Overtime goal nets Panther City Lacrosse Club’s first franchise win on ‘family night’

Kevin Orleman and his younger brother Steve are no strangers to competing against each other.

And the latest battle of the brothers came Saturday night when the Orleman siblings, both goalies,squared off for the first time in a regular-season National Lacrosse League game.

It was a far cry from facing off as youths in their basement with mini sticks or playing road hockey with their friends.

Kevin’s Panther City Lacrosse Club topped Steve’s New York Riptide, 13-12, in overtime at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on New York’s Long Island.

Kevin registered 41 saves as Panther City claimed its first franchise victory.

The reigning Rookie of the Week, Patrick Dodds, scored the game-winner with 4:10 to play in the first overtime.

“I got a close one called back a couple of possessions before,” said Dodds, who scored three goals and had five assists. “I had almost the same shot I had the possession before ... I’m happy it went in.”

Each team had a goal disallowed in overtime.

With the win, Panther City improved to 1-4 while New York, which hadn’t played a game since Dec. 12, dropped to 0-4. Panther City’s next game will be at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at the 1-4 Saskatchewan Rush.

Panther City collected the win despite having six players, including leading-scorer Phil Caputo, on the COVID protocol List. The other players who were unable to suit up were defensemen Chad Cummings, Nick Damude, Matt Hossack, Liam Patten, and Connor Sellars.

Forward Tate Cattoni, who came off the COVID protocol Saturday, picked up the slack for Caputo by notching three goals and four assists.

New York got a four-goal effort from Connor Kearnan and three goals each from Jake Fox and Jeff Teat, who is the son of Panther City offensive coach Dan Teat.

But the Orleman reunion match was delayed as Gowah Abrams started in goal for the Riptide. Steve Orleman, who allowed five goals, entered the game with 2:06 to play in the second quarter with Panther City leading 8-3.

In the week leading up to the game, the usual communication behind the brothers was practically nil.

“We exchanged a few texts,” Kevin said. “No FaceTime like we usually have during the week. We don’t have much of a rivalry. We are best friends and support each other.”

Kevin said Steve, who is three years younger, has always followed his lead. When Kevin started playing lacrosse at three, Steve began playing as soon as he was old enough.

“He wanted to be just like me,” Kevin said. “When I started playing goalie, he had to be a goalie because he wanted to be better than me.”

The pair played junior lacrosse together in Canada and with the NLL’s Georgia Swarm.

Kevin said the brotherly rivalry has grown into a supportive relationship, but he knew the game was going to be a “war” between the brothers.

“I’ll be helping my teammates with how to score on him, and I’m sure he’ll be doing the same with his guys,” Kevin said. “There are no pulled punches when it comes to Saturday.”

The only thing lacking at the game were family members.

“Our whole family, parents, grandmothers, and cousins, were supposed to come down, but with all the COVID stuff, they didn’t think it was worth the risk to travel,” Kevin said.

Instead, they settled for watching the game on TV.

“I think that us playing against each other will be a real special moment for our parents,” Kevin said. “They know it has been our lifelong dream to play professionally.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2022 at 11:39 PM.