Rochester to make first appearance on NLL’s Twitter Game of the Week
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Knighthawks will close out 2017 with their first road contest of the season, as they take on the defending champion Georgia Swarm on Saturday, Dec. 30. The 7:05 pm contest, from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Field inside Infinite Energy Arena, will be broadcast on 107.3 The Bull and on the iHeartRadio app.
The game is the Knighthawks’ first appearance of the season on Twitter. The Twitter Game of the Week will be streamed live at NLL.twitter.com and via @NLL, and simulcast on NLLTV.com.
The Knighthawks (2-0) enter the contest in first place in the East Division after knocking off the Buffalo Bandits 21-11 last Saturday. Rochester needs just one more win to equal the best start in franchise history. In the past 23 seasons, only the 1998 and 2014 teams opened the season with 3-0 records.
The Knighthawks, who are second in the NLL in goals, are already on an historic pace. For the first time in team history, Rochester has scored 38 goals in its opening two games of a season. With Cody Jamieson, Cory Vitarelli, and Josh Currier all healthy, the Knighthawks are averaging 19 goals-per-game. That is a huge improvement over last season, which saw the Rochester offense score 9.7 goals-per-game.
Scouting the Knighthawks: Rochester is one of only three undefeated teams left in the NLL, joining Saskatchewan and Colorado. In the Knighthawks’ win over the Bandits, goalie Matt Vinc made a career-high 55 saves to give him a league-leading 95 after two games. “Vno” also has a league-best 8.50 goals-against average and an .848 save percentage. Forward Dan Dawson has continued his torrid pace, leading the way with three goals and six assists. He now is tied for third in the NLL with nine assists and 15 points. Last year’s leading scorer, Joe Resetarits, is tied for fifth with 14 points. Scott Campbell and Eric Fannell are also among the league’s top point producers in their respective categories. Campbell leads all defensemen with eight points, while Fannell is tied for third in points (five) among rookies. Also off to an impressive start is forward Cody Jamieson, who has one goal and nine assists after two games.
Rookie Milestones: Jake Withers and Eric Fannell both scored their first professional goals in the win over Buffalo. Fannell connected twice, while Withers’ goal late in the second quarter proved to be the game-winner.
Just a Second: The Knighthawks’ best quarter this season has been the second. In both wins, Rochester has scored eight goals during the second quarter.
Give me 20: The 21 goals scored last Saturday marked the first time since the 2013 season that Rochester reached the 20-goal plateau in a game. The last time was in a 20-10 win at Philadelphia on Feb. 8, 2013.
Milestone Alert:
Dan Dawson is five goals away from tying Curt Malawsky for 10th on the team’s all-time goal-scoring list.
Matt Vinc is 160 minutes away from passing Pat O’Toole for third all-time in minutes played in league history. Vinc has currently played 10,123 minutes.
Milestones Achieved (Dec. 23):
Dan Dawson passed Shawn Williams for fourth all-time in NLL history with 258 games played.
Scott Campbell (115) passed Mike Hasen for ninth place on the team’s all-time games played list.
Joe Resetarits scored the 100th goal of his career.
Cory Vitarelli reached 100 assists in his career.
All-Time Series: Rochester is 16-11 lifetime against the Swarm franchise.
Scouting the Swarm: Georgia dropped to 0-2 after falling 14-11 to the Colorado Mammoth Saturday night. Reigning NLL MVP Lyle Thompson led the Swarm in points with seven (2+5), and is tied for ninth in the NLL with 11 points (3+8). Shayne Jackson collected three goals and two assists, while Kiel Matisz (2+2) and Randy Staats (1+3) each posted four-point efforts. After opening the season with back-to-back road games, the Swarm are home for the first time this season. The home opener will include a banner raising and a halftime performance by GRAMMY® Award-winning artist 2 Chainz.
Knighthawks Next Games: Rochester will play its first two-game weekend of the season, as it battles divisional foes Toronto and New England on back-to-back nights. On Friday, Jan. 12, the Knighthawks will travel to Toronto to take on the Rock at 7:30 pm at the Air Canada Centre. The following evening, Rochester will return home to entertain the New England Black Wolves at 7:30 pm at Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.