Rochester holds the lead at halftime but the Thunderbirds’ 3rd-quarter surge results in a 14-12 win.
HALIFAX, N.S. — The Rochester Knighthawks held a one-goal advantage after the first 30 minutes of play, but a second-half surge by the Halifax Thunderbirds was enough to hand the Knighthawks a 14-12 loss Saturday before a crowd of 5,278 fans at Scotiabank Centre. The game was the first of three meetings between the North Division rivals this season.
The loss drops the Knighthawks to 0-2 on the season while the Thunderbirds improved to 2-0.
It also was a historic night for veteran Knighthawks defenseman Jay Thorimbert, who won of 11 of 30 faceoffs to surpass Geoff Snider’s mark of 2,468 for first all-time in NLL history. He now stands alone with 2,652 career faceoff wins.
Holden Cattoni paced the Knighthawks with a five-point night (2+3) while Shawn Evans (2+2) and Phil Caputo (1+3) each contributed 4 points. Curtis Knight, Dan Lintner, and Cory Highfield each scored twice and Steve Fryer made 30 saves in his Knighthawks debut.
Cody Jamieson (2+4) and Ryan Benesch (2+4), both of whom played for the previous Knighthawks franchise, each recorded 6 points in the win for Halifax. Clarke Petterson and Stephen Keogh each scored 3 goals to go with a pair of assists while Warren Hill improved to 2-0 on the season with a 32-save effort in net.
Facing a 13-9 deficit early in the fourth quarter, Rochester nearly closed the gap by scoring 3 of the game’s final 4 goals to cut the deficit in half. Cattoni set up Pat Saunders for his first goal of the season with 5:19 remaining in regulation before the duo teamed up again just minutes later as Cattoni capped a five-point night in the final minute. It would be as close as Rochester would come, however.
“We had a way better effort tonight,” said Thorimbert. “We were two goals away and pressing at the end of the game. Mental lapses hurt us in the third. Maybe we were riding high because we were leading at halftime. We will take those as learning lessons as a new group and go from there.”
A back-and-forth first half saw the North Division rivals combine for 13 goals, but it was the Knighthawks prevailing with a 7-6 lead through the 30 first minutes of play despite being outshot 26-24.
Halifax opened the scoring just 19 seconds into the contest on a goal from Jamieson, but Cattoni’s first as a Knighthawk made it a 1-1 game just over two minutes later.
Rochester took its first lead of the young season at the 6:18 mark when Lintner converted while the team was shorthanded for his first of two goals in the opening frame. After the Thunderbirds responded on a goal from Benesch, Highfield put Rochester back in front with his first pro goal at 8:04 before Lintner added his second of the night to give the Knighthawks a two-goal cushion at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter featured much of the same as the first with both teams continuing to pour on the offense. Three straight goals by Halifax, including a power-play tally from Jamieson, would even the contest at 6-6, but a late goal from Caputo with five seconds to spare would give the Knighthawks a slim 7-6 advantage entering the half.
The Thunderbirds came out firing to start the second half, scoring five straight unanswered goals in less than 11 minutes to take a 12-8 lead, their largest of the night. Petterson scored twice during the five-goal run, which also included goals from Benesch, Graeme Hossack and Keogh. The highlight of the quarter was Thorimbert’s eighth face-off win, which allowed him to pass Geoff Snider for first all-time in National Lacrosse League history.
“You are proud of any kind of accomplishment that you do in any sport,” said Thorimbert. “But you don’t start playing a sport to set records; it’s to raise that trophy over your head.”
“To me, Geoff Snider is the best all-time,” Thorimbert added. “To have my name anywhere close to his is awesome.”
But the Knighthawks were not done yet. In the fourth, Rochester outscored Halifax 4-2 to get within two with 1:32 to play, but the comeback attempt would fall just short.
“The ball was moving much better, and I thought we had confidence in each other,” said Shawn Evans. “We came in ready to play and ready to compete, and it showed.”
The Knighthawks return home on Saturday, Dec. 28, when they host the Toronto Rock in the first half a home-and-home series at Segar & Sciortino Field at the Blue Cross Arena. The same two teams then will square off again on Jan. 11 for a 7 pm rematch north of the border at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.