Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photo Credit: Jacyln McKee
On Saturday February 7, 2026, the Rochester Knighthawks (4-4) travelled west to face the Vancouver Warriors (6-2) after hosting them the previous week. During that game, Knighthawks netminder Rylan Hartley came out of his crease and put a major hit on Warriors defenseman Steph Charbonneau causing tempers to flare. Everyone knew this game would be heated, but no one imagined that during pre-game warmups the fighting would begin. Tyler Biles and Jackson Subach would go to blows in front of the benches causing both to be ejected prior to the game, something that has never been seen before. This added to the tensions which would continue throughout the contest with fans seeing three 5-minute major penalties, a total of 57 penalty minutes and seven power play tallies. On the offensive side, a total of five (5) hat tricks went on the score sheet, Curtis Dickson (7g) would tally his 600th career goal, Jesse King (4g, 6a) and Connor Fields (5g, 5a) both had 10-point games, Keegan Bal (3g, 6a) and Ryan Lanchbury (2g, 7a) each had nine. Final Score: Warriors 16—Knighthawks 15.
Rochester would open up the first quarter off the ensuing face off just 12 seconds in notching their first goal on their first shot from Jake Piseno (1g). Vancouver’s Markus Klarich (1g, 1a) found twine with a twister shot short side 1:45 in to tie it a 1-1. The Knighthawks would tally three in a row within the next two minutes. Ryan Lanchbury (2g, 7a) buried a high to low laser far side; followed by Graydon Hogg (2g) who went five-hole on a side arm shot; and Ryan Smith (3g, 2a) had a second chance opportunity and picked the corner near pipe giving them a three-goal lead 4-1. A little over a minute later, the Warriors were on the odd man rush, when Curtis Dickson (7g) ran east to west and buried his shot down low to make it 4-2. The Knighthawks would tally their final in the frame 30 seconds later with Connor Fields (5g, 5a) firing over his defender and hitting top cheddar 5-2 which sent Christian DelBianco (.700 Sv%) to the bench to settle. After killing a three on five-man down situation, the Warriors would open it up with a five-goal run to end the frame. Jesse King (4g, 6a) would start it off with a true hat trick in a matter of three minutes. The first in transition, the second he faked Rylan Hartley (11GA, 15 Saves) dunking it over his left shoulder and the final off a pick and roll on the doorstep tying the game 5-5 with 2:29 left in the first. Then Dickson would rip an overhand shot, sting the top corner and tear the twine, for a power play marker and hat-trick to close out the frame with 48 seconds on the ticker. Score at the end of one: Warriors 7—Knighthawks 5.
The fans would see three power-play markers to start off the second. The Warriors would open up the scoring 3:16 in. Keegan Bal (3g, 6a) shot through three defenders, Hartley dropped his shoulder just enough for Bal to send a rocket into the net with so much momentum that it popped right back out to make it 8-5. Forty seconds later, Dickson notched the second power-play marker off a BTB feed from King, and they were up by four 9-5. Two minutes later, the second fight on the night happened. Hartley came out of his crease for the outlet pass; Owen Grant bumped him head on and Matt Gilray laid a punch to the face sending them both to the sin bid for two. On that same play, Reese Callies was called for an illegal cross check allowing the Knighthawks to get their second man up chance and they’d finally halt the seven-goal run. It took only 16 seconds into the power play when Ryan Smith saw Fields with a wide-open lane and bounced one through the wickets 9:17 in and it was 9-6. Ten seconds later, Steph Charbonneau fed to a cutting Dickson, he dove through the crease and went far side 10-6. The Knighthawks would tally one more in the second. Hogg took a shot from the outside and pinged the top corner with 6:14 left in the first half 10-7. Then it happened again, this time Jeremy Thompson put a high illegal crosscheck on King sending him to the box for the first five major of the night with 4:47 left in the half. That’s when Dickson tallied his 600th career goal with a power-play marker sending Hartley to the bench for the remainder of the night and Riley Hutchcraft (5GA, 14 Saves) headed to the cage. King tallied his fourth with a top left corner zinger 19 seconds later 12-7 and the next set of five-minute majors would go up on the board. Off the ensuing face-off, Max Adler put a high check on Chad Tutton knocking off his helmet, he retaliated with a kick to Adlers helmet and the men in black and white had seen enough. Both went to the sin bin for five with 3:51 left in the half which allowed Dickson to put up his seventh on the night. With just one second on the shot clock, he brought his stick back across his body and put it near pipe with 3:22 remaining. Neither team could find the back of the net for the remainder of the frame sending each side to their locker rooms. Score at the end of two: Warriors 13—Knighthawks 7.
