Rochester rallies from a 6-goal deficit to send the game into the extra period.
UNCASVILLE, CT. — The Rochester Knighthawks stormed back in the second half to force overtime, but fell 10-9 to the New England Black Wolves on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Joe Resetarits forced the extra session with a laser from the left-wing side with just 39 seconds to play. The goal was Rochester’s third of the fourth quarter and sixth of the second half.
“When we attack the net good things happen. In the first half, we shied away from that. We are a fast, young team and we need to be aggressive,” said Resetarits. “This is a game of runs. We got a couple, smelled blood and kept going.”
Resetarits finished the night with four points (1+3), while Stephen Keogh led the way with five (2+3). The comeback was fueled by a 5-0 run over a 6:33 span during the final two quarters. Keogh scored both of his goals during Rochester’s run. His second of the night was a bounce shot that beat Evan Kirk five-hole to tie the contest at eight.
The Knighthawks also got three points from Kyle Jackson (2+1), Dan Dawson (1+2) and Cory Vitarelli (1+2). Vitarelli, who was making his 2017 debut, scored in transition to open the fourth quarter to extend the Knighthawks’ run to four.
“It feels good to get the first game out of the way,” he said. “It was a good second-half effort for us, but it was too little too late.”
Dan Lomas opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 2:28 of the first quarter to give the Knighthawks the early 1-0 lead. Matt Vinc made 15 saves in the opening frame and finished the game with 47 stops.
Rochester returns home on Saturday, Feb. 11 to host the Saskatchewan Rush at 7:30 p.m. at Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.