"Crosse Checking"
Written by Ben Rawdon
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Rochester Knighthawk on the attack
Blazers Send the K-Hawks to .500
Feb. 9th - Coming off handing the Toronto Rock their first loss of the season, the Rochester Knighthawks found themselves back in action on Saturday, February 6th as they took on the Boston Blazers in the first game of a home-and-home set. A late four-goal outburst by the Blazers put an abrupt end to the K-Hawks’ comeback attempt as Boston sent Rochester down to a .500 record with a 14-8 win at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
Rochester started out strong, taking a 1-0 lead early on as forward Craig Point opened the scoring with a goal 2:15 into the contest. Just 7 seconds later, the Blazers would tie the game on a goal from defenseman Matt Abbott, his first of the season. Nine minutes later on a power play opportunity, Boston would take their first lead of the night on a goal from forward Daryl Veltman to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead after one.
The second quarter would be dominated by Boston as goals from defenseman Paul Dawson (0:56) and three in a row from forward Dan Dawson (2:55-shorthanded, 6:06, 10:47) would expand their lead to 6-1. The K-Hawks would come back as goals from forwards Gary Gait (12:17, power play) and John Grant Jr. (12:35) were scored 18 seconds apart to reduce the Blazers’ lead to 6-3 at halftime.
The second half started quickly for Boston as forward Nick Cotter scored 16 seconds into the third quarter to give the Blazers a 7-3 lead. Not to be outdone, the K-Hawks answered at 4:02 with Gait’s second goal of the game to bring the visitors back to within three at 7-4. The Blazers would chase goaltender Aaron Bold from the Rochester net after scoring two more goals, one from Dan Dawson at 5:53 and one on the power play from Veltman at 10:10, giving Boston a 9-4 lead with 15 minutes to go.
A high-scoring fourth quarter started in Rochester’s favor as a goal from John Grant at 1:14 brought them back to 9-5. A local product would help the Blazers to double digits on the scoreboard as transition man Ryan Hotaling, who played at Nazareth College from 2004-07, tallied his third goal of the season at 1:35 to bump the Boston lead to 10-5. The K-Hawks would then begin their comeback bid as two power play goals from Grant (2:49, 4:50) and a hat trick tally from Gait (7:37) would bring them to within two goals at 10-8. The Blazers would then get to Rochester netminder Pat O’Toole as four unanswered goals from transition man Kyle Ross (12:58), Cotter (14:35), and two from forward Jamie Rooney (9:56-power play, 13:27) to give Boston their 14-8 win, Rochester’s third loss in the last four games.
With the loss, the Knighthawks (3-3) have dropped into a tie with Boston (3-3) for third place in the National Lacrosse League’s East Division standings. Both teams sit two games behind the first place Toronto Rock (5-1) and one game behind the second place Orlando Titans (3-1). Behind them in the standings are the fifth place Philadelphia Wings (1-4) and the surprisingly last place Buffalo Bandits (1-5).
After six more points against the Blazers, John Grant now has 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists), ballooning his lead to 15 points over forward Shawn Williams, who sits in second place on the scoring list with 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists). Rounding out the top five on the list are Craig Point (18 points), Gary Gait (15), and forward Shawn Evans (15). Grant’s goal and assist totals lead the team in both of those respective categories and his 104 shots are 59 ahead of the next closest player on the list, Shawn Evans’ 45. In face-offs, Point has won 58 of 115 opportunities while defenseman Mac Allen is 10-for-14 and forward Cory Bomberry is 5-for-14.
The leader amongst the goaltenders is Aaron Bold, who has a 10.58 goals against average and a .788 save percentage to go with his overall record of 1-2. Pat O’Toole, who entered the season as the incumbent starting netminder, maintains a 2-1 record with an 11.63 GAA and a save percentage of .758.
The Knighthawks return home on Saturday, February 13th for the second half of the home-and-home set with the Boston Blazers. Start time is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. in the first half of a lacrosse/hockey doubleheader at Blue Cross Arena. Rochester then hits the road again on Saturday, February 20th for a game at 7:00 p.m. against the Philadelphia Wings at the Wachovia Center.
Two Games, Two States, 24 Hours
Feb. 1st - In their first meeting since last season’s East Division Semifinals, the Rochester Knighthawks made their first-ever trip to Orlando, Fla. on Friday, January 29th for a matchup with the Orlando Titans, who relocated from New York City after their loss in the 2009 National Lacrosse League championship to the Calgary Roughnecks. Down in the fourth quarter, the K-Hawks attempted a comeback but key goals from the opposition were enough for the Titans to send Rochester to their second straight defeat by a 13-8 score.
