Sports stats



NLL Rochester Knighthawks

'Hawks Come up Short to Mammoth in Final Seconds

January 25, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


(Rochester, NY) - For the second time in the last three weeks, the Rochester Knighthawks (3-6) suffered yet another heartbreaking defeat on a last-second buzzer-beater as the Colorado Mammoth (5-3) escaped with an 11-10-win Saturday at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.

The loss drops the Knighthawks to 3-6 on the season heading into February after suffering its fourth straight loss at home.

For the second straight week, Connor Fields topped all Rochester scorers with eight points (1+7), which included his 400th career NLL point. Ryan Lanchbury (2+4), Thomas McConvey (2+2), and Kyle Waters (2+0) each turned in a two-goal performance. Ryan Smith (1+3), Curtis Knight (1+1) and Ian Llord (1+0) scored once to complete the scoring.

Goaltender Riley Hutchcraft made his ninth consecutive start to begin the season. The Toronto, Ontario, native finished with 34 saves, which included 10 in the second quarter after making nine in the opening frame.

FIRST QUARTER

After successfully clearing off its first penalty of the night, Colorado opened the scoring as Will Malcom stepped into a shot from the right point. Connor Kelly handed the ball to Malcolm to notch an assist while Ryan Lee had the secondary helper with 9:56 left in the opening quarter.

Less than two minutes later, Smith delivered a heavy hit to keep the ball inside the Colorado zone before receiving McConvey's feed to the left of the net for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.

The score remained deadlocked at one until the final minute when Lee and Malcom provided Eli McLaughlin with a pass across the goal mouth to tuck behind Hutchcraft with eight seconds remaining.

SECOND QUARTER

Colorado upped its lead to 3-1 as McLaughlin finished off Owen Rahn's pass as the Mammoth were in-transition just 1:38 into the second quarter.

Two minutes later, the Knighthawks drew a roughing infraction to gain their second man-advantage of the contest. While with the extra shooter, McConvey bullied his way towards Colorado's Dillon Ward and snapped home a shot to cut the deficit in half.

Rochester continued its three-goal run as Fields logged a pair of assists on two Lanchbury tallies just 63 seconds apart to give the Knighthawks a 4-3 lead with 6:42 left in the frame.

Colorado saw the home club grab its first lead of the tilt before they countered back with two of its own to take a 5-4 advantage at the half.

THIRD QUARTER

Trailing to begin the second half, the Knighthawks scored three of the first four goals to take a 7-6 lead at the 3:45 mark.

Llord kicked off the scoring as he scored 47 seconds into the frame with his first goal of the season and first since the 2022 campaign while a member of the Philadelphia Wings.

McConvey and Kelly traded goals 50 seconds apart before Waters steamrolled his way in the middle of the Mammoth defense to give Rochester the lead.

While McLaughlin tied the game at seven by completing his hat trick from Lee and Kelly, Fields and Waters responded on assists from Lanchbury to give Rochester a 9-7 advantage going into the final frame.

FOURTH QUARTER

In the fourth quarter, the offenses seem to be kept under wraps of the opposition for the first half until Tim Edwards received Warren Jeffery's outlet pass from just out in-front of the Colorado net. Edwards held the ball as he reached Hutchcraft then snapped a shot in-transition to bring the Mammoth within one.

Moments after Edwards' first marker of the slate, Knight grabbed McConvey and Fields' passes from just outside the crease and restored Rochester's two-goal lead at the 10:02 mark.

Trailing by a pair, Colorado quickly erased the deficit as they scored two goals in 29 seconds of one another to even the score at 10 with three minutes left in regulation.

Both teams traded possessions before Rochester held ownership of the ball with 45 seconds and called a timeout.

After drawing up a play, the Knighthawks were denied a potential game-winning goal, giving the Mammoth an opportunity for the final possession.

After a Colorado timeout, Kelly gave the ball to Malcom to the right of the net before the latter centered it for Zed Williams to call the game on a buzzer-beater with just two seconds left.

UP NEXT

The Knighthawks usher in the month of February as they hit the road for the first of a season-long three-game trek beginning on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they visit the Philadelphia Wings at Wells Fargo Center. The 8:00 p.m. matchup will be the first and only between the two clubs this season and will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN + and NLL+.

Check out the Rochester Knighthawks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...

National Lacrosse League Stories from January 25, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central