Rochester seeks its first win ever against Black Wolves goalie Aaron Bold.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Knighthawks will make their first postseason appearance since the 2015 season when they host the New England Black Wolves on Friday, May 4 in the East Division Semifinals. Faceoff is set for 7:30 pm at Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.
The Knighthawks are back in the National Lacrosse League Playoffs after defeating the rival Buffalo Bandits 15-13 on April 28 at KeyBank Center.
“We have a new season ahead of us and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Knighthawks forward Joe Resetarits. “We have to take it up a notch and set the tempo early.”
The contest is the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams, but the first-ever playoff matchup between the two franchises. The five-time NLL champion Knighthawks are in the postseason for the 20th time in team history.
Rochester enters the postseason as winners of eight of its last 10 games, while New England has won three of its last four. With Saturday’s win, Rochester secured second place in the East Division with a 10-8 record. The Black Wolves finished in third place in the division with a 9-9 record, following a 16-11 loss to the Georgia Swarm on April 29.
Playoff Tickets: For playoff T-shirt pack and ticket information, go to www.knighthawks.com/onegoal.
Broadcast Information: The game will be broadcast on NewsRadio WHAM 1180 and the iHeartRadio app. Fans can also watch on NLL TV (NLLTV.com).
Scouting the Knighthawks: In the playoff-clinching victory, Rochester got an eight-point (4+4) effort from Kyle Jackson. The Knighthawks also received two goals and two assists each from Cody Jamieson and Austin Shanks. Joe Resetarits, who had a pair of goals and four assists, set the NLL single-season record for points by a U.S.-born player with 100. The Hamburg, N.Y. native finished fourth in the league in points and tied for third in assists (63) with teammate Cody Jamieson and Toronto’s Rob Hellyer. Head coach Mike Hasen also reached a milestone last Saturday, tying Paul Day for the most wins in franchise history with 75. Hasen (12) can also pass Darris Kilgour for fourth place in league history in postseason wins with just one more victory. Defenseman Graeme Hossack ended the regular season tied for the league lead with 34 caused turnovers and was third with a career-best 163 loose balls.
Vinc chasing Knighthawks Legend: Goalie Matt Vinc enters the playoffs just 51 saves shy of passing former Knighthawks great Pat O’Toole (802) for first all-time in NLL postseason saves. During the regular season, Vinc was second in the league in save percentage (.782) and third in saves (651).
Scouting the Black Wolves: New England has advanced to the playoffs in all three seasons of its existence. In 2016, the Black Wolves advanced to the East Division Finals. This season, Kevin Crowley led the offense with a career-high, league-leading 51 goals. Goalie Aaron Bold led the league with a career-high 712 saves, which ranks second all-time in single-season NLL history.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Bold was the Knighthawks goalie in 2010 and 2011. Since then the Knighthawks are seeking their first win against him as either a member of the Rush for 6 seasons and this season with the Black Wolves.
East Division Finals: The winner of the East Division Semifinals will travel to play the defending champion Georgia Swarm in the division finals on Saturday, May 12 at 7:05 pm.