Orlando started the scoring 1:27 in when former Knighthawks forward Casey Powell maneuvered around the Rochester defense and fired a shot past goaltender Pat O’Toole for a 1-0 Titans lead. The K-Hawks tied the game at 4:46 on a tally from forward Craig Point to pull even at 1-1. The Titans would score the final two goals of the opening quarter as transition man Jordan Hall (7:02, shorthanded) and defenseman Matt Alrich (13:38) would give Orlando a 3-1 lead after one.
The Titans would play the majority of the second quarter with the momentum as they extended their lead to 7-1 after a 5-0 run on goals from Powell (1:21, power play), forward Ryan Boyle (2:59), forward Mike McLellan (10:22), and Hall (13:09). After the Boyle goal, Knighthawks coach Paul Gait would pull O’Toole for the second straight game in favor of backup netminder Aaron Bold. Rochester would end the Orlando scoring run at 13:36 when Point tallied his second goal of the game, cutting the K-Hawks’ deficit to 7-2 at halftime.
The third quarter started promising as forwards John Grant Jr. (1:47) and Shawn Williams (6:31, shorthanded) brought the K-Hawks back to within three goals at 7-4, but Hall completed his hat trick at 9:42 and ended Rochester’s 3-0 run by bumping Orlando’s lead to 8-4. Grant would tally another goal at 12:14, but the Titans would close the quarter on a goal from Boyle at 14:58 to bring the score to 9-5 after three.
Point completed his own hat trick 2:34 into the fourth to reduce the deficit back to three at 9-6, but Orlando would score three goals in a 23-second span on tallies from Hall (5:02), forward Pat Maddalena (5:18), and defenseman Bill Greer (5:25) to officially double their lead to 12-6. A goal from Powell at 9:45 would end the scoring for the Titans and give them what looked to be an insurmountable 13-6 lead with 5:15 left to play. Rochester would not go away however as forward Shawn Evans (11:11, power play) and Point (14:49) cut their deficit to 13-8, but goaltender Matt Vinc stopped 30 of 38 shots faced to give the Titans a key win in front of their home crowd at Amway Arena.
After a red-eye flight back to Rochester, the Knighthawks returned to action on Saturday, January 30th for a rematch with the Toronto Rock, who crushed them 17-3 a week earlier, at Blue Cross Arena. On the strength of clutch goaltending by Aaron Bold and an 8-point night from John Grant, the K-Hawks handed Toronto their first loss of the season and exacted their revenge by a 16-8 score.
A dominating first quarter for the K-Hawks started just 49 seconds in as forward Scott Evans tallied his second goal of the season to give the home squad a 1-0 lead. Goals by Shawn Williams (2:57) and forward Gary Gait (3:33) increased the Rochester lead to 3-0. Toronto would crack the scoreboard at 8:58 on a tally from forward Blaine Manning, but the K-Hawks would score the next two on goals from Craig Point (10:17) and Gait (11:15) for a 5-1 lead that would chase goaltender Bob Watson from the Toronto net in favor of backup Steve Dietrich, an original Knighthawk from 1995. Another goal from Point at 13:02 extended the score to 6-1 before forward Kasey Beirnes got on the board for Toronto, making the score 6-2 after one.
The Rock took control in the early part of the second with goals from forwards Garrett Billings (4:34, power play) and Stephan Leblanc (7:14) brought them back to within two at 6-4, but the K-Hawks would swing momentum back in their favor starting with a power play goal from Scott Evans at 9:53 followed by power play goals from John Grant at 11:35 and Shawn Evans at 12:03. Defenseman Kevin Fines would register his first goal of the season at 13:23 to increase the Rochester lead to 10-4 at halftime.
Toronto was in command for the entire third quarter as Manning (1:06, power play), Billings (9:22, power play), forward Mike Hominuck (11:02), and defenseman Scott Campbell (11:16) scored goals for the Rock and cut their deficit to 10-8, but the visitors would get no further.
In the fourth quarter, the K-Hawks’ offense exploded for six goals, beginning with a tally from transition man Joe Walters 9 seconds into the frame. Additional goals from Shawn Evans (3:29), Grant (4:43, 11:11), transition man Joel McCready (9:16), and forward Peter Jacobs (14:18) put the game on ice, giving Toronto their first loss of the season and snapping their two-game losing streak in the process.
After going 1-1 in a 24-hour time period, the K-Hawks (3-2) are tied with the Orlando Titans (2-1) for second place in the East Division standings, just a ˝ game behind the first place Toronto Rock (3-1). Rochester and Orlando are one game ahead of the fourth place Boston Blazers (2-3), 1.5 games ahead of the fifth place Philadelphia Wings (1-3), and two games ahead of the last place Buffalo Bandits (1-4).
