By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester jumps out to a 9-point lead en route to a 17-15 victory over the Georgia Swarm.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With 10 new names on the roster, and last season’s top two scorers not in the lineup, the Rochester Knighthawks notched their first home preseason victory in several years with a 17-15 triumph over the Georgia Swarm before an estimated crowd of 3,500 fans on Saturday night at the Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.
The Knighthawks first two first-round 2016 draft selections – Josh Currier and Kyle Jackson – 6th and 7th overall respectively, combined for 5 goals and 5 assists as the hosts yielded the first goal of the game, and were key in the 9 consecutive tallies to take control of the contest.
Jackson led the team in points with 6 on 1 goal and 5 assists.
“It was great,” said Knighthawks rookie Kyle Jackson. “It was good to get my feet wet in this facility and kind of jump into things and come out with the win.
“I feel great. Today was a great experience to get out there and see what it was like. I got my feet wet for the first time and it’s about to be an exciting season and I’m thrilled to get started in a couple weeks.”
Currier led the squad in goals with 4.
“It was exciting,” said Currier. “It was nice to be able to contribute to a win. The guys were talking about how they hadn’t had a preseason win in a few years, so it was nice to help out with that. I’m adjusting to the pro game. It’s a lot faster which fits my style pretty well, so it’s been a lot of fun so far and I’m really liking the pace.
“The arena is awesome. I didn’t know what to expect when I came in here but it was really cool and the fans seemed pretty exciting. I can’t wait to see what it’s like when this place is packed.”
The Hawks built a 9-goal bulge by halftime (14-5) and again early in the third quarter (15-6) before the Swarm rallied to pull within 3 goals at 15-12 midway through the fourth stanza.
However, goals by Kevin Ross and rookie Dan Lomas re-established a 5-goal advantage for Rochester.
Georgia had a 5-minute major penalty power play, but only 3:09 showed on the clock. The Swarm scored twice on the power play, but still trailed by a pair with just 3 seconds remaining in the game.
Lomas and rookie Luke Laszkiewicz each contributed 2 goals and 1 assist. Joe Resetarits added 1 goal and 3 assists as did rookie Wayne Van Every. Other goal scorers included: Jarrett Davis (2g, 2a), Joel Matthews, Sid Smith, and Paul Dawson.
Jackson led the Knighthawks in the preseason scoring, finishing with 13 points (4+9). Resetarits finished second with 6 goals and 5 assists, while Currier connected for 7 points (6+1) in two games.
*NOTES — In addition to the release of several veterans in the off-season, the Knighthawks recently learned that Joel White and Irondequoit native Joe Walters will not play for the team this season, according to team Director of Communications Craig Rybczynski…Last year’s leading Knighthawks scorers Cody Jamieson and Dan Dawson did not play in the home preseason game…The Knighthawks ended the preseason with a 2-1 record…The regular season opens Thursday, Dec. 29 at the BCA against the Toronto Rock.
Links
Rochester Knighthawks – www.knighthawks.com
Videos
Sid Smith goal – https://youtu.be/bOCxWRCxtdk
Wayne Van Every goal – https://youtu.be/jGVJ8SZEf-U
Josh Currier interview – https://youtu.be/-cNqqjaY734
Kyle Jackson interview – https://youtu.be/_PxCked0TIs