Christopher Crane, Rochester Knighthawks Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: S. Rosenthal
This weekend’s NLL action had the Rochester Knighthawks (9-5) traveling out West to take on the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (5-8) at Michelob Ultra Arena for Tucker Out Lymphoma Night. This was the first ever meeting of the two teams as well. Rochester would be looking to bounce back from last week’s overtime loss against the Wings 9-8 and Las Vegas was looking to get back in the win column after their 11-8 loss to Panther City. It’s been sounding like a broken record about every game each week with playoff implications it really is coming down to the wire as the top three from the Western Conference along with the top four teams from the Eastern Conference. But the infamous Wild Card spot can come from either conference with the team who has the best record from the remaining teams in the top four. Both teams would be led by their youth with Rochester being led by Connor Fields (2g, 3a) and Las Vegas would have a night from Jack Hannah (4g, 2a). In the end, the Desert Dogs would come out on top. Final Score: Desert Dogs 12—Knighthawks 7.
The first quarter was a total defensive battle between both teams with each side only allowing one score apiece. Rochester would get on the board first when Ryan Smith (2g, 2a) capitalized on a power play opportunity at 8:15 to put the Knighthawks up 1-0. Both teams would go back to battling it out over four minutes of play before Las Vegas would tie it up at 1-1 game when Jack Hannah netted his first of four on the night.
Rochester would notch the go ahead tally 29 seconds into the quarter with Connor Fields netting his first of the night at 14:31 and it was 2-1. Once again both teams would go back to battling it out for over two minutes of play before Las Vegas went on a four-goal run. Getting things going for Las Vegas was Hannah at the 2:37 mark making it a 2-2 game. Las Vegas’s next three scores came from Connor Kirst (1g, 1a), Rob Hellyer (2g, 7a) and Zack Greer (2g, 2a) to put the Desert Dogs ahead 5-2. Rochester would see newcomer Parker Pipher (2g, 1a) who made his NLL debut netting both of his scores back to back one coming at 7:33 and the other at 5:56 getting the Knighthawks to within one 5-4. But Las Vegas would close out the quarter by making it a 6-4 game with a score from Marshal King (2g, 2a) with 3:21 before the half.
Although the third quarter would have Rochester get on the board first on a goal from Fields at 2:05 to make it a 6-5 game, they were unable to score again. Both teams would battle it out until about halfway through the quarter when Las Vegas would then tally a three-goal run which started with a power-play marker coming from Hannah (hat-trick), followed by teammates Brandon Clelland (1g) and Hellyer to put the Desert Dogs ahead 9-5 at the end of the third quarter.
Just like the previous three quarters, the Knighthawks would once again get on the board first and early in the fourth quarter as Holden Cattoni (1g, 3a) would find the back of the net at the 50 second mark to make it a 9-6 game. The Desert Dogs answered back with two in a row coming from Hannah and Greer for his second of the night on a power play opportunity to put them ahead 11-6. Rochester got their final tally with 9:30 to go with Smith netting his second of the game 11-7 on another power play opportunity but they couldn’t find the back of the net for the next six. Las Vegas would add one more score with 8:06 to go from King for the game winning goal as even they couldn’t find the back of the net for the final seven to seal the win for the Desert Dogs.
STATS:
Rochester Knighthawks—SOG 51; Saves 29; Sv% .707%; FO 13-23; PP 2-5
Las Vegas Desert Dogs—SOG 41; Saves 44; Sv% .863%; FO 10-23; PP 2-3
NEXT UP:
The Rochester Knighthawks (9-5) will head to Wells Fargo Center to face the Philadelphia Wings (6-8) on Sunday April 2, 2023, game time 6:00 p.m. EST. This is a crucial game for the Wings as they vie for that elusive Wild Card Spot in the Western Division much like they did in 2022. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Las Vegas Desert Dogs (5-8) will head to Ball Arena to take on the Colorado Mammoth (6-7) on Friday March 31, 2023, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. This game holds crucial playoff implications for both teams as they too are vying for the elusive Wild Card Spot in the Western Division. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Christopher Crane, Rochester Knighthawks Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©