February 2, 2019
The Rochester Lancers were able to muster a 2-1 lead within three-and-a-half minutes but were unable to overcome an 8-2 run and fell 10-6 to defending-champions Chicago Mustangs on Friday night, Feb 1 in a very physical contest at the Ide Family Field at the Dome Arena. Despite a third-straight sellout crowd, the indoor Rochester Lancers fell to 3-2 on the season.
The Lancers, who tasted defeat for the second game in succession after starting the season with three straight wins, had six different goal scorers on Friday. Leading the way was Lubo Kocic with a goal and an assist and Boomer Steigleman. Rochester led 24-21 in shots.
Alexis Camarena led Chicago (7-1) with five goals and an assist, with Louis Albert III contributing a game-high seven blocked shots. The Lancers jumped out to the lead after 13 seconds through Gary Boughton and after a Chicago goal, Lubo Kocic gave Rochester a 2-1 lead. Chicago responded with a pair of goals before Timothy Lazorko equalized to draw level at 3-3 with 4:34 remaining in the first half.
The match appeared to be a close contest and nearly came to blows when Cesar Macias of Chicago was given a red card with about three minutes remaining in the first half. Despite the setback, Chicago scored a pair of goals within 47 seconds to give the Mustangs a 5-3 lead heading into the locker room.
After the half-time intermission, the two sides engaged themselves in a stalemate until Paris Martins gave Chicago a 6-3 lead with 7:53 remaining in the third quarter. Enrique would give the Lancers a lifeline with a goal of his own a little over four minutes later to cut the deficit to 6-4 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final stanza would belong to the Mustangs as they opened the frame with three straight goals to award themselves a 9-4 lead a little over five minutes into the last quarter of play. Despite goals from Jeremy Ortiz and August Finn, the Lancers were unable to overcome Chicago’s scoring outburst and dropped their second game in succession.
The Lancers are back in action on Saturday at 7 p.m. as they host the Cincinnati Swerve for the second time this season. Back on January 5th, they ran away 17-7 winners, however, Cincy are bringing in a number of freshly-signed players that featured in their 7-6 loss against Chicago last Sunday.