NLL Oshawa FireWolves

FireWolves Victorious Over Knighthawks, 14-12

Published on April 8, 2023 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Oshawa FireWolves News Release


The Albany FireWolves (3-12) defeated the Rochester Knighthawks (9-7), 14-12, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester on Saturday evening. Albany's offense looked strong with nine players recording at least one point on the night. The FireWolves scored the game's first goal and held onto the lead for the remainder of the contest. The win snapped a 10-game losing skid for the FireWolves.

SCORE BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINAL

ALBANY 3 4 3 4 14

ROCHESTER 1 3 5 3 12

After a long fight for the ball, Rochester secured the opening faceoff behind the FireWolves net, but were unable to score. On Albany's first possession, Tanner Thomson came around a screen and buried a twisting shot over Rylan Hartley to take an early lead. Six minutes into the first, Nick Chaykowsky intercepted a pass and ran the length of the floor before capping off a transition goal. The FireWolves kept the momentum as Connor Kelly dodged a Knighthawks defender before finding space over Hartley's left shoulder. With 16 seconds to go in the opening period, Rochester finally got on the board as Connor Fields connected with Thomas Hoggarth who then rifled a shot into the top right corner of the net.

The FireWolves picked up right where they left off to start the second quarter as Kelly found space over the middle and fired in his second of the night to put Albany up 4-1. Rochester quickly got the goal back as Holden Cattoni walked in close and bounced one off Doug Jamieson for the goal. Wasting no time answering, Jackson Reid scooped up the loose ball on the ensuing faceoff and ran the floor before bouncing the ball into the net for his first career goal. Piling it on, John Piatelli ran around multiple Rochester defenders before netting one to grow Albany's lead. Midway through the quarter, Fields found Ryan Smith who was wide open in front of the net and did the rest for the score. The Knighthawks kept the momentum as Smith connected with a cutting Cattoni who fired one past Jamieson to cut the deficit to two. Following a penalty on Hartley for an illegal body check, the FireWolves were immediately able to capitalize as Thomson fired a missile past Hartley's right leg with 40 seconds left in the half. Albany held onto a 7-4 lead heading into the halftime break.

Rochester struck first in the second half as Fields and Cattoni executed a perfect pick-and-roll before Cattoni completed his hat trick. Quickly responding, Jake Fox went around the net and dunked the ball while Hartley was caught out of position. Out of a television timeout, Fields faked going low before drilling a fastball into the back of the net to once again bring the Knighthawks back within two goals. Albany was able to answer yet again as Fox came around from the back of the net to notch his second goal of the period. Playing four-on-four after penalties on both sides, Kelly capitalized on the space in the center of the floor before firing in his third goal of the evening. The Knighthawks had a brief power play with little time remaining on the Albany penalty, and took advantage as Curtis Knight bounced one in. The Knighthawks quickly scored again as Fields faked out a FireWolves defender and leapt across the crease for his second goal. With less than a minute to play in the period, Knight scored again to bring the Knighthawks within a goal near the end of the third quarter.

The FireWolves ended a three-goal Knighthawks run after Kelly found Thomson who then dove across the body of Hartley for his third goal of the contest. After a save by Jamieson, he threw a long outlet pass to Reid who was all alone and beat Hartley for the second time to push the Albany lead back to three goals. Keeping up the pace, Rochester scored their first of the final quarter as Cattoni swept to the middle of the floor and found a shooting lane where he scored his fourth of the game. Albany was able to scoop up a rebound before Ethan Walker flipped a behind-the-back pass to Kelly who was at the doorstep of the crease to score his fourth on the night. On a delayed Albany penalty, Hoggarth sat in front of the crease and rolled one into the net to cut the FireWolves' lead to two goals with just under three minutes remaining in the game. Working quickly, Rochester got back within a goal as Knight buried his third of the game. In an effort to avoid a shot clock violation, Kelly threw one towards the cage that skipped past Hartley to put Albany up by two with 30 seconds to go. Rochester emptied the net for their final possession but were unable to score, as Albany snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 14-12 victory over the Knighthawks.

The FireWolves return home to face the Georgia Swarm on Saturday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m. Albany's final three games will all be at home at the MVP Arena. For more information regarding tickets and theme nights, visit www.AlbanyFireWolves.com or call/text the FireWolves front office at 518-362-4900.

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