The Portland Stags stayed undefeated at 5-0 on Saturday afternoon by overcoming initial adversity and making clutch plays late to defeat the Vancouver Nighthawks, 19-16.
Vancouver looked focused and confident out of the gate, scoring after the pull and getting a break point to take a two-point lead.
Portland stayed close but Vancouver’s zone defense appeared to puzzle the Stags at times, resulting in multiple turnovers.
“It’s hard not to say that overconfidence had something to do with our slow start since we’ve been winning a lot of games,” said defensive cutter Riley Meinershagen. “But I think their bye week enabled them to come out a little stronger than they did last time we played.”
The Stags have not trailed any opponent for much time the entire season and intended to remedy their deficit immediately.
The momentum did change hands when, down 3-4, Timmy Perston (4 goals, 2, assists, 1 block) stalked a hovering disc and waited in place for several seconds before getting a running start and leaping high above the defense to come down with the disc. Perston promptly passed Vinh Bui to even the score.
“Timmy actually really got that score,” said Bui. “He came down with it and I was wide open. I think they were all shocked.”
After a Vancouver stall and a Peter Woodside (4 goals, 1 block) break point, Stags coach Danny Quarrellutilized Perston in the defensive lineup for a stint and reaped the rewards handsomely. Perston had a huge block and was rewarded when his teammate found him in the end zone for another break point.
“Timmy is the heart and soul of our team, really” said Bui. “He and Chris Hancock who went down today. Timmy does a lot, keeping our spirits up, making sure we are winning the mental game as well as on the field.”
The first quarter ended with the Stags leading 6-4 when Riley Meinershagen (3 blocks) sent a potential scoring pass for the Nighthawks sailing out of the end zone.
Both offenses came out firing early in the second quarter with neither team able to pull away. Raphy Hayes (1 goal, 2 assists) provided one of the most exciting plays of the game when he timed his jump perfectly and snagged the disc over taller defenders and zipped the disc to Aaron Adamson (2 goals) to put the Stags up 8-6.
Meinershagen had a pair of defensive stops in the second quarter, one ending with another break point by Peter Woodside.
“I was happy with the plays I made,” said Meinershagen. “I got to do a lot of fun stuff with my body. I generally had a strategy in mind for approaching people defensively, and I feel like I enacted that well.”
Vancouver resiliently answered back by applying a stifling defense, forcing several Portland turnovers and scoring consistently on offense. With 32 seconds remaining, the Nighthawks evened the score at 11 for the first tie since early in the first quarter.
Not wanting to allow the Nighthawks to walk into the locker room with hope, Raphy Hayes raced past the defense for a buzzer beater goal to put the Stags ahead by one.
Vancouver increased their defensive pressure even more, only allowing the Stags to score three goals in the third quarter. The Nighthawks also used their speed advantage to complete long passes over the Stags’ defense.
Offensive cutter Brendan Wong (5 goals, 2 assists) had an outstanding performance for the Nighthawks and tied the score at 15 on the longest pass of the game before heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter began with a scary scene as Stags’ offensive handler Chris Hancock was injured while attempting a layout catch in the end zone. The officials awarded him the goal due to a Nighthawks’ penalty, but he lied motionless on the field for several minutes before being carted off.
Hancock eventually gave a thumbs up to indicate he would be okay, but both teams lost momentum after not playing for several minutes and committed several turnovers.
Adam Fagin finally broke the scoring drought with a tippy-toe goal in the end zone to put the Stags ahead by two.
The Nighthawks were positioned for a come from behind victory, but clutch plays by Topher Davis (1 goal, 2 assists, 2 blocks) sealed the victory for the Stags. Davis made a difficult block in the end zone to prevent a goal and scored one of his own with 44 seconds remaining to reach the final score, 19-16.
Next week, the Stags will make their second trip to San Francisco to face the Dogfish on Sunday, May 24, at 2:00.
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