Sting fall short in Rochester
February 24, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
ROCHESTER, NY --- The Arizona Sting lost their second straight road game on Saturday night, falling to the Rochester Knighthawks by a score of 19-16 at Blue Cross Arena. The Sting trailed 8-3 in the second quarter, but scored eight unanswered goals to take an 11-8 halftime lead. The Knightawks then outscored the Sting 11-5 in the second half to improve to 5-0 at home so far this year. Special teams proved to be the deciding factor in the game, as Arizona went 5-for-6 in the first half with the man advantage but 1-for-6 in the second. Rochester meanwhile tallied seven power play goals on nine chances, expanding upon their league-best mark in that category. Craig Conn led all Sting forwards with six points (2G-4A) on the night in a losing effort.
"Rochester is a very strong team offensively and they proved that tonight," said Conn following the loss. "We weren't able to get into a good rhythm in the second half offensively and that cost us the game. Hopefully we can bounce back with a good performance on Friday against Chicago."
After falling behind 4-0 in the first quarter, Dan Dawson put the Sting on the scoreboard with a goal 10:52 into the match. The Knighthawks then scored twice more to end the first period with a 6-1 lead. The second quarter opened with Andy Secore netting his seventh goal of the season to pull the Sting to within four of the Knighthawks' lead. Speedy defenseman Chris Seller then scored to make the score 6-3, but back-to-back Rochester tallies off the sticks of John Grant and Steve Toll established a five goal advantage for the home team. Mike Attwood replaced Rob Blasdell in goal for the Sting following Toll's goal. Attwood wasted no time in getting his first point in a Sting jersey, assisting on Chris Seller's second goal of the game midway through the second period. With John Grant serving a five-minute major penalty for an Illegal Cross Check, Matt Brown and Derek Malawsky scored consecutive power play goals for Arizona to pull the Sting to within two of the K-Hawks. The Sting tied the game after Chris Seller buried his third of the game and rookie Mike Grimes netted his first career goal at the 11:19 mark of the second period. A goal by Lindsay Plunkett gave Arizona their first lead of the match 1:29 later; his second tally of the game made the score 10-8, and a goal by Dan Dawson at the 14:20 mark of the second gave the visiting squad from the Valley of the Sun an 11-8 lead as the game reached its midway point.
"This game is all about runs," said Dawson. "We took advantage of our opportunities on the power play in the second quarter and were able to get back in the game after starting off a little slower than we would have liked. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep our momentum going into the second half and Rochester came back on us and got the win. We've got six days to get ready for our next game, and hopefully we can get back on the winning track on Friday."
Scott Self opened the third period with a goal 0:31 into the frame, extending the Sting lead to four in the process. Ken Millin then scored for Rochester on the power play 2:21 into the second half, halting Arizona's unanswered goal streak at nine. A pair of short-handed goals from John Grant and Scott Evans pulled the K-Hawks to within one at the 11:12 mark of the third quarter. Rochester tied the match at twelve apiece shortly thereafter, as Scott Evans netted a power play tally with 2:32 remaining in regulation's penultimate frame. Neither team was able to muster a goal in the closing minutes of the third, as the match entered the fourth quarter with the score 12-12.
Mike Accursi scored 1:59 into the fourth quarter to give Rochester a 13-12 lead. Back-to-back tallies by John Grant put the K-Hawks up by a field goal, but goals by Lindsay Plunkett and Craig Conn pulled the Sting back to within one with 5:14 remaining in regulation. The reigning NLL goal-scoring champion then went back to work, as John Grant's sixth and seventh goals of the game made the score 17-14 in favor of the East Divisions top-ranked squad. Derek Malawksy's second goal of the night temporarily gave Arizona hope for a comeback, but a pair of empty net tallies by Steve Toll and Chris Schiller dashed any chances for a miracle finish. A late goal by Craig Conn made the score 19-16 as the game came to an end, as the Sting dropped to 5-3 on the season with the road loss. Arizona remains in second place in the NLL's West Division, 0.5 games ahead of third place Calgary.
"This was a disappointing loss," said Sting Head Coach/GM Bob Hamley. "We've got to put this behind us and focus on our next game. There's a lot of video to watch and a lot of things for us to work on this week, and we'll definitely be very well prepared when we take the floor at Jobing.com Arena next weekend."
Up next for Arizona is a Friday night showdown with the Chicago Shamrox. The Sting will play host to the expansion team on March 2 at Jobing.com Arena. Game time is set for 7:30pm.
National Lacrosse League Stories from February 24, 2007
- Mammoth improves to 9-1 with victory over LumberJax - Colorado Mammoth
- Rock lose to Roughnecks, 17-13 - Toronto Rock
- Sting fall short in Rochester - Arizona Sting
- Toronto beaten in Toronto - Calgary Roughnecks
- New York Titans Suffer 12-11 Defeat Against the San Jose Stealth - Orlando Titans
- Wings Lose 13-12 Heartbreaker To Buffalo - Philadelphia Wings
- Rochester hosts Arizona - Rochester Knighthawks
- Roughnecks Dismiss Head Coach - Calgary Roughnecks
- Edmonton Rush defeat division rivals in overtime - Edmonton Rush
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