ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (April 15, 2025) -- A season-opening win streak was extended. Seniors were saluted. And fans were frozen. But fans wearing maroon and white were at least somewhat thawed inside by points one and two in an evening of Northern Ohio Lacrosse League lacrosse that saw some rain, howling wind, and chilled air ... and a 13-4 Rocky River win over Westlake.
River scored the first three goals of the night and eight of the first nine en route to an eventual halftime lead of 10-3. Junior midfielder Ryan Taylor scored half of those first eight goals and finished the night with five points (four goals, one assist), 18 ground balls, and a 14-2 mark on faceoffs.
Consecutive victory No. 10 -- River's longest win streak since 2011 -- came in a game with low turnover churn and a 40-26 Pirate advantage on shots. Buccaneer defenders did well to muscle Demon shooters into more than a few off-kilter attempts. Westlake (3-7, 1-5 NOLL) registered 11 shots on goal. Ayad Mehulic (24 minutes, two saves) and Gordon Hudson (24, 5) combined to thwart seven of those.
Quarter-by-quarter, River rocked its way to a 5-5-0-3 line score. The scoreless third marked the Pirates' first bagel since the final frame of the Chagrin Falls game April 7.
For the game, Connor Nesbett (2G, 3A), Dominic Ricketti (2G, 1A), and Joe Smith (1G, 3A) joined Taylor in logging multi-point games. Michael Bebie, Michael McDonough, Will Romell, and William Sawyer also scored for River, which is now 7-0 at home this season.
Ricketti, whose second goal of the night marked the 50th of his career, also had six ground balls and a caused turnover. Cohen Blair chipped in with 4 GB and 1 CT.
The Pirates' goal output over the team's last five games lines up thusly: 14-13-12-13-13. The 13 goals Tuesday marked River's most in a game against Westlake since May 11, 2011 (15-5 win over the Demons). River has now downed WHS in back-to-back seasons after the Demons had done that to the Pirates in 2022 and 2023.
This latest renewal of a west-side rivalry that has produced an all-time 9-6 edge for the Demons marked Senior Night for the Double-R. Eight Pirate Greybeards -- Ben Bogre, Josh Hallis, Ayad Mehulic, Dominic Ricketti, Cam Ries, Will Romell, William Sawyer, and Tyler Stanciu -- were honored in a pregame ceremony.
And Tuesday's game sent still-streaking Rocky River (10-0, 4-0) into a break in the schedule. The Buccaneers won’t return to action until April 26 when they play a road tilt at Olmsted Falls. The Pirates’ next home game won’t be until May 3.
by Skip Snow
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