Rochester falls 17-9 to the Rock.
TORONTO, ONT. — The Rochester Knighthawks opened their first two-game in two-night stretch Friday night at the Air Canada Centre and dropped a 17-9 decision to the Toronto Rock. Rochester will now head home to take on the New England Black Wolves Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
It’s a quick turnaround for Rochester (2-2), but a chance 24 hours later to finish the week with a victory.
“Nobody likes to lose like that,” said Knighthawks forward Cody Jamieson. Hopefully, we can come back and be on the better end of it tomorrow.”
Rochester was led offensively by Jamieson’s six points (2+4), which matched his season high. The Knighthawks also received four points (2+2) from Kyle Jackson and three assists from Joe Resetarits.
Two Knighthawks made their professional debuts and figured in the scoring. Austin Shanks, who was the fifth overall pick, scored a pair of goals. His first of the game was part of a three-goal run which got the Knighthawks within two at 7-5 midway through the second quarter. His last tally was a laser from the right wing off a pass from Jamieson in the third quarter.
Although wishing his effort was in a road win, Shanks was excited to see the first action of his pro career.
“It was just nice to get some experience,” he said. “I really wanted to win, but it’s a quick turnaround. I have to leave that one behind me and think about tomorrow.”
Defenseman Eric Shewell also played in his first pro game and picked up an assist on his first shift on Josh Currier’s third of the season. Shewell, who had a cheering section tonight at the ACC, was glad his hard work allowed him to finally achieve his dream of playing in the NLL.
“It’s nice to break the ice, and hopefully there is more to come,” he said. “On a personal note, it’s nice to be able to check that off the list.”
The Knighthawks are now tied for third place in the East Division with the Buffalo Bandits (2-2), but have a chance to move into a first-place tie with the Rock (3-2) with a win tomorrow night at home.
“We just want to put the right foot forward and create good habits,” said Jamieson. “We know what we have to do and we know things are fixable. It’s a long season, but we need to keep getting better every week. This is one of the weeks where we get to do it back-to-back.”
Matt Vinc played the first quarter and gave up 5 goals as he made 12 saves. Angus Goodleaf finished the game with 38 saves as he yielded 12 goals.