NLL Rochester Knighthawks

Knighthawks' Rally Falls Inches Short

Published on April 7, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Rochester Knighthawks News Release


The Rochester Knighthawks were inches away from sending the game to overtime tonight, which would have completed one of the most impressive comebacks in team history.

Rochester rallied from 11-4 down to Calgary to pull within one goal twice in the fourth quarter, but Mike Poulin's acrobatics in the closing seconds secured a 15-14 win for the Calgary Roughnecks at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Rochester got a balanced offensive effort with seven points from Johnny Powless (3+4), six from Stephen Keogh (3+3) and five from Cody Jamieson (2+3). The six points tied Keogh's career high to go along with his first career hat trick. Powless notched his third career hat trick and set career highs in assists and points. Calgary got nine points (3+6) from Shawn Evans and four goals from Dane Dobbie. Jeff Shattler added two goals and four assists.

To start the game, it seemed like Rochester was ready to come out firing after a Keogh goal, but shortly after his goal, Evans scored in transition at 8:20 which sparked the whole Roughneck offense. Goals by Scott Ranger, Curtis Dickson, and Daryl Veltman followed putting Calgary up 4-2 going into the second quarter.

In the second, Calgary broke the game open with seven goals from four different players. Dobbie posted his first goal of the game on the power play at 7:37, which sparked a four-goal run in a 1:02 span. Dobbie scored two more goals to complete the hat trick at 11:21 and 12:04.

At halftime, the Knighthawks found inspiration as the second half featured a much more focused Rochester squad. Rochester rallied in front of over 9,800 fans in Calgary and outscored Calgary 4-2 in the third quarter. Powless' goal at 1:18 began to turn the momentum in Rochester's favor and two unanswered goals by the K-Hawks put them back in the game trailing 11-8. The game headed to the third with Calgary up 13-9.

When Jamieson scored 47 seconds into the fourth it was 13-10. Powless and Accursi then tallied 20 seconds apart and it was 13-12. Yet, Calgary regrouped and scored twice to make it 15-12.

That set the stage for a wild ending. Craig Point bounced one past Poulin at 13:39 to cut the deficit to 15-13 and Accursi scored off a deflection with 18.5 to play. The Knighthawks had the ball and a chance to tie, but Cory Vitarelli hit the crossbar just missing his third of the night. That set off a crazy scramble in front as Accursi fired the rebound on Poulin who kicked out the rebound. Vitarelli then grabbed the ball and fired a flying, behind the back shot that hit Poulin.

"We were just trying to throw everything at the net to get that last one," said Accursi. "I made the pass and pretty much had my hands up in the air thinking it was a goal, but we had two more opportunities to score. It was a tough loss."

Poulin finished the night with 47 saves. Rochester's Matt Vinc stopped 38 in the loss. Rochester fell to 5-8 with its third straight loss, while Calgary improved to 11-3 with its sixth straight win. The Roughnecks took over sole possession of first place in the West with the win.

The contest kicked off a home-and-home series with the West Division's Calgary Roughnecks. The second contest shifts to Rochester on Saturday, April 14th at 7:30 p.m. The games will be broadcast on Sportsradio 950 ESPN and www.sportsradio950espn.com.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 7, 2012


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