ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (May 8, 2024) -- The Pirates have registered swashbuckling battles against top foes from much of the Buckeye State in this spring of 2024 that has seen the Maroon & White suffer just two losses and earn a top-5 state ranking. Rocky River has tangled with teams from the west side and the east side, and foes from Columbus and Toledo. And now, from the neighborhood.
On Wednesday evening, the Pirates hosted the Magnificat Blue Streaks at the Lacrosse Grounds on Detroit Road. And the Buccaneers came through with their most goals in a single game since April 9 (20 vs. Westlake), as they defeated the Blue Streaks 19-10.
Rocky River (14-2) extricated itself from what was a tight game early with a monster run in the third period, a five-minute stretch that saw the home side outscore its visitors from half-a-click south 6-0. Magnificat would get no closer than six the rest of the way, and the Pirates earned their first win against the Blue Streaks since April 18, 2018 (MHS earned series wins in 2019 and 2021).
The Double-R took an early 4-0 lead with four Pirates (Elle Mocho, Grace DeWitt, Alexis Tisler, Kaitlyn Byrne) finding twine during the surge. Magnificat battled back, netting three scores before the end of the first, and the two sides went into the second stanza separated by one goal (4-3).
With senior attacker Alexis Tisler scoring twice, River outscored Magnificat 3-2 in the second period. Tisler would go to register a stellar performance in vaulting her season point total to a team-best 67 (40 goals, 27 assists).
After the Blue Streaks opened the scoring in the second half with an early third-quarter goal, the Rocky River Stadium scoreboard showed the slimmest of margins: Pirates 7, Visitors 6. Those scoreboard digits would be mobilized nine more times in the third, and it was the River Raiders providing the electricity.
Daisy Thompson, DeWitt, and Tisler scored two times each in Rocky River's third-frame 6-0 run. Throughout that stretch and for the rest of the night, the Pirates' play on offense was aggressive, creative, inspired, and persistent. The Maroon & White would outshoot Magnificat 13-4 in the third and 37-20 for the game.
Draws and turnovers fed the River production on offense. The Double-R won 19-of-33 (57.6%) draws for the game and were a plus-6 (13-19) in the turnover exchange. Senior Mackenzie Russell, who last week became Rocky River's all-time leader in caused turnovers, set the tone in both facets of Thursday's game. Russell ledgered eight draw controls and two caused turnovers.
The Pirates found their way to 19 goals with Tisler (6G, 2A), DeWitt (4G, 1A), and Mocho (4G) doing the heavy lifting. Byrne, who is on the verge of becoming just the third player in program history to record 200 career points, authored 2G and was credited with 2A. Byrne heads into Rocky River's next game (Saturday vs. Brunswick, 12:30 p.m. at Rocky River Stadium) with a career line of 144G-51A-195P.
Tisler's performance marked Rocky River's fourth six-goal game of the season (Alexis Tisler 2, Addie Tisler, Elle Mocho).
River piled up the 19 goals despite Blue Streaks goalkeeper Olivia Brugnoni filing more than a few grade-A saves among the nine she had for the contest.
Mary Connor (4G, 1A) and Grace Quinn (4G, 1A) paced the Magnificat attack.
It was a home-away-from-home game for the Blue Streaks, but for the Pirates it was the real thing. And with Thursday's triumph over their cross-90 neighbors, the Raiders are now 6-0 at home this spring.
by Skip Snow
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