Knighthawks Stun Seals and Escape with 14-13 Victory

Sports stats



NLL San Diego Seals

Knighthawks Stun Seals and Escape with 14-13 Victory

March 29, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
San Diego Seals News Release


Ryan Smith's fifth goal of the night with just 11 seconds remaining erased a furious comeback by the Seals as the Rochester Knighthawks stunned the Seals to win 14-13 on Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.

Down 12-6 midway through the third period, the Seals staged a furious comeback and scored seven of the game's next eight goals to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:06 left in the fourth, but that would be all they could muster as Smith's goal saved the night for the Knighthawks.

Rochester got the best of the Seals early on as it was a 5-3 game after one period with eight different players scoring goals. For the Seals, Zach Currier opened the scoring with a highlight-reel play, rebounding a Rob Hellyer shot that went over Knighthawks goalie Rylan Hartley's left shoulder and over the net and instinctively shooting over the top of the net and sneaking one in behind the unsuspecting Hartley. The Seals' other two goals came off the sticks of Tre LeClaire and Wes Berg, the latter from Berg coming on a power play.

The Knighthawks outscored the Seals 4-2 in the second quarter to take a 9-5 halftime lead. Connor Fields and Ryan Smith both scored twice for Rochester while the Seals two goals were both scored on transition plays. Leclaire scored his second of the night picking up a long rebound off a Rochester shot and taking it the length of the field to score on a breakaway goal while Trent DiCicco took a long pass from Seals' goaltender Chris Origlieri and hammered one in from just outside the crease, beating Hartley between the legs.

Things started to get interesting in the third quarter. The Knighthawks outscored the Seals 3-1 over the first 6:28 to jump ahead 12-6 before the Seals went on a 4-0 run of their own to get within two. Ryan Benesch scored twice, including once on the power play while Jake Govett scored a pair. After Govett's second goal that came with 4:15 remaining, the Knighthawks pulled Hartley and put Riley Hutchcraft between the pipes. Rochester got a goal from Thomas McConvey with 45 seconds left in the quarter to halt the Seals run but Leclaire answered 37 seconds later with his team-leading fourth of the night to get the Seals back within two at 13-11 heading into the fourth.

The Seals kept it up in the fourth, drawing to within one after Berg picked up a rebound off a shot by Benesch and scored to get the Seals to within 13-12. With 7:52 left in the fourth, DiCicco was sent to the penalty box for a cross-checking penalty, but the Seals got the better of it as Govett scored his third of the night, a shorthanded goal off a pass from Currier that tied things up at 13-13. It was the game's first tie since 12:25 mark of the first quarter. Unfortunately for San Diego, the Knighthawks defense buckled down and held the Seals out of the net for the final 6:06 and Smith's goal won it for Rochester.

With the loss, the Seals fall to 8-7, while Rochester improves to 9-7 in the tightly contested NLL. The Seals will be back at it next Saturday night (April 5) when they again take the road to face the Halifax Thunderbirds at the Scotiabank Centre at 3 p.m. PT.

Check out the San Diego Seals Statistics



National Lacrosse League Stories from March 29, 2025


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