'Hawks Pull Away in Fourth to Outlast Halifax

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NLL Rochester Knighthawks

'Hawks Pull Away in Fourth to Outlast Halifax

January 18, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


(Halifax, NS) - Trailing 8-5 entering the fourth quarter, the Rochester Knighthawks (3-5) went on a 5-1 run before holding off the Halifax Thunderbirds (2-4) in the final minutes of regulation to come away with a hard-fought 10-9 come-from-behind win Saturday at Scotiabank Centre.

Connor Fields (4+2) returned to form, helping the Knighthawks erase a three-goal deficit in the final quarter while Ryan Smith (2+1) scored the game-winning goal in the closing minutes as Rochester won for the second time in three games.

With the win, Rochester's first-ever against the Thunderbirds in Halifax, the Knighthawks split the season-series with Halifax after dropping last week's heartbreaking 19-18 defeat. Additionally, Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen now sits fifth all-time in NLL history with 108 career coaching wins, surpassing Troy Cordingley.

While Fields totaled a game-high four goals and six points, Ryan Lanchbury, who had a season-high seven assists last week against the Thunderbirds, topped all players with four helpers. Thomas McConvey (1+1), Chad Tutton (1+0), Turner Evans (1+0) and Jake Piseno (1+0) all chipped in one goal apiece while Curtis Knight, Matt Gilray, Ryland Rees, Josh Medeiros, and Taylor Jensen all logged an assist.

Tutton's marker was his first of the season whereas Piseno's first pro goal came in his NLL debut.

Goaltender Riley Hutchcraft drew his seventh consecutive start to begin the campaign. The Toronto, Ontario, native finished with 42 saves, which included 12 in the first quarter and 14 in the fourth.

FIRST QUARTER

After seeing Mike Robinson and Clarke Petterson both score to give Halifax a 2-0 lead 2:32 into the contest, Rochester responded with three straight goals to close out the scoring in the opening quarter.

Tutton kicked off the scoring as he netted his first of the season while on the rush with 8:46 left in the frame before Fields scooped up a loose ball in the right corner of the Thunderbirds zone. The two-time Second Team All-Pro found himself all alone near the crease and dove across it to even the score at 2-2.

Rochester got its first lead of the night in the waning minutes of the first as Smith, with the shot clearly nearly expired, received Fields' pass, turned his hands over and fired the ball towards the cage. Goaltender Warren Hill got a piece of the ball in between the pipes, but it slowly trickled across the goal line at the 12:45 mark.

SECOND QUARTER

Neither team was able to find the back of the opposition's net in the first 6:15 of the second frame despite several scoring chances.

Trailing 3-2, Halifax evened the score with just under nine minutes to play in the quarter as Randy Staats looped around a long screen inside the offensive zone and glanced a shot off the post and in-behind Hutchcraft.

Three minutes later with the Knighthawks on their first power-play of the contest, Piseno picked off a potential pass inside his zone before sprinting up the floor. As the rookie raced towards Warren, he snapped a shot past the left hand for the first of his NLL career to give the Knighthawks a 4-3 lead.

Prior to the completion of the quarter, the Thunderbirds tied the game on Staats' second of the contest while his club was on the man-advantage.

THIRD QUARTER

Much like the opening quarter, Halifax scored the first two tallies of the frame to grab a 6-4 advantage just 1:57 in. Robinson had the first of the marker 73 seconds into the stanza before Staats capped off his 41st career hat trick.

Rochester cut into the deficit to pull within one as Fields fired a long-rang shot around a Thunderbird, however, Halifax countered back with two more tallies to extend the score to 8-5.

FOURTH QUARTER

Trailing by three to begin the final quarter, Evans parked himself at the back-post to open the scoring with his third of the slate from Rees and Jensen at the 1:20 mark.

Moments after, Fields scored a pair of tallies to knot the contest at 8-8 with the first of the two coming as he dove through the crease and the second being a long-range missile.

Rochester continued its pressure in the offensive zone, but after a stop by Hill, the netminder provided an outlet pass to Colton Armstrong as he snuck behind the Knighthawks. The transition player gathered the ball off the bounce and converted his second of the campaign with 7:25 to play.

Facing yet another deficit, the Knighthawks drew a slashing infraction to gain their fourth power-play of the contest. On the ensuing man-advantage, McConvey controlled his own rebound and quickly snapped a shot past Hill to tie the score at nine with just over five minutes to play.

Less than a minute after McConvey's marker, Fields had possession of the ball atop the Halifax zone. The forward, who tallied a hat trick in the second half, gathered the attention of nearly all the Thunderbirds before he spun and perfectly set up Smith atop the crease for the eventual game-winning goal.

Despite holding a 10-9 lead, Hutchcraft and company survived a flurry of late chances from Halifax, including a trio in the final 30 seconds of play.

UP NEXT

The Knighthawks return home to close out the month of January on Saturday, Jan. 25 as they welcome the Colorado Mammoth to Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena for the only time this season. The 7:00 p.m. contest 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+.

--@RocKnighthawks--

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