Long Island traveled to New Britain, Connecticut on Monday August 21 tied with the Rochester Raging Rhinos for first place. They left Veteran's Memorial Stadium in sloe possession of first place after beating the Wolves 3-0.
Both teams got off to a slow start, as the flow of the game was continuously started and stopped by the referee, Chip Reed. The only consistent thing about the game was the referee, who was constantly bad all night long.
The Riders took command in the 19th minute. Gerry Lucey stepped up and won the ball, and fed the ball to a cutting Edson Buddle. Buddle beat his defender and broke in one-on-one with Jason Petronis. Buddle slipped a low shot in under Petronis who dove to stop the shot. Buddle scored for the second game in a row and his eight of the year.
In the second half, the intensity and the speed of the game picked up. Connecticut tied the game at 1-1 in the 58th minute on a James Proctor penalty kick. Reed, the referee, made that call from midfeild against Paul Grafer. Grafer came off his line and took the ball off of Sean Nealis's foot. A great dive by Nealis, a defender sold the call. Not once did the referee ask his assistant for help.
The game began to resemble an NFL game. The Riders pushed on, and began to pressure the Wolves into mistakes and turnovers.
Cordt Weinstein was fouled hard by Brain Wood just outside the top of the box, in the 71st minute. The master of free kicks, Lucey stepped up again. This time, he hit a bender into the left hand corner of the net. It was his eight goal and the second game in a row that he has scored.
In a move that caught everyone by surprise, the ref, Reed added 5 extra minutes of play to the second half.
Long Island up 2-1, took advantage of the added time. In of the 90th minute, O'Neil Peart sent Andrew Mittendorf on a run down the sideline. Mittendorf beat one defender and then Petronis for the third goal of the game and his second of the season.
The Rough Riders defense led by Grafer and Ronan Wiseman held the Wolves at bay. Grafer broke up two scoring opportunities in the 40th and 74th minute with Wiseman running back and clearing the ball of the line each time to deny Connecticut.
Both Riders were not done for the night either. Grafer made another kick save in the 86th minute, and Wiseman cleared a free kick off the line in the 90th minute to ensure the victory.
Long Island's defense has allowed one goal in the last 270 minutes of play.
Rider Notes: Before the game, the Long Island Rough Riders clinched a playoff spot with the Rhino's loss to Montréal on Sunday. This is the seventh year in a row that the Riders will take part in postseason playoffs, and the second year in a row under the direction of head coach Paul Riley.
