Sports stats



NLL Rochester Knighthawks

Knighthawks Come Up Short In Halifax

January 27, 2024 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


(Halifax, NS) -Despite another three-goal performance from Connor Fields, the Rochester Knighthawks fell behind early and were unable to overcome their deficit, dropping a 13-8 final in Halifax to the Thunderbirds Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre.

With the loss, Rochester drops to 3-3 on the season after opening the year with three straight wins.

Fields' hat trick is his fourth in six games this season. The second-year Knighthawk has registered at least two goals in each game this season.

Including Fields, 10 Knighthawks found the score sheet Saturday night, including four players who posted multiple points with Ryan Lanchbury (0+2), Ethan O' Connor (1+1), and Ryan Smith (2+0) joining Fields. Ben Macdonnell, Rochester's 16th overall pick in the 2023 NLL Entry Draft, made his professional debut tonight after spending the first games of the season on the IR. The rookie defenseman scored on his only shot of the contest while adding three loose ball recoveries.

Ryan Benesch (5+0), Clarke Petterson (2+3) and Randy Staats (2+3) all had five points in the win for Halifax, which snapped its three-game skid. Warren Hill made 42 saves to pick up his third win of the season.

The 'Hawks scored twice in each of the first two quarters, beginning with Matt Gilray getting Rochester on the board 3:26 into the contest. Fields followed with his first of three goals on the night late in the first quarter, bringing Rochester within a goal of Halifax with 2:20 remaining in the opening frame.

O'Connor and Smith each found the back of the net in the second, but a four-goal second for the Thunderbirds which featured a pair of goals each from Benesch and Staats sent Halifax into halftime with an 8-4 advantage.

Halifax pushed its goal total to double-digits at the start of the third quarter before Smith's second goal of the night came on a power-play 3:24 into the frame. Petterson scored with just two seconds remaining in the quarter, giving Halifax its largest lead of the night.

Fields completed his hat trick as part of a three-goal run the 'Hawks began in the fourth, starting with MacDonnell, who converted one minute into the fourth. Fields struck less than four minutes later and added another goal with just over three minutes remaining to close the gap to 11-8 before Benesch and Austin Shanks added insurance markers to close the contest.

Riley Hutchcraft finished his night with 41 saves in his fifth start of the season and sixth game overall. He fell victim to four power play-goals against, as the Thunderbirds went 4-for-6 on the man-advantage. Rochester converted on one of five power-play opportunities.

Rochester looks to return to its winning ways on Saturday, Feb.3 with an intrastate showdown against the defending NLL champion Buffalo Bandits at KeyBank Center. The 7:00 p.m. matchup will be the second and final meeting between the two teams this season and will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN+.

--@RocKnighthawks--

Check out the Rochester Knighthawks Statistics



National Lacrosse League Stories from January 27, 2024


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