BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- Rocky River collected its third consecutive victory, as the Pirates downed the Brunswick Blue Devils 12-11 in overtime Thursday.

The Pirates controlled the affair early, taking a 6-1 lead by the seven-minute mark of the second period. The Blue Devils (1-3, 0-3 Northern Ohio Lacrosse League) bookended that start by scoring six of the final seven goals in regulation. River won the road battle on Ryan Hildebrand's game-winner at 1:24 of the overtime session.

Hildebrand's overtime netfinder was his sixth goal of the night. The junior midfielder and sophomore Rowan McDougal (two goals, four assists) provided the bulk of the Buccaneers' offense on a chilly night at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium.

That Pirate offense was given a monster possession edge junior Mack Massad and two other faceoff men. Massad went 18-2 on 20 faceoffs; as a team, the Double-R went 23-2. The possession edge was eroded by the Maroon & White being a minus-15 in turnovers (26 to 11).

For the game, River outshot Brunswick 42-34. The Pirates put 20 shots on frame to the Devils' 16.

Aside from Hildebrand and McDougal, notable performances were registered by junior Tyler Fortune (two goals), sophomore Andrew Lang (goal, assist, five ground balls, two caused turnovers) and senior Robby Lang (6 GB, CT).

The Pirates (3-2, 2-1 NOLL) will host Bay Tuesday at 6 p.m.

by Skip Snow

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