Scoring slowed drastically in the second half with the Knighthawks attempting a comeback. They’d outscore the Warriors 3-2 in the third and open it up like they did in the first, notching their first goal off their first shot. Twenty-three seconds in, Fields pinged the pipes near side 13-8. Then just 30 seconds later, Smith stormed the crease, used a spin move to get underneath and put it right side 13-9. Five minutes would come off the ticker before Vancouver would tally their 14th on the night. Bal from out in front, stutter stepped, halting the defense, and bounced his shot far side at the 6:20 mark 14-9. Another Knighthawks tally came quickly when Lanchbury found Smith in front, he kept his toes off the crease, brought it back across his body and dunked it over the left shoulder of CDB and it was 14-10. Once again, Vancouver found a way to score, this time in transition when Grant set the pick which opened up the middle and Shane Simpson (1g, 2a) fired it past Hutchcraft restoring the five-goal lead. Score at the end of three: Warriors 15—Knighthawks 10.
The fourth was all Rochester and this time, they’d outscore Vancouver 5-1. It took only 10 seconds for Fields to take a shot on net, he got his own rebound, crashed the crease, tucked his knees when he went airborne and dunked it far side 15-11. After a holding stick call against the Warriors, it took only 45 seconds for the Knighthawks to tally another man up marker. Thomas McConvey fed a pass to Lanchbury, and he bounded his shot five-hole for hat-trick goal and they were only down by three 15-12. The next and final Warriors marker was a fluke. Bal chucked one toward the net, it trickled through the feet of Hutchcraft and rolled over the goal line giving him a hat-trick and it was 16-12. Netminders stood on their heads for the next two before the Knighthawks bench was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct putting them man down, but they did not let that stop them. McConvey (1g, 2a) fired a bullet at CDB, he got a piece of it but it went under his arm, had some amazing back spin and it flew over the line for a short-handed marker 16-3 with plenty of time on the clock. Almost four minutes went by before Rochester tallied another. Kyle Waters (1g, 2a) reached out his defender and found an opening on the far side pipe with 3:57 remaining 16-14 still in favor of Vancouver. Fields would tally his fifth and final on the night. The Knighthawks fired on CDB, as the ball ricocheted off his chest, the ball fell to the floor and was sitting on top of the crease, Fields dug it out, put multiple pump fakes on CDB and he put it over the left shoulder with 1:52 to go. Rochester pulled out all the stops in the last minute, while Vancouver missed an opportunity to allow the clock to wind down which could have cost them the game. After another conflicting call, the shot clock was reset giving the Knighthawks their final opportunity, but they could not make it work and they would fall the second time to Vancouver. Final Score: Warriors 16—Knighthawks 15.
STARS OF THE GAME:
Curtis Dickson—Vancouver Warriors: 7g
Jesse King—Vancouver Warriors: 4g, 6a
Connor Fields—Rochester Knighthawks: 5g, 5a
GAME STATS:
Rochester Knighthawks—SOG 50; Saves 29; Sv% .644; FO 23-25; PP 2-4; PIM 32
Vancouver Warriors—SOG 45; Saves 35; Sv% .700; FO 12-35; PP 5-7; PIM 25
NEXT UP:
The Vancouver Warriors (6-2) will head to Saskatoon on Saturday February 14, 2026 to face the first place Saskatchewan Rush (7-1), game time 8:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL.
The Rochester Knighthawks (4-4) will play host to the Ottawa Black Bears (5-5) on Saturday February 14, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL.
Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©