Knighthawks head to the Big Apple for Sunday Night Showdown
Published on February 10, 2009 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release
Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Knighthawks hit the road on Sunday, February 15th for an 8:00 p.m. contest against the New York Titans at Madison Square Garden. The game will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com. Fans can watch the game live online via the NLL Network at NLL.com and on knighthawks.net.
The game is the second of three meetings between the two teams. New York won the first meeting on January 24th, 8-7, at The Blue Cross Arena. Casey Powell (4+2) and Jordan hall (1+5) led the way with six points each for the Titans. Powell's fourth of the night was the game-winner. The game marked the return of Knighthawks goalie Pat O'Toole who missed the first three games due to a preseason injury. O'Toole made 33 saves and Jason Henhawk, Shawn Williams and Chris Schiller each recorded one goal and two assists apiece. Rochester fell to 2-3 all-time against the Titans with the loss.
Knighthawks Notes: The Knighthawks earned their first win of the season on January 31st, snapping a four-game losing skid, with a 13-11 victory over the Toronto Rock at The Blue Cross Arena. Gary Gait scored four goals, including the game-winner with 5:55 remaining in regulation, to lead Rochester to its first win of the season. The win improved Rochester's all-time record to 13-0 on home turf against Toronto. Henhawk and Aaron Wilson scored three goals each for Rochester, while Williams scored twice and Shawn Evans added a single. Williams also chipped in seven assists. Faceoff man Anthony Kelly won 16 faceoffs, collected six loose balls and earned one assist in his Knighthawks debut. O'Toole earned the win in goal with 37 saves. He moved within 22 saves of hitting the 5,000 save mark as a Knighthawk. Williams leads Rochester with 28 points (7+21) in five games and is now 10 points away from 600 in a Rochester uniform. Aaron Wilson is also four goals away from 200 in his pro career. Gait is one assist away from becoming only the fourth player in league history to reach the 500 mark.
Franchise to hit milestones: The Knighthawks will reach two milestones this season, as the team will play its 100th home game and 200th game. Rochester will host the Toronto Rock on Saturday, February 28th in the 100th regular season home game in franchise history. The 200th all-time game will be played at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, March 21st.
I am Iron Man: Rochester transition player Steve Toll will become the league's Iron Man on Saturday, February 21st as he plays in his 164th consecutive game (144 regular season and 18 playoffs). He will break the mark set by Kevin Finneran (143+20).
Henhawk out with injury: On February 5th, the team announced that Henhawk would miss the next two to three weeks due to a left leg injury he suffered against Toronto. The forward had seven points (3+4) before going down with an injury late in the fourth quarter.
New York Notes: The Titans (4-3) enter the game in second place in the East Division after playing two games in two nights last week. New York lost 9-8 to Boston Saturday, but rallied to defeat Philadelphia 15-12 on Saturday. The win on Sunday ended the Titans' two-game losing streak. Casey Powell leads the league with 24 goals and 48 points in seven games. He was named the league's Player of the Month for January after recording 19 goals and 19 assists in five games. New York, which has the highest scoring offense with 85 goals, also has Jordan Hall (35 points) and Pat Maddelena (33 points) among the Top 10 point getters in the NLL. Hall is tied for fourth and Maddelena is tied for sixth. Stephen Peyser leads the NLL in faceoff wins this season with 117. New York is coached by former Knighthawks Head Coach Ed Comeau. Comeau guided Rochester to the 2007 Champion's Cup.
Next Game: The Knighthawks will host the New York Titans on Saturday, February 21st at 7:35 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena. The first 5,000 fans will receive light up thundersticks, courtesy of Time Warner Cable. One lucky fan will also win a Kodak digital camera. The biggest promotion of the evening, however, will allow one randomly selected fan the chance to shoot for a house (some restrictions apply). The game will be broadcast live on WYSL 1040-AM and wysl1040.com. Fans can watch the game live online via the NLL Network at NLL.com and on knighthawks.net.
Star Wars Night: Star Wars characters from The 501st Legion's Garrison Excelsior and The Rebel Legion's Echo Base will be appearing at the Knighthawks game on Saturday, February 21st.
Characters like Stormtroopers, Clone Troopers and Boba Fett will be posing for pictures as soon as the gates open and throughout the game in order to help the Knighthawks raise money for CURE Childhood Cancer Association (www.curekidscancer.org). Garrison Excelsior will also be running a promotions table where you can learn more about the costuming groups and purchase fun Star Wars goodies to benefit CURE. The characters will also participate in the Knighthawks postgame autograph session on the field.
Collector's Cup: Fans 21 and older can purchase a $4.00 Labatt blue or blue light in a commemorative Knighthawks cup. The second of the six cup series features Shawn Evans.
Postgame Parties: Meet the players after each home game at the official postgame party at Legend's, located in the Clarion Riverside Hotel on East Main Street.
Celebrity Waiter Dinner & Auction: The Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse team will team up with the Rochester Americans this year to participate in the 19th Annual Celebrity Waiter Dinner & Auction. The event is on Wednesday, February 25th at The Blue Cross Arena. Donations to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Rochester fund on-going, groundbreaking medical research aimed at curing and controlling cystic fibrosis. VIP registration is at 5:45 p.m. and general admission registration is at 6:00 p.m. General admission tickets are just $60 and VIP tickets are $75. For dinner, auction and ticket information, contact the Rochester chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at (585) 697-0777 or go to http://rochester.cff.org/celebritywaiters.
National Lacrosse League Stories from February 10, 2009
- Bandits Set to Unveil Third Jersey on Valentine's Day - Buffalo Bandits
- Knighthawks head to the Big Apple for Sunday Night Showdown - Rochester Knighthawks
- Eliuk Headlines 2009 Hall Of Fame Class - Portland Lumberjax
- Wings Goaltending Great Dallas Eliuk Selected to 2009 Hall of Fame Class - Philadelphia Wings
- Jim Veltman to be Inducted into NLL Hall of Fame - Toronto Rock
- Dallas Eliuk and Jim Veltman to enter National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame - NLL
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