With 13 points in two games, John Grant continues to lead the team in scoring with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists). He sits 13 points ahead of the next closest player on the list, Shawn Williams, who has 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) thus far this season. Rounding out the top five in scoring are Craig Point (15 points), Shawn Evans (14), and Gary Gait (11). The 11 goals by Grant and Point lead the team in that category and Grant’s 19 assists are also tops on the team. In faceoffs, Point has won 48 of 93 opportunities while defenseman Mac Allen has won 10 of 14 chances.
The netminding leader on the team is Aaron Bold, who holds a record of 1-1, a 9.61 goals against average, and a .796 save percentage. Regular starter Pat O’Toole, who was pulled from two straight games before sitting on the bench for their last game against Toronto, has a record of 2-1 with a GAA of 11.58 and a save percentage of .764.
The Knighthawks now begin a home-and-home series with the Boston Blazers on Saturday, February 6th at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to TD Garden in Boston, Mass. for the opening game of the set. The following week, the two teams will reconvene at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday, February 13th for a 2:05 p.m. matinee.
Rocked North of the Border
Jan. 26th - In their first trip to Canada in 2010, the Rochester Knighthawks paid a visit to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario on Saturday, January 23rd for a first place showdown with the Toronto Rock. Thanks in large part to Toronto’s stellar goaltending and high scoring forwards, the K-Hawks had the lowest single game goal output in franchise history, scoring only three times in a 17-3 loss to the Rock.
Toronto would score all six goals in the first quarter as tallies from defensemen Cam Woods at 1:39, Jeff Gilbert at 4:44, and Mike Hobbins at 7:54 along with three goals from forward Garrett Billings at 5:21, 10:31, and 11:29 gave the Rock a 6-0 lead after one quarter of play.
Rochester finally got on the board 28 seconds into the second on a goal from forward Scott Evans, his first of the season, to cut the deficit to 6-1. Toronto would control the remainder of the half however as goals from Billings at 9:09, forward Kasey Beirnes at 13:06, and forward Mike Hominuck at 14:14 closed out first half scoring and the Rock held a 9-1 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Longtime K-Hawk nemesis Colin Doyle would open scoring in the third quarter when he scored at 4:42 to put his Rock squad up 10-1. Forward Shawn Evans would score for Rochester just 9 seconds later, but Toronto would answer with two more goals from Billings at 6:22 and defenseman Pat McCready shorthanded at 9:31 to expand the home team’s lead to 12-2. The K-Hawks would get their second goal of the quarter at 11:05 on a tally from superstar forward John Grant Jr., but Rock forward Blaine Manning quickly answered at 12:56 to make the score 13-3 after three quarters.
After allowing another goal from Hominuck 1:22 into the fourth, Knighthawks coach Paul Gait made the decision to pull goaltender Pat O’Toole from the net in favor of backup Aaron Bold, making his debut between the pipes for Rochester. Usually reliable, O’Toole was anything but on this night, allowing 14 goals on 42 shots faced. Bold would not fare any better as Toronto tallied three more times on the power play, two from Beirnes at 6:46 and 8:26 and one from forward Stephan Leblanc at 10:12 to wrap a bow on Toronto’s 17-3 win over Rochester.
Now at 2-1, the K-Hawks sit alone in second place in the National Lacrosse League’s East Division standings, one game behind Toronto (3-0) for first place and ˝ game ahead of the third place Orlando Titans (1-1).
Despite registering only one point in Toronto, John Grant continues to lead the team in scoring with 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) through the first three games of the 2010 season. His goal and assist numbers are also tops on the team in those categories and his 47 shots on goal also place him ahead of all other K-Hawk players. In faceoff percentage, forward Craig Point is the team leader in that category, going 24-for-40 on battles at the center circle thus far this season.
Although he allowed 14 goals at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, netminder Pat O’Toole now holds a record of 2-1 with an 11.08 goals against average and a .774 save percentage. Behind him, Aaron Bold begins his Rochester career with no decisions, a 10.26 GAA, and a .786 save percentage. As the backup for the San Jose (now Washington) Stealth last season, Bold registered a record of 0-2 in 7 games played with a 15.84 GAA and a save percentage of .700.
The Knighthawks close out their three-game road trip on Friday, January 29th at 7:35 p.m. when they make their first-ever visit to the Amway Arena in Orlando, Fla. for a matchup with the defending East Division champion Orlando Titans. The following night, the K-Hawks return to the Blue Cross Arena for a rematch with the Toronto Rock at 8:05 p.m. on “Star Wars Night” in which Star Wars characters from the 501st Legion’s Garrison Excelsior and The Rebel Legion’s Echo Base will be appearing and posing for pictures with fans to assist the Knighthawks in raising money for the American Red Cross and their current mission in Haiti.
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