Rochester a 4-3 lead with 1:15 remaining in the stanza. With 17 seconds left in the period, midfielder Brendan Healy gave Washington a 5-4 lead when he scored a two-point goal past goalkeeper Mike Levin.
Midfielder Kyle Dixon extended the Bayhawks' advantage to 6-4 with a power-play goal less than four minutes into the second quarter, but the Rattlers responded by scoring seven straight goals to take a 10-6 lead with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter. Grant scored two goals and added an assist during the rally while Jeff Zywicki added a goal and an assist.
Led by two goals from Gill, the Bayhawks closed to within 10-9 by scoring three times in the final five minutes of the third period. However, the Rattlers rallied by scoring five of the next seven goals to take a 16-11 lead with 4:04 left to play.
With 2:13 remaining, Healy scored an unassisted goal to cut the Bayhawks' deficit to 16-12. Just over a minute later, Gill added his fourth goal of the game, a two-point shot past Levin which narrowed the margin to 16-14. But, the Rattlers held off Washington's comeback bid to earn a season split.
The league leader in goals and points, Grant posted his fourth hat trick of the season and scored five or more goals for the third time this year. Zywicki added two goals with an assist while Spillett and midfielder Gavin Prout scored a pair of goals.
Gill led the Bayhawks in the loss by scoring four goals, including a two-point tally, along with an assist. Attackman Tom Marechek added a three-goal, one-assist effort while Healy scored twice, including his two-point goal in the fourth quarter.
Line Score 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Rochester 4 3 4 5 16
Washington 5 1 3 5 14
1st Quarter
Washington - Conor Gill (unassisted) 5:27
Rochester - John Grant Jr (powerplay) (Colin Doyle) 6:20
Rochester - John Grant Jr (powerplay) (unassisted) 7:09
Washington - Mark Frye (unassisted) 10:25
Washington - Bill McGlone (Kyle Dixon) 10:56
Rochester - Brandon Spillett (Joe Walters) 12:13
Rochester - Colin Doyle (Joe Walters) 13:45
Washington - Brendan Healy (2pt) (unassisted) 14:43
2nd Quarter
Washington - Kyle Dixon (powerplay) (unassisted) 3:33
Rochester - Gavin Prout (unassisted) 4:25
Rochester - Jeff Zywicki (powerplay) (John Grant Jr) 9:32
Rochester - John Grant Jr (powerplay) (Jeff Zywicki) 12:49
3rd Quarter
Rochester - Joe Walters (unassisted) 0:56
Rochester - Patrick Dutton (unassisted) 1:30
Rochester - Jack Reid (unassisted) 1:59
Rochester - John Grant Jr (unassisted) 5:13
Washington - Conor Gill (powerplay) (Andrew Combs) 10:53
Washington - Tom Marechek (Conor Gill) 11:35
Washington - Conor Gill (Tom Marechek) 14:02
4th Quarter
Rochester - Brodie Merrill (unassisted) 0:20
Washington - Tom Marechek (unassisted) 2:49
Rochester - Gavin Prout (unassisted) 4:13
Rochester - Jeff Zywicki (powerplay) (John Grant Jr) 4:59
Washington - Tom Marechek (Kyle Dixon) 5:33
Rochester - John Grant Jr (Colin Doyle) 10:48
Rochester - Brandon Spillett (Alex Smith) 10:56
Washington - Brendan Healy (unassisted) 12:47
Washington - Conor Gill (2pt) (powerplay) (unassisted) 13:58
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 7:41 am