Christopher Crane, Rochester Knighthawks Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Michele V.
This weekend’s NLL action had the Rochester Knighthawks (3-5) playing host to the Albany Firewolves (4-4) at the Blue Cross Arena in front of a crowd of 3,737. This was the second meeting of the two teams in the regular season with Rochester claiming victory in both contests. Shawn Evans would tie the franchise’s single-game record with his eight assists on the night. First half action would have each team claiming a period a piece with the Knighthawks taking the first and Albany claiming the second making it a one goal game heading into the half. The third period was very limited for both sides with Rochester shutting out Albany; and in the fourth both teams exchanged goals with Albany claiming the tally battle but it wouldn’t be enough as Rochester would hold on to win. Final Score: Rochester 15—Albany 13.
Rochester would get things started early in the first period as they would tally off the first three scores of the contest from Shawn Evans (1g, 8a), Turner Evans (2g, 3a) and Holden Cattoni (4g, 1a) to put the Knighthawks up 3-0 at just under five minutes into the matchup. It wouldn’t be until the 8:49 of the period that Albany would finally find the back of the net on a score from Ryan Benesch (3g, 5a) to make it a 3-1 game. The Knighthawks would then go on another three-goal run to make it 6-1 at the 14:26 mark. Tallying the scores for Rochester were Ryan Smith (3g, 1a), Thomas Hoggarth (3g) and T. Evans netting his second on the night. Albany would get a score back in the closing seconds of the period from Jacob Ruest (2g, 2a) to make it a 6-2 game at the end of the first period. The six goal frame was a season high for the Knighthawks.
Second period action would turn in favor of Albany as they would tally four and hold Rochester to just one. Notching scores for the Firewolves would be Joe Resetarits (4g, 4a) netting two of his four on the night with teammates Reilly O’Connor (1g, 2a) and Benesch netting the other two for Albany. Netting the lone goal for the Knighthawks would be Cattoni for his second on the night. Score at the end of two: Knighthawks 7—Albany 6.
The Knighthawks would notch the only see two scores in the third period and only the second time this season they’ve kept an opponent off the board in a quarter. They’d tally markers from Matt Gilray (1g) netting his only score of the night and teammate Cattoni finding the back of the net at the 10:47 mark to give him a hat trick on the night and the Knighthawks a three goal lead at the end of the third. Score at the end of three: Knighthawks 9—Albany 6.
In the fourth period we’d see both teams exchanging goals with Albany tallying seven scores to Rochester’s six but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the three goal deficit from the third. Albany would get the scoring started just 52 seconds into the frame from Benesch on a power-play score to make it a 9-7 game. The Firewolves would add another tally just 17 seconds later from Resetarits to put Albany within one 9-8. Rochester would then make it a 10-8 game on a score from Cattoni at the 1:47 mark. Albany would then make it a one goal game once more from a score from Andrew Kew (2g, 3a) at the 3:47 to make it a 10-9 game. The Knighthawks would then tally off the next two the first at the 3:49 mark and the second coming at 8:14 on a power play goal with both scores coming from Hoggarth to give Rochester a 12-9 lead. The remaining scores of the period would go back and forth with Albany netting tallies from Jackson Nishimura (1g), Resetarits with his second of the period and fourth on the night; Ruest and Kew rounding out the Firewolves scoring. Netting scores for the Knighthawks would come from the hands of Smith netting two, one of which was an empty-netter (hat-trick) and teammate Ryland Rees tallying his only score of the night, another empty-netter. But Albany’s late surge wouldn’t be enough to overtake Rochester as the Knighthawks would hold for the win. Final Score: Rochester 15—Albany 13.
Our prayers and condolences go out to Peter Gilbert and his family during this time. Over the weekend, the Knighthawks lost one of their biggest and longtime friends of the team and the sport of lacrosse. He will be greatly missed.
STATS:
Rochester Knighthawks—SOG 47; Saves 35; Assists 23; LB 62; FO 6-32; PP 1-2
Albany Firewolves—SOG 48; Saves 32; Assists 22; LB 83; FO 26-32; PP 3-3
NEXT UP:
The Rochester Knighthawks (3-5) have a Bye week and will host the Buffalo Bandits (6-1) at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday February 26, 2022, game time 8:00 p.m. EST. The fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Albany Firewolves (4-4) will head to New York to face the Buffalo Bandits (6-1) at the Keybank Center on Friday February the 18, 2022, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. This is the Game of the Week on ESPN so fans in the USA can catch the game for free. Fans in Canada can watch the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Then the Firewolves will head back home for a double-header weekend to host the Toronto Rock (5-3) at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY on Saturday February 19, 2022 game time 7:00 p.m. EST. The fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Christopher Crane, Rochester Knighthawks Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©