NLL Rochester Knighthawks

Knighthawks Cannot Complete Comeback

Published on February 24, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


(Toronto February, 24)... Three times the Rochester Knighthawks rallied to get within one goal, but the defending champs answered every time to earn a 16-12 win at the Air Canada Centre tonight.

The Knighthawks fell to 3-5 with their fourth straight road loss. The Rock rebounded from a loss to first-place Philadelphia last week to improve to 4-3.

Rochester got a strong effort from Cody Jamieson (2+4), Craig Point (0+4) and Jordan Hall (2+2). Hall's second assist was the 200th of his career. Goalie Matt Vinc made 44 stops in the loss.

The Knighthawks outscored Toronto 10-6 over the second and third quarters, but yielded five goals in the first and fourth quarters. The Rock also capitalized on five of their six power-play opportunities.

With team captain Colin Doyle sidelined with a second-quarter, Garrett Billings (1+8), Kasey Beirnes (5+2) and Stephan Leblanc (4+2) all had huge games on a night that started with the retiring of Bob Watson's No. 29 Rock jersey.

Rochester came out struggling, giving up five straight goals to the Rock. Toronto's strong start began with goals by Billings, Doyle and Pat Merrill at 1:51, 4:18, and 7:25, respectively. The Rock continued to add goals when Jesse Gamble scored with an assist from goalie Matt Roik (25 saves). At 10:32, Toronto posted its fifth straight goal, ending the first quarter with a 5-0 lead.

The Knighthawks' morale would not diminish though, as they started the second quarter with four unanswered goals to get within one. Jamieson started the scoring for Rochester followed by goals by Mike Accursi at 4:32 and Stephen Keogh at 6:42. Brad Self added Rochester's fourth goal, increasing his scoring streak to four games.

Toronto would shortly begin another scoring run when Kasey Beirnes scored a power-play goal assisted by Billings. Beirnes scored another power-play goal minutes after at 11:17 and Jamie Rooney helped Toronto take an 8-4 lead with his scoring contribution at 12:01 of the second quarter.

In the third, Rochester fell behind by five for the second time tonight, but yet again rallied with four straight goals to pull within 9-8. Two goals by Hall, Self's second and a rocket from Cory Vitarelli, and Rochester was back in the game. The teams traded two goals each to end the third with the Knighthawks scoring the last two. Johnny Powless scored at 12:20 and Pat McCready scored off an outlet pass from Vinc at 13:15. It was the third time Rochester got within a goal, trailing 11-10.

In the fourth, the Rock jumped back out in front with goals by Leblanc and Dan Carey to open the final frame. Jamieson answered at 3:44 to cut the deficit to 13-11. Leblanc and Beirnes strung together goals before Dylan Evans netted his first pro goal at 6:33. At that point, the Knighthawks were down 15-12. Josh Sanderson added a late empty-net goal for the Rock.

The Knighthawks will travel to play the Philadelphia Wings on Saturday, March 3rd at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Sportsradio 950 ESPN and www.sportsradio950espn.com.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from February 24, 2012


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