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NLL Rochester Knighthawks

Knighthawks Grant and O'Toole win NLL weekly awards

February 1, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


(Rochester, NY)... Rochester Knighthawks forward John Grant and goalie Pat O'Toole were both honored by the National Lacrosse League for their performances on January 28-29. Grant was named the NLL Offensive and Overall Player of the Week, while O'Toole took home Defensive Player of the Week honors as Rochester won back-to-back games last weekend.

Grant led Rochester with 11 goals and six assists in two games to move into a tie for second in the league with 32 points (19+13) in five games. The K-Hawks (4-1) took over sole possession of first place in the East Division with the divisional wins over the Buffalo Bandits and Minnesota Swarm.

On Saturday, Grant notched five goals and four assists, including the overtime game-winner, in an 11-10 victory over the Buffalo Bandits. The Rochester forward sent the game to OT with a goal with just 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

On Sunday, Rochester defeated the Swarm, 10-9, at the Xcel Energy Center. For the second straight night Grant scored the game-winning goal, as he recorded six goals and two assists. Grant rallied the team from a 7-4 halftime deficit to tie the game at seven with three straight goals in the third quarter. He scored two more goals in the fourth quarter, as he scored five of the team's six goals over the final 30 minutes.

O'Toole picked up two more wins last weekend to improve to 4-1 on the season. On Saturday, he turned away 44 shots and on Sunday he blanked the Swarm for 18:17 as the Knighthawks rallied with a 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. He finished the game with 34 saves. In the Minnesota game, O'Toole and Mike Hasen became only the fourth and fifth players in team history to play in 100 games.

O'Toole currently leads the league in wins (four), saves (205) and save percentage (.823). He is also second in the NLL with an 8.90 goals-against average.

Rochester has this week off before returning to play two games in two nights from February 10-11. In those two days, the Knighthawks will play the two teams that battled for the 2005 NLL Championship. The K-Hawks travel to play the Toronto Rock on February 10th at the Air Canada Centre at 7:30 p.m. The next night, Rochester returns home to host the Arizona Sting at 7:35 p.m.

Week Five Award Winners

OVERALL & OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

John Grant (Rochester) - (2GP, 11G, 6A, 17Pts, 13 LB) scored 11 goals including the game-tying and game-winning goals in each contest, one in OT. Grant also added six assists and collected 13 loose balls in wins against Buffalo and at Minnesota, 11-10 OT and 10-9, respectively.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Pat O'Toole (Rochester) - (2GP, 78 saves, 19GA) had 78 saves and allowed 19 goals in wins over Buffalo and at Minnesota, 11-10 OT and 10-9 respectively.

ROOKIE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Brodie Merrill (Portland) - (2GP, 1G, 4A, 5Pts, 27LB) scored one goal and added four assists for a total of five points and also collected 27 loose balls in two games: a 15-8 win at San Jose and a 12-8 loss to Calgary.

The Weekly Player Awards are determined by a vote of the General Managers & Head Coaches of the league's 11 member clubs.

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