NLL Albany FireWolves

FireWolves Fall to Knighthawks Again, 15-13

February 12, 2022 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Albany FireWolves News Release


The Albany FireWolves (4-4) were defeated by the Rochester Knighthawks (3-5), 15-13, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY on Saturday evening. Rochester jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage and never surrendered the lead. Despite scoring seven goals in the fourth quarter, the Knighthawks were able to best the FireWolves for the second time on the season. Full game statistics can be found here: https://albanyfirewolves.com/game/1515/.

SCORE BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINAL

ALBANY 2 4 0 7 13

ROCHESTER 6 1 2 6 15

To no surprise, Joe Nardella won the game's opening faceoff and the FireWolves took first possession. Following saves by each goalie early in the quarter, Shawn Evans was able to open the scoring, giving Rochester an early 1-0 lead. After a FireWolves goal called back following a Knighthawks challenge, Turner Evans was able to notch another one for Rochester. Just minutes later, Holden Cattoni found the back of the net as Rochester had a 3-0 lead after just five minutes of play. Following a brief scoring drought, Ryan Benesch fired a shot from deep to get Albany on the board. Coming out of a television timeout, Ryan Smith was able to sneak one past Doug Jamieson's foot, bringing the lead back to three goals for the Knighthawks. Soon after, Thomas Hoggarth intercepted a Jamieson pass and immediately scored another for Rochester. Following another goal by Turner Evans, Ethan Woods entered the game in goal for the FireWolves. With just two and a half seconds to go in the quarter, Jacob Ruest drilled a shot at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 6-2 after one.

Nardella and the Fire Wolves won the first faceoff of the new quarter and had a quality look on net but were denied by Rylan Hartley. Following six scoreless minutes to open the second quarter, Albany had a powerplay opportunity and immediately converted as Joe Resetarits scored his first of the contest. Not even two minutes later, the FireWolves got another one back as Reilly O'Connor made it a 6-4 game. After over ten minutes of a scoring drought for the Knighthawks, Cattoni was able to stop the Albany run and mark his second of the night. After an Andrew Kew shot bounced long, Benesch took the rebound and a deep shot to notch his second of the game. Rochester was hit with another penalty with just 11 seconds remaining in the half and Albany once again capitalized as Resetarits netted his second of the night, bringing the Knighthawks lead to just 7-6 at the end of the second quarter.

Both teams went back and forth at the start of the third quarter, but it was Rochester who struck first as Matt Gilray was able to score with his back to the net. After just one goal was scored in the first ten minutes of the quarter, the Knighthawks were able to grow their lead as Cattoni completed his hat trick with just over four minutes to go in the quarter. Following a penalty on Albany's Mike Byrne, the Knighthawks saw their first power play chance of the night but were unable to capitalize on the man advantage as the third quarter ended with Rochester leading 9-6.

Early in the fourth, the Knighthawks were penalized for the third time in the contest, giving the FireWolves a power play opportunity. Already converting on the first two power plays, Albany made it three in a row as Benesch completed a hat trick of his own. Just seconds later, Resetarits found the back of the net for the third time, giving him yet another hat trick on the season. Still within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, Cattoni scored his fourth goal of the night, pushing the Rochester lead back to two. Keeping up the pace, Kew logged his first goal of the contest, bringing the score to 10-9 in favor of Rochester. Following five-minute major penalties on both sides, Hoggarth quickly netted his second of the night. After a holding penalty on Albany, Hoggarth completed his hat trick with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. Less than a minute later, Jackson Nishimura scored his first of the contest, getting one back for Albany. With just over three minutes to go, Smith scored his second of the night as the Knighthawks took a three-goal lead late in the game. Seconds later, Resetarits drilled his fourth of the contest. With the empty net, Smith completed his hat trick, but just seconds later, Ruest scored for Albany, moving the game to 14-12 in Rochester's favor. With the net still empty, Ryland Rees scored another for the Knighthawks. With 10 seconds to go, Kew netted his second of the game. Unable to score another after the Nardella faceoff win, the game ended 15-13 as the Knighthawks defeated the FireWolves for the second time on the season.

The FireWolves have another back-to-back set of games next weekend. The first game is against the Buffalo Bandits on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Game two of the weekend will be on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Albany against the Toronto Rock.

Fans can secure their tickets for the next FireWolves home game now! For more information regarding tickets, visit www.AlbanyFireWolves.com or call/text the FireWolves front office at 518-362-4900.

The Albany FireWolves 2021-22 Inaugural Season is presented by CDPHP.

Check out the Albany FireWolves Statistics



National Lacrosse League Stories from February 12, 2022


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