Norfolk Sharx (11) vs. Rochester Lancers (24)
Monday, January 2, 2012 - 1:00 pm
Christopher J. Wilmot Field at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial
Attendance: 5012 Official MISL: Boxscore | Printable gamesheet
January 2nd, 2012
Rochester, NY – The Rochester Lancers (6-7) bounced back from their disappointing loss on Thursday in Norfolk to get a 24-11 win over the Norfolk SharX (1-11) in front of 5,012 fans at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial. MISL Offensive Player of the Month for December, Mauricio Salles, returned to action after missing Thursday’s match to put up a season high nine points (3 2 point goals and 3 assists). The nine points by Salles pushed him into the MISL lead with 49 points on the season. Doug Miller had seven points (3 2 point goals 1 assist) and Jeremy Ortiz had five points (2 point goals 1 assist) for the Lancers. Franklin High School and Nazareth College graduate and former Rochester Rhino Jefferson Dargout made his Lancers debut in today’s match and scored his first MISL goal.
It didn’t take Mauricio Salles long to make his presence felt as he scored the game’s opening goal just 1:46 into the first quarter. Matt Clare answered back for the SharX on a solid individual effort to even the game at two points apiece. The Lancers retook the lead when Jeremy Ortiz was able to get a toe on the rebound of an Andrew Hoxie shot as two SharX players were trying to keep the ball out of the goal to make it 4-2 Lancers after one quarter of play.
Norfolk once again tied it up on a Clare goal just less than five minutes into the second quarter. This time Clare finished off a nice counterattack with Brandon Massie setting Clare up for the easy one time goal. A little over a minute later, Salles was able to power home a free kick from just outside the penalty area for his second of the game. For the third time in the game, Norfolk answered back with a tying goal. This time Gerson Dos Santos found Massie unmarked in the Lancers penalty area for a restart goal. The Lancers retook the lead when Doug Miller took a Salles pass and one timed a power play tally for the home side to give them an 8-6 lead at the half.
After successfully killing a Miller blue card penalty, the Lancers got the first four point lead of the game when Lubo scored on a counterattack with Grady Renfrow picking up the assist. Only seventeen seconds later, Rey Martinez stole the ball near the Lancers’ bench, got it to Salles who set up Nelson Becerra for his first goal of the game to push the Lancers’ lead to six points. Norfolk stopped the Lancers run when Brian Hinkey was set up for the goal from inside the penalty area by Marcos Schmidt. The Lancers retook a six point lead when Ortiz found Miller just inside the three point arc and Miller drove the ball into the back of the SharX goal for a 14-8 Lancers lead after three quarters of play.
The Lancers had back to back hat trick goals to start the fourth quarter. Salles took a long outlet pass from goalkeeper Patrick Hannigan and scored his third goal of the game. Less than a minute later, it was Salles to Brayton Knapp to Miller for the tap in goal which was his third of the game. Those two goals pushed the Lancers’ lead to ten at 18-8. Dos Santos pulled the SharX back to within seven points when he was able to score on a free kick from outside of the three point arc. Jeremy Ortiz jumped out of the penalty box and scored on the break for his second goal of the game. Twenty-one seconds later, Mauricio Salles set up Renfrow for the tap in goal at the back post to put the Lancers up by eleven at 22-11. Miller then set up Jefferson Dargout for his first goal in his Lancers’ career with under two minutes to play.
The Lancers travel to face the Baltimore Blast on Saturday, January 7th at 7:35 PM. The Lancers will return home to host the defending MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave at 7:00pm on Monday, January 16th at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial. Individual game tickets are still available and start at $10 for adults, and children age 12 and under receive free entry for every regular season home game. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Blue Cross Arena box office, at most area Ticketmaster locations including the House of Guitars, the Auditorium Theatre and many Walmart stores, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000 to charge by phone. Discounted ticket vouchers are available at all area Wegmans locations. Tickets are only $5 for students with a valid High School or College ID. Active military members receive a free ticket compliments of SmugtownBeacon.com (Gameday only with valid military ID).
                                
Photos © 2012 - Scott Cordaro Photography
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