Atlanta Blaze struggle against Rochester, fall out of playoff contention

KENNESAW — Rochester held Atlanta scoreless over the final 22 minutes and went on to beat the Blaze 11-7 on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

The loss eliminated Atlanta (5-8) from playoff contention and prevented the second-year franchise from the chance to end its season with a .500 mark. Meanwhile Rochester (7-6), which won its third game in the row and avenged a 14-13 overtime loss to the Blaze last month, kept its playoff hopes alive.

The Rattlers occupy the fourth and final postseason spot with one game remaining next Saturday against Ohio.

Boston, which was eliminated last week, will host Atlanta to close the season.

“We were just bad offensively,” Atlanta coach Dave Huntley said. “We didn’t dodge well, we didn’t pass well and we didn’t shoot well. We didn’t play well enough as a team. I thought we played OK defensively, but it’s just disappointing. I don’t think we competed on offense. We didn’t shoot the ball hard enough and with authority. We have to find a way to score more than seven goals.”

Part of the problem for Atlanta was the play of Rochester goalkeeper John Galloway. The seventh-year pro out of Syracuse was credited with 17 saves, including seven in the fourth quarter.

“John had a lot of outstanding saves out there (Saturday),” Rochester coach Tim Soudan said. “I’m really proud of the whole group. We had some big plays, and guys stepped up. I thought our defense played outstanding, and we played really well in 1-on-1s and in transition.

“We came in here a little short-handed because of injuries and guys out because of other commitments, so we were fortunate to leave here with a win because Atlanta’s a very talented team.”

Nine players scored for Rochester, with two goals each from Ryan McNamara and Ty Thompson.

The Rattlers took a 1-0 lead off Kip Orban’s unassisted goal and never trailed. They led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter and 6-5 at halftime after Atlanta’s Kevin Rice assisted with 7 seconds remaining until the intermission.

Matt Dunn put Rochester in front by two 1:19 into the third period, but back-to-back scores from Jeff Reynolds and Dylan Donahue during a 6-on-4 possession gave Atlanta some hope after it knotted the contest at 7-all.

Donahue’s goal 7:44 into the third period was the last time the Blaze found the back of the net.

Rochester netted three straight scores during a 1-minute span, capped by Donny Moss’ unassisted shot with 4:15 remaining in the third, to move in front 10-7 entering the final quarter.

Jordan Macintosh added to Rochester’s advantage just over 3 minutes into the final frame, and Galloway swallowed every shot on goal over the final 15 minutes to help the Rattlers hold on for the victory.

“When I look at this team, we played in the championship game on this field two years in a row (in 2014 and 2015) and a tiebreak last year cost us a shot at the playoffs,” Soupan said. “We had a tough start this year, but now we’re putting things together the last couple of weeks, and we’re carrying some momentum down the stretch, which is good to see.”

Reynolds and Mark Matthews each had two goals for Atlanta, while Rice finished with a game-high three assists. East Cobb native Scott Ratliff had six ground balls, goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman had 14 saves and Jake Withers won 13 of 21 faceoffs.