The National Lacrosse League has twice before tried to have a team play in the Nassau Coliseum, only to have that team either fold (Saints), or move elsewhere, and then fold (Orlando Titans). Perhaps the league believes that the third time's the charm, because they granted an expansion franchise to GF Sports, a holding company that was created by a private equity firm, GF Capital Management. Known as the New York Riptide, the team had three road games to start the season before playing two more at the Coliseum, drawing 6,000 to their first and 5,000 to their second home games. Unfortunately, they had yet to win one.
It is not worth traveling to Uniondale for just a single game, but last Saturday, there was a doubleheader with the Islanders taking on the Capitals in the afternoon and the Riptide hosting the Georgia Swarm in the evening. I ended up renting a car and spending the weekend in the area. After the Islanders blew a 4-1 lead by giving up five third period goals, I took a break at the Marriott next to the Coliseum before returning for the nightcap. The cheapest tickets at the box office were $18, which put you in the end zone (view above). There was a snowstorm that kept many fans away, as you can see, with attendance announced at 2,351.
I was able to move around a bit and settled on a spot near the non-existent blue line. The Swarm wear bright yellow uniforms that are visible from space, at least according to the announcer.
The team uses the Riptide theme creatively, with the hashtag #GetPulledIn and a party area behind one of the nets known as the Sandbar. There's also a dance team that probably has a catchy name, but not catchy enough for me to have caught it. I was impressed by the work put into the team and hope that they can avoid the fate of their predecessors.
And if they have more games like this one, then they just might. Down 10-6 with about 10 minutes to go, the Riptide scored 5 straight goals in 5:55 to take a surprising lead. But Georgia replied with two quick ones and New York was down 12-11 with two minutes left. With goalie Alex Buque (who is listed at 5'11", 332 lbs) on the bench, the Riptide pressed and found a miraculous equalizer from Gale Thorpe with 1.3 seconds left. This led to overtime and after a couple of stops by both sides, Riptide captain Dan MacRae found himself alone in the Swarm zone and fired a shot that beat Kevin Orleman and gave the Riptide their historic first win.
Afterwards, the players shook hands in a line, something that is unusual in pro sports, particularly in the regular season. But with many of these players also toiling in the MLL in the summer, I think that everyone knows everyone else in the lacrosse world and this is more of a greeting than anything.
Notes
For me, one interesting part was seeing Jordan Hall playing for Georgia; he played for New York as a rookie back in 2008 and was with Orlando when I saw them in their only season.
Next Up
The Club 123 meetup is this weekend at Chase Center in San Francisco. I'll also be seeing a college hoops game as the San Franacisco Dons host BYU. Check back next week for recaps.
Best,
Sean
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