NLL Clutch Kings: Connor Kearnan crowned
#1 Connor Kearnan, New York Riptide
The National Lacrosse League’s top two money shooters went head-to-head this past Sunday, and one clearly came out on top on the game sheet, plus our clutch countdown too.
The league’s Week 8 was light, but long enough for Connor Kearnan to take over The Lax Mag Clutch Kings top spot from Blaze Riorden after the New York Riptide’s dramatic first win of the season against the Philadelphia Wings, 13-12.
In fact, of the three games played last weekend, that Riptide & Wings barn burner was the only one with much opportunity for scorers to register many game tying or go-ahead goals.
On Friday night, the Georgia Swarm took a lead 22 seconds in and never allowed the Rochester Knighthawks to pull even. A night later, the same Rochester side rapidly let their lead slip away in the third period, outscored massively 13-3 by the Wings during the second half of that game.
Kearnan managed to net a game-knotting goal with seven seconds left on the clock before half-time hit, and then buried the eventual game winner late in the fourth quarter to secure the Riptide’s first win of the season and the franchise’s second W over their two years in the league. In fact, eight of Kearnan’s 16 goals this year (ranks him second behind only Dane Dobbie in league goal production) have either tied, pushed his team ahead or won the Riptide the game.
Inside the league’s Top 20ish goal getters, only eleven crack our clutch countdown below.
With all 14 teams in action this weekend, there should be plenty of opportunity for players to pop off with some money moments. While the Clutch Kings scoring system can be found below, for a more detailed breakdown of how our Clutch Kings are calculated, see last week’s opening edition.
NLL Clutch Kings: Week 8
CKs Rank. Player (NLL Rank), Team, CKs Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)
1. Connor Kearnan (2), New York, 14.00 (6/1/1)
2. Blaze Riorden (T15), Philadelphia, 12.25 (1/3/1)
3. Thomas Hoggarth (T31), Rochester 9.50 (0/1/2)
T4. Austin Staats (T22), San Diego 9.00 (2/2/1)
T4. Dan Dawson (T68), Toronto, 9.00 (1/1/1)
T4. Lyle Thompson (3), Georgia, 9.00 (4/0/1)
T4. Matt Rambo (T9), Philadelphia, 9.00 (2/1/1)
T4. Patrick Dodds (T31), Panther City, 9.00 (2/0/1)*
T4. Stephan Leblanc (T81), Halifax, 9.00 (0/1/1)
10. Dane Dobbie (1), San Diego, 8.25 (2/2/1)
11. Wes Berg (T4), San Diego, 8.00 (0/4/1)
T12. Andrew Kew (T15), Albany, 7.50 (2/3/0)
T12. Ben McIntosh (T9), Philadelphia, 7.50 (0/3/0)
T12. Josh Byrne (T12), Buffalo, 7.50 (0/4/0)
15. Robert Church (T9), Saskatchewan, 7.25 (3/2/0)
16. Zed Williams (T80), Colorado, 7.00 (1/1/0)
T17. Holden Cattoni (T4), Rochester, 6.50 (2/3/0)
T17. Kiel Matisz (T53), Philadelphia, 6.50 (0/2/1)
T17. Sam Leclair (T41), Colorado, 6.50 (1/1/1)*
Several tied with 6.00 points
*Rookie
Scoring System
First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Fourth Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00
Overtime (GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00