Knighthawks rout New England

By CRAIG POTTER

Rookie Kyle Jackson racks up 11 points in leading Rochester to a 15-8 win over the Black Wolves.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rookie Kyle Jackson rose to fill the scoring void, created by the absence of 3 veterans from the lineup, with an 11-point night in just his second National Lacrosse League contest on Saturday before 6,256 fans at the Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.

“It was awesome, but at the end of the day, I was kind of just lucky enough that when I passed the ball my teammates were able to put the ball in the back of the net,” Jackson said. “We’re getting to know each other; we’re still clicking as an offensive unit. We haven’t really got there yet but it’s nice to see things to develop for us in this game in particular.”

The Rochester Knighthawks battled back from a 2-goal deficit three times, then pulled away in the second half to beat the New England Black Wolves, 15-8.

Jackson finished with 2 goals and 9 assists to pace the offense. Veteran Stephen Keogh returned to the lineup, after missing last week’s season opener, with 6 points on 3 goals and 3 assists.

The Black Wolves held leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 5-3 before the Hawks came out after halftime to take control of the game in the third quarter. Jackson scored the fourth of 9 power play goals that tied the game 5-5 5:44 into the period.

Rookie Wayne Van Every put Rochester in front to stay about 2 minutes later.

“They were good tonight again. They were picking shots and weren’t wasting many opportunities,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen about the rookies.

Dan Lomas and Scott Campbell also found the back of the net to give the Knighthawks an 8-5 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

The Hawks tacked on 5 goals in the fourth, 1 on a penalty shot by Jarrett Davis, plus 4 more, all of which came on power plays.

Keogh (3g + 3a) collected a hat trick as did rookie Josh Currier (3g + 2a). Joe Resetarits picked up 5 points on 1 goal and 4 assists.

“The ‘O’ as a whole was clicking; the ball was moving really well,” Currier said. “The whole offense was firing tonight, so everyone was getting their points.”

Rochester goalie Matt Vinc blanked New England for 25 minutes, including the entire third quarter when the Black Wolves managed just 5 shots.

“The defense played well, from the goalie on out. ‘Vno’ made the saves he had to make,” said Quinn Powless about Matt Vinc, who finished with 37 saves.

NOTES — The Knighthawks (1-1) were missing veteran forwards Cody Jamieson (injury), Cory Vitarelli (injury), and Dan Dawson (personal) from the lineup…The Hawks are off next weekend, but then play 3 road games before returning to the BCA on Feb. 11 against the 2-time defending NLL champion Saskatchewan Rush…The Knighthawks honored the last surviving Akwesasne Mohawk Code Talker from WWII, Louis Levi Oakes, prior to the game on Native American Night…At halftime, motivational speaker, entrepreneur and visionary “Savvy” Savannah Simon gave a talk to inspire and uplift the crowd. It apparently helped the Hawks as well in the second half.

Links

Rochester Knighthawks – www.knighthawks.com

Videos

Code Talker ceremony – https://youtu.be/fF8zKD4LCpg

Stephen Keogh 1st pp goal – https://youtu.be/epL7xz_hYWA

Joe Resetarits pp goal – https://youtu.be/wor1L1NDv2k

Josh Currier goal – https://youtu.be/F6UvgmwuUuw

Quinn Powless goal – https://youtu.be/sDnqzZsFYZ8

Dan Lomas goal – https://youtu.be/7_bHxQpwoYs

Matt Vinc interfered with – https://youtu.be/Xo4ZxTK63hQ

Stephen Keogh 2nd pp goal – https://youtu.be/hwCklC0n6UY

Kyle Jackson pp goal – https://youtu.be/7ofhO6DdIyg