Rochester needs two wins and a New England loss to reach the postseason.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Knighthawks are still alive in the East Division playoff race with two games to play. The Knighthawks can lock up a postseason berth this week with a pair of wins and some help.
If Rochester knocks off the Georgia Swarm on back-to-back nights, and Vancouver defeats New England, the Knighthawks will earn the division’s third and final playoff spot.
The first leg of the two-set against Georgia begins on Friday, April 28 with a 7:30 pm contest at Connor & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena. On Saturday, the Knighthawks will travel to Duluth, Ga. to take on the Swarm at 7:05 pm.
Broadcast Info: Friday’s game will be broadcast on WHAM 1180 and wham1180.iheart.com. Saturday’s game will be carried on 107.3 The Bull and is available on the iHeartRadio app. Fans can also watch both contests on NLL TV (nlltv.com).
Hall of Fame Night: The Knighthawks will induct Shawn Williams into the team’s Hall of Fame as its 16th member. “Willy” spent 10 seasons (2002 to 2011) in Rochester and was a three-time captain. He was a key member of the Knighthawks’ 2007 NLL championship team. Williams still ranks first in assists (492), and second in goals (309) and points (801). He also stands third in games played with 160. He was also named an All-Pro twice (2004 and 2007), and in 2010 he received the league’s Sportsmanship Award.
Scouting the Knighthawks: Needing a win to stay alive in the playoff race, the Knighthawks defeated the New England Black Wolves 15-13 Saturday. The 15 goals matched a single-season high. Rochester was led by a career-high seven-point effort from rookie Dan Lomas, who scored three goals and added four assists. Dan Dawson posted a season-high four goals as part of a six-point night. Joe Resetarits extended his scoring streak to 16 games with his two goals and two assists. Jordan Dance chipped in with three assists in his home debut, while Marty Hill collected a pair of assists in his pro debut. Defenseman Ian Llord also netted a career-high two goals to go along with one assist.
Player Moves: On Tuesday, the Knighthawks activated Kyle Jackson from the injured reserve list and placed Marty Hill on the practice squad.
Rookies among NLL’s Best: Rochester has three players in the Top 10 in points among league rookies. Kyle Jackson is second with 55 points, while Josh Currier is third with 35 and Dan Lomas is tied for sixth with 33. Killing It: Rochester has the second best penalty-killing unit in the league, stopping opponents 51.5 percent of the time.
Milestone Alert:
Dan Dawson needs two assists to become only the fourth player in NLL history to reach 800.
Joe Resetarits, who has 23 goals, needs just three more to set a career high.
Dylan Evans needs four faceoff wins to pass Stephen Hoar (891) to become the franchise’s all-time leader.
The Knighthawks are one win shy of reaching 200 as a franchise.
Scouting the Swarm: Georgia pounded the Buffalo Bandits 20-7 Saturday night to improve to a league-best 12-4. Lyle Thompson led the way with two goals and eight assists, while Kiel Matisz (3+4) and Randy Staats (4+3) each collected seven points. Thompson leads the NLL with 108 points, and is second in assists (68) and tied for third in goals (40). Goalie Mike Poulin leads the league with 11 wins and is third with 596 saves.