By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester falls 13-10 to the Georgia Swarm as the Hawks are eliminated from the playoff chase.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For just the fourth time in franchise history, the Rochester Knighthawks will be watching the National Lacrosse League playoffs from the sidelines.
The Knighthawks needed to beat the league’s top team this season, the Georgia Swarm, on Friday night to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. However, the Swarm posted a 13-10 triumph, thus ousting the Hawks from the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Rochester also failed to qualify for the post season in 2008 and 2010.
“The effort was great tonight, there’s no question there,” said Knighthawks forward Joe Resetarits. “We didn’t capitalize on opportunities and we just fell short.”
“This season has been a learning curve,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “We’ve had a lot of changes over here and we’ve got a lot of young guys, but the future is bright here in Rochester.”
Rochester (6-11) fell behind Georgia (13-4) , 3-0, in the first quarter, but battled back to tie the game 3-3 in the second stanza on goals by Dan Lomas, Resetarits, and Jarrett Davis.
The Hawks took their only lead of the contest, 4-3, on rookie Kyle Jackson’s tally. The lead last just 41 seconds as the Swarm netted the equalizer past Hawks goalie Matt Vinc. About 4:30 later the Swarm regained the advantage, but Cory Vitarelli scored on a power play to even the count.
Georgia slipped a goal past Vinc with 5 seconds left in the first half for a 6-5 margin.
The Knighthawks tied the game for the final time, 6-6, on Jackson’s second goal early in the third quarter.
The Swarm tallied the next 4 goals to take control of the contest.
The Hawks scored the last 2 goals of the third to cut the deficit to 10-8, but could get no closer.
Resetarits paced Rochester with 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points. Jackson finished with 2 goals and 3 assists. Dan Dawson added 1 goal and 3 assists.
Vinc ended with 41 saves in taking the loss (6-9).
With one final game left in Georgia, the Knighthawks are looking to cap off the season with a victory.
“We did the same thing last year,” Resetarits said. “We’ve got to end on a high note. That’s all we can do at this point.”
“We’ve got to put this one behind us,” Hasen said. “We’ve got to go out there tomorrow and be ready to play a full 60 (minutes).”
*NOTES – Dylan Evans surpassed former Knighthawk Stephen Hoar’s all-time faceoff record of 892…Dan Dawson became the fourth player in NLL history to register 800 assists as his 3 gave him 801 for his career…Joe Resetarits reached a career-high 26 goals with the 3 he scored against the Swarm…The Knighthawks are still 1 win away from reaching 200 as a franchise.
Links
Rochester Knighthawks – www.knighthawks.com
Videos
Joe Resetarits goal – https://youtu.be/FqSSd4FbbSQ
Jarrett Davis goal – https://youtu.be/BQOLyDwg_UQ
Cory Vitarelli pp goal – https://youtu.be/7MJeBd6ZfN4
Joe Resetarits interview – https://youtu.be/m0o8pzDwTrM
Kyle Jackson interview – https://youtu.be/hxpjA8Nr5Mk
Mike Hasen interview – https://youtu.be/E4AIOTvcqeI