Wings Shut Out the Lights For the Knighthawks in the Second Half 1/22/22

Christopher Crane, Rochester Knighthawks Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Featured Image Photo Credit: Heather Barry

In this weekend’s NLL action the Rochester Knighthawks (2-3) would have double the workload after not playing since mid-December due to continued postponements and unknown schedules on an almost weekly basis due to COVID. After having battled hard the night before at home against the Georgia Swarm (2-3) only to come out on the short end with the Swarm coming out on top with a 12-8 win putting them 2-2 on the season, they would then have a quick 24 hour turn around and travel to Philadelphia to take on the Wings who after last night’s commanding victory now sit at 4-2 on the season. The two teams would battle in front of 6,617 Wings fans and the Knighthawks would keep in close in the first half of play even having a two goal lead going into halftime. But tides would then turn in favor of Philadelphia in the second half as they would hold Rochester to three total scores and the Wings would tally off 13 to give Philadelphia the victory. Final Score: Philadelphia 18—Rochester 10.

Philadelphia would get the scoring started in the first quarter with a goal from Blaze Riorden (2g) at the 8:05 mark with teammate Cory Vitarelli (2g, 3a) tallying his first of two on the night just a minute later at the 9:05 mark on a power play goal to put the Wings up 2-0. Rochester would tally their two scores from Ryland Rees (1g) at the 12:20 mark and teammate Holden Cattoni (2g, 1a) tallying his in the closing seconds of the first at 14:59 to help the Knighthawks tie it up at the end of the frame. The Shawn Evans (6a) assist on the Cattoni goal marks a milestone of 800 career assists. Score at the end of one: Philadelphia 2—Rochester 2.

The Knighthawks would come out in the second period tallying two early scores one coming just 40 seconds into the frame from Thomas Hoggarth (3g, 2a) with teammate Turner Evans (2g) tallying his first of two just 22 seconds later to put Rochester up 4-2. Shawn Evans reached another milestone with his assist on the T. Evans goal giving him 1,250 career points. Philadelphia would get one back on a power play goal from Kevin Crowley (2g, 7a) at the 2:08 mark to make it 4-3. Rochester would then tally two more coming from the hands of Matt Gilray (1g) and Hoggarth to put the Knighthawks up 6-3. The scoring would alternate between the two teams as Crowley would net his second of the night closing the gap to two making it a 6-4 game at the 10:11 mark; Rochester’s Cattoni hit twine increasing the Knighthawks lead back to three 7-4 at the 12:33 mark. Closing it out at the 13:06 mark was Riorden netting his second of the night closing the gap to two once more. Score at the end of two: Rochester 7—Philadelphia 5.

The wheels fell of the Knighthawks in the third and it was all Wings as the fans would see Philadelphia score four in only 92 seconds and another four before Rochester would be able to get on the board. Tallying scores for Philadelphia would be Vitarelli with one; Matt Rambo (2g, 3a) and Brett Hickey (2g, 2a) each tallying both of their scores on the eight goal run; and teammates Trevor Baptiste (2g), Kiel Matisz (2g, 4a) and Ben McIntosh (3g, 2a) tallying their first scores on the night giving the Wings a commanding lead 13-7. Scoring the lone goal for Rochester and halting the barrage at the 13:26 mark would be Curtis Knight (1g, 1a). Score at the end of three: Philadelphia 13—Rochester 8.

The Wings would continue to add to their lead as they would go on another four goal run to start the fourth period. Matisz and Baptiste notched another; and McIntosh netting back-t0-back tallies giving him his hat-trick to put Philadelphia up 17-8. Rochester’s T. Evans would net his second for the Knighthawks at the 12:23 mark and only their second goal in the second half to make it 17-9 with only 2:37 left and virtually no hope of a comeback remaining. Philadelphia would notch another adding more salt to the wound in the fourth off Anthony Joaquim (1g) to put the Wings up 18-9. Rochester got to double digits off Hoggarth for the only hat trick for Rochester on the night at the 14:18 mark and the final goal of the game. Final Score: Philadelphia 18—Rochester 10.

Some milestones were reached in the game for Philadelphia with Trevor Baptiste winning 20 face-offs, surpassing his 700^th win and milestone for his career in the process; John Ranagan played in his 100^th NLL game; and Kiel Matisz reached 300 career assists.

GAME STATS:

Rochester Knighthawks—SOG 54; Saves 46; Face-offs 8-28; Assists 16; LB 51; PP 0-8; PIM 23
Philadelphia Wings—SOG 64; Saves 44; Face-offs 20-28; Assists 29; LB 76; PP 4-7 PIM 37

NEXT UP:

The Rochester Knighthawks (2-3) will travel north of the border on January 29, 2022 to face the Toronto Rock (2-3) at First Ontario Centre. This is a “must” win for the Knighthawks in order for them to move back up in the Eastern Division standings. Game time 7:30 p.m. EST. This game will be played with “NO” fans due to restrictions in Ontario. The fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. This is the “Game of the Week” on TSN so fans in Canada get to catch the action for free on TSN2 or the TSN app.

The Philadelphia Wings (4-2) have a double-header weekend and another home contest today January 23, 2022. They will play host to the New York Riptide (0-4) at Wells Fargo Center. This is the “Bark in the Bowl” Theme night where fans get to bring their dogs to the game. Game time 4:00 p.m. EST. The Riptide came off an extremely strong second half performance last week against Panther City. The Wings put it all on the floor in the second half last night and could be worn out. Will the Riptide get their first “W”? If you’re in the USA you can catch the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.