Yesterday the Albany FireWolves defeated the Halifax Thunderbirds 9-3 in a quarterfinals matchup to determine the last semifinal matchup against the San Diego Seals, and with 3 amazing games on Saturday night in the National Lacrosse League, this game had a lot to live up to. This game was a huge milestone for the FireWolves organization as they saw their very first playoff home game in franchise history, and what a game it was. With the game getting set underway the FireWolves knew that if they wanted to get their semifinal bid then they needed to make every possession count and battle in every single faceoff, and that was shown off the opening draw as a little scrum for the ball saw Halifax take control to start. With an offense that was able to score 228 goals in the regular season, the Thunderbirds had a very hard time getting set up offensively in this game as the FireWolves wouldn’t give them any time or space to push for shots on net. However the offense was most definitely not the story of the night as the physicality that both teams brought to this playoff matchup was on view much more, with this game seeing 10 different penalties in the first half alone and the game ending with a combined 79 penalty minutes. As the game was underway there were multiple early meetings of the minds between the two teams which led to the game being played at 3 on 3 for a little bit and it even got so hectic to the point where the Thunderbirds were given a penalty shot, which Doug Jamieson would shut down with ease. While it did take 10 minutes for the first goal to be scored the Albany crowd was behind the team from the opening faceoff yet the crowd really rose to their feet and blew the roof off of MVP Arena once Dougie made the save on the penalty shot. With defense being the key of the night, Albany knew that they had to take smart shots and make everything count and with this knowledge and style of play, forward Travis Longboat would find himself in front of Warren Hill and put the ball behind him for the lead and for his first career playoff goal.
As the Thunderbirds would find the net with the first quarter coming to an end Albany knew they needed to run away with the game in the second quarter with more of their fast and high octane style of play. As the second quarter got started Albany and Halifax kept this game at a stand still while both goalies Dougie Jamieson and Warren Hill were making fantastic save after fantastic save giving the Albany crowd a goalie duel for the ages. Yet after four minutes of back and forth, rookie sensation Alex Simmons would find the back of the net for Albany to regain the lead and for Simmons to capitalize on his first career playoff goal. Another first career playoff goal would come later on in the second as Tye Kurtz would capitalize on a give and go with John Wagner and give the FireWolves a two goal lead. While physicality was a major aspect of the game, another huge aspect was breakaways and Jackson Nishimura would finally score on a breakaway for Albany putting them up by three, this giving the FireWolves a nice cushion going into half.
With the third quarter getting underway the Thunderbirds wanted to do whatever they could to make a comeback possible and this includes scoring 30 seconds into the third to cut into the Albany lead. After this early goal by Halifax the FireWolves went into lockdown mode, as they would do everything they could do to prevent any shots on net and get a hold of any type of loose balls and force anything back towards their own sticks. This would prove useful for the FireWolves as Travis Longboat would find himself in front of the net, just like his first goal, and he would float the ball over Hill and re-establish the three goal lead for Albany. With the third coming to an end Halifax continued to press the FireWolves as they would challenge them each and every time that Albany would cross the middle of the field yet Ethan Walker wouldn’t let that get to him as he would just let a shot rip from the midway to the net and give Albany a four goal lead. After Walker added his name to the score sheet, Thunderbirds David Brock would become not the biggest fan of Nathan Grennon as he would get a hold of him by his helmet and give him some words and a little thrashing about that would make Brock sit for a little bit after the fact. As the Thunderbirds would kill off yet another Albany powerplay, actually being able to have a perfect penalty kill on the night going 7-7, and with time quickly winding down forward Clarke Petterson would take a beautiful shot and it would beat Dougie to make the game 6-3 going into the fourth.
With the fourth coming up Halifax knew that a comeback was needed and to complete it they would have to do everything they could to fight for a second round and that was shown with the ramped up physicality. While Albany was trying to put this game away in every way possible there would be multiple things preventing them from doing so. Warren Hill continued to keep the Thunderbirds within striking distance and gave them every chance on the defensive side of the ball, however while Hill was great for Halifax, Dougie Jamieson was even better for the FireWolves as he made history. Prior to yesterday’s game, there were only three separate instances where a team was held to three goals or less in the NLL playoffs and it was the first time that this has happened since 2012. In the game Jamieson made 52 saves and posted an assist on one of John Wagner’s two fourth quarter goals on route to the 9-3 victory. The FireWolves focus now shifts to the San Diego Seals, a team they met only once this past season where Albany found themselves on the losing side by a score of 14-7. While Albany is coming into this game as the underdog, they should give San Diego a very strong test and it should make the NLL Semifinals something to behold.
Catch the Albany FireWolves take on the San Diego Seals this Friday, May 3rd for game 1 at 10:30pm on ESPN+ and ESPNU while game 2 comes Sunday, May 5th as they travel back home to MVP Arena.
Caden Balint is a graduate of La Salle Institute in Troy, NY and Merrimack College in North Andover, MA and has been in love with sports forever. Whether it is watching, playing, writing, sports have always been a passion. Getting the chance to start his dream of sports journalism with Stream Punk is just the start of a long journey. In his spare time Caden enjoys playing hockey, spending time with his loved ones and playing video games but you will soon get to know him a lot more!