Panther City Lacrosse Club Returns to Win Column With Victory Over Riptide

Long Island, NY  (January 13, 2023) – The Panther City Lacrosse Club (2-3) earned their first victory in 2024 by defeating the New York Riptide, 14-12, Saturday evening at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Three Panther City players registered a hat trick, as the team poured in a season high 14 goals. The team also continued to play well on the man advantage as they went 3-5 (60%) on the power play.

Second-year forward Jonathan Donville was the spark for Panther City to start the game as he recorded three goals within the first 10 minutes of the game, as the two clubs traded goals throughout the opening frame, ending the first quarter tied at three goals apiece. Donville finished the evening with five points (3G/2A).

Rookie forward Jason Knox had his breakout performance of the young 2023-24 season as he also recorded five points, on four goals and one assist. It was the first multi-goal game of Knox’s career. Through four games he has appeared in, Knox, the 5^th overall selection in the 2022 NLL Entry Draft, has recorded 10 points (6G/4A).

Callum Crawford, Panther City’s point leader through five games, made his first appearance in New York since the trade last season that brought him to Fort Worth via the Riptide. Tonight, Crawford recorded six points (3G/3A), to lead Panther City, as he also registered his fourth hat trick in five games this season. Crawford now has 29 points (15G/14A) through five games.

The turning point of the tightly-contested matchup was four-straight goals by the visitors over a five-minute period in the third quarter with goals by Crawford, Liam Patten and Knox (2x), respectively, that put PCLC ahead 10-6.

Goalie Nick Damude answered the bell after his last performance and recorded at least 10 saves in each quarter this evening, finishing the night with 44 saves on 56 shots faced (.786 SV %). Damude also recorded an assist on the Tony Malcom empty-net goal. T. Malcom finished the evening with one goal and a team-leading 10 loose balls. Ronin Pusch recorded nine loose balls and now has 19 loose balls in his first two games this season.

Panther City has an off week next week before heading out to Las Vegas for the second matchup of the season on Saturday, January 27 at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN+.