A 7-goal 3rd quarter carries Rochester to a 13-12 win over New York.
By Rochester Knighthawks
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — What began as a relatively calm matchup between the NLL’s two expansion teams quickly escalated into one of the biggest back-and-forth offensive battles of the season as the Rochester Knighthawks (2-8) survived a late push from the New York Riptide (1-10) and held on for a thrilling 13-12 win on Saturday at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
Curtis Knight led the Knighthawks with eight assists, including the 200th of his pro career early in the second quarter. Holden Cattoni (4+2) recorded six points on the night, while also earning his fourth hat trick on the year. Dan Michel (2+1) and Mark Cockerton (2+2) both recorded their first multi-goal efforts in a Rochester uniform, while Turner Evans (2+0) also tallied two markers during the contest. Phil Caputo (1+3), Ryland Rees (1+1) and Doug Utting (1+0) all contributed to the scoresheet with a goal apiece. Goaltender Rylan Hartley (1+2) made his third consecutive start in the crease, making 49 saves on the 61 shots he faced while recording his first professional win.
Dan Lomas (6+2) put up a six-goal effort for the Riptide, with four straight coming over the final 7:54 of regulation, while adding two assists to finish off his eight-point night. Tyson Gibson was the only other New York player to put together a major multi-point effort with two markers during the contest and five assists. Kieran McArdle (1+2), Travis Longboat (1+2), Gale Thorpe (1+1), and John Wagner (1+0) all contributed a goal apiece while combining for five of the Riptide’s 19 assists. Goaltender Alex Buque (1-9) made the start in net for New York and took the loss, stopping just 29 of the shots he faced.
After the Knighthawks exploded for seven goals in the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead, the Riptide scored the game’s final six goals in the fourth to pull within goal, including four straight from Lomas. The contest came down to the final minute but Rochester was able to hold off the last-second push from New York to pick up its second win in franchise history.
“We just came out and kept it simple,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “The ball was moving, as well as our feet offensively, and then defensively we just packed it in there and got in lanes. We dictated where their shots were coming from and when we do those things, we can go on runs like that.”
After closing out the second quarter with back-to-back goals to take a 5-4 lead into the half, the Knighthawks turned things up in the third quarter as they went on a seven-goal run to take a six-goal lead on the Riptide all within the first five minutes of the third frame.
Evans ignited the run just 53 seconds into the quarter with a power-play goal on a pass right in front of the crease from Caputo for his first of two goals during the third. Less than two minutes later, Utting would corral a loose ball off the wall at the opposite side of the field and outrun the New York defense before notching his first professional marker.
Caputo and Cockerton would complete the seven-goal run for Rochester, with Cockerton lighting the lamp for his first time with the Knighthawks. As New York answered back with two more tallies before the quarter’s end, Cattoni began a three-goal run of his own, notching the final two markers in the third frame before completing his four-goal night with the first goal in the final quarter of regulation.
After being outscored 7-2 in the third, New York flipped the script in the fourth, outscoring the Knighthawks 6-1 to pull within a goal. Cattoni’s fourth of the night just 41 seconds into the final frame made it a 13-6 advantage for Rochester, but the Riptide refused to go away quietly.
Determined to close the gap, New York rattled off six straight goals over the next 10 minutes to pull within a goal. Trailing 13-12 with less than a minute remaining, New York pulled Buque for the extra attacker, but Hartley stood on his head and made a game-saving stop in the final seconds to preserve the win for Rochester.
New York got on the board first as Gibson found the back of the net early on in the first frame. After the Riptide went on a two-goal run to start off the game, Rochester found its way back into the contest with two straight tallies from Michel for his first multi-goal effort of his professional career.
Gibson gave the visitors the lead once more before heading into the second with a 3-2 score in favor of New York.
Rochester gained the lead in the second with Rees finding the back of the net for the third time this season and evening up the score at three. After another goal by the Riptide, Rochester begin its seven-goal run beginning with Cattoni’s first of four goals on the night at the 9:05 mark. Just minutes later, Cockerton tallied his first of two goals on the evening, giving the Knighthawks a one-goal advantage heading into the half.
“It feels great,” Hartley said when talking about the win. “We have deserved this for a while now and after getting it, we are going to enjoy it. We came in and had a good practice this morning and had our heads focused. We knew we had to have this one.”
Rochester begins a two-game western road swing on Saturday, March 7 when they travel to Pechanga Arena to take on the San Diego Seals for the only time this season. Game time is slated for a 10:30 p.m. ET.
Shawn Evans injured
Rochester Knighthawks General Manager and Vice President of Lacrosse Operations Dan Carey announced on Saturday that the team assigned forward Shawn Evans to the injured reserve list and activated defenseman Dustyn Pratt off the practice squad ahead of tonight’s matchup against the New York Riptide.
Evans had appeared in all 9 games for the Knighthawks this season, ranking second on the team in scoring with 43 points (14+29) and a team-high 31 penalty minutes. Earlier this season, the Peterborough, ONT., native became just the sixth player in NLL history to record 1,200 career points and needs one more goal to surpass Shawn Williams for ninth all-time in league history.
Pratt potentially can make his season debut tonight for the Knighthawks, who selected the Orangeville, ONT., native in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2019 NLL Entry Draft.
*NOTES — Averaging nearly 6 points per game through his first 8 games, Holden Cattoni’s explosive start to the 2019-20 season has him ranked fifth in the NLL in scoring while continuing to pace the Knighthawks in all offensive categories in goals (18), assists (33) and points (51)….Ryland Rees came into the weekend third among all first-year players with a team-high 58 loose ball recoveries, trailing only New England’s Joe Nardella (72) and New York’s Alex Woodall (66) in that category…Rochester’s power-play is one of the most potent in the league with a 47.22% success rate that ranks seventh-best in the league. To date, the Knighthawks have scored 17 goals on 36 man-advantage opportunities and come into the weekend boasting a remarkable .714 conversion rate over their last four games, going 10-for-14 on the power-play over that span…The Riptide enter their inaugural season led by rookie head coach and general manager Regy Thorpe, who spent his entire 15-year playing career with the previous Knighthawks franchise. One of the most iconic players in NLL history, Thorpe appeared in 193 career games with Rochester from 1995-2009, recording 76 points on five goals and 71 assists. He also amassed 966 loose ball recoveries while helping the former Knighthawks to a pair of NLL championships in 1997 and 2007.