Colorado scores early to notch a 12-7 victory over Rochester.
DENVER, CO. — The Rochester Knighthawks rallied late in the second half, but were beaten 13-7 by the Colorado Mammoth Saturday night at the Pepsi Center.
Rochester used a solid second half to clip away at the Colorado lead, scoring six times. The best stretch of the game for the Knighthawks was early in the fourth quarter when they netted consecutive goals from Torrey VanEvery, Cory Vitarelli, and Joe Resetarits.
The New England Black Wolves beat Saskatchewan Rush, 13-12, to even their record at 8-8, and tied the Toronto Rock for second place in the East Division. The Knighthawks remain in last place with a 5-10 record with 3 games to play. The Buffalo Bandits are 6-10.
In fact, Rochester outshot the Mammoth 52-45, peppering Colorado goalie Dillon Ward with shots over the final 30 minutes. The team’s resiliency was one of the positives to take away from Saturday’s game.
“The one good thing is we didn’t pack it in and we kept pushing the best we could,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “But we dug ourselves too deep a hole.”
Vitarelli finished with a team-high four points (1+3), while VanEvery netted a pair of goals in his pro debut. The Knighthawks also received one-goal, one-assist efforts from Resetarits, Kyle Jackson, Quinn Powless, and Dan Dawson. Angus Goodleaf finished with 19 saves in a relief appearance of starter Matt Vinc, and held Colorado scoreless for 15 minutes over the final two quarters.
Jordan Dance made his professional debut and played a gritty game indicative of his father, Kevin, who played for the Knighthawks from 1998-2000. Jordan joined Kevin as the first father-son duo to play for the Knighthawks.
With three game to play, the Knighthawks (5-10) remain alive in the playoff hunt as Buffalo (6-10) and New England (7-9) both lost this evening. That sets up a must-win game against the Black Wolves on Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Connors & Ferris Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
“It’s nothing but head and heart that is going to give us an opportunity to win,” said Hasen. “It’s our season this upcoming Saturday.”
The Knighthawks promoted forward Torrey VanEvery to the active roster and placed forward Dan Lomas on the practice squad on Saturday.
The 26-year-old VanEvery made his National Lacrosse League debut against the Colorado Mammoth, and scored the lone goal in the first half for Rochester.
VanEvery’s move to the active roster is a lesson in persistence and perseverance. The Six Nations product has been a member of the practice squad since re-signing with the Knighthawks on March 31. He first signed with the team on Dec. 23 and was a member of the practice squad for the first four games of the season. His original stint with the Knighthawks was back in October of 2012.