ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- The Pirates cranked out a season-high 16 goals, as Rocky River defeated Bay, 16-7, on Saturday.
Senior attacker Allie Kysela found the back of the net six teams to lead a high-octane River offense which scored 10 goals in the opening half and six in the second in the warm spring Northern Ohio Lacrosse League matinee at Rocky River Stadium. Iris Polly, Olivia Konopka, and Blair Willse scored Pirate goals over the first four minutes of the 2021 edition of the War by the Shore. Those three scores wouldn't be answered until the 14:55-mark of the first when the Rockets landed their first score of the contest.
A game Bay group then got within one (3-2) on a nifty pass-catch-and-quick-trigger play at 14:05. But the Detroit Road Buccaneers countered and did so in a big way. With Kysela leading the charge, Rocky River (4-1, 2-1 NOLL) scored the next six goals of the afternoon. The front half of those were all scored by the senior standout, who after Saturday's action has 16 goals on the young season. Bay didn't get its next goal until Bridget Brown scored on a Megan Young feed at the one-minute mark. River answered that marker and went into halftime leading 10-3.
The Brown-and-Young connection provided all three first-half scores for the visiting Rockets. Young went on to record a game-high four points (goal, three assists) for Bay; Brown finished with three goals.
Rocky River opened the second half much the way it opened the game. Quick-order scores by Kysela, Polly, and Willse extended the Pirate cushion to 10 goals (13-3) and initiated a mercy-rule running clock. Kysela score again before the Rockets got going in the second with a Riley LaVogue goal at 16:42.
The final 15 minutes saw much much action from River reserves and resulted in a 3-for-2 exchange favoring the Rockets. That stretch included freshman Kaitlyn Byrne logging her first career points, an assist on Allie Kysela's sixth of the day at 18:36 and an unassisted goal at 13:56.
For the game, River had three other players (Ella Nejad: goal, assist, Daisy Thompson: goal, two assists, Olivia Konopka: goal, two assists) also register both a goal and an assist in the rivalry triumph. The Thompson goal marked the first of her career.
Elsewhere on the scoring rolls, Iris Polly and Blair Willse each finished with three goals. Elsewhere on the field, Rocky River got a boost from the play of Maya Patti. The senior defender's hustle, stick-work, and speed paid off on numerous spills, ground balls, and defensive-zone clears.
Saturday's game marked Rocky River's first since March 30. The victory extended what is now a three-game win streak.
by Skip Snow
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