By CRAIG POTTER
Kyle Jackson nets the game-winner for his only goal to beat the Swarm, 11-10.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Knighthawks capture their fourth consecutive victory with a thrilling 11-10 overtime victory over the National Lacrosse League defending champion Georgia Swarm on Saturday night before 7,214 fans at the Connors & Ferris Field at the Blue Cross Arena.
Kyle Jackson only scored one goal, but it came at the opportune time at 1:30 in the overtime period for the game-winner.
“I hadn’t scored all game and I was really struggling so it was nice that last one kind of fell in,” Jackson said. “It was a huge character win for us.”
However, the outcome was very much in doubt with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Billy Dee Smith picked up a 5-minute major penalty for an illegal hi-sticking call.
But fate was on Rochester’s side as Georgia’s Jeremy Noble held Cody Jamieson for a 2-minute penalty as regulation time expired.
“Ultimately, I like playing 4-on-4, more space for me,” Jackson said with a smile.
That meant that instead of starting the overtime killing off over 4 minutes in penalty time, the two teams would play 4-on-4 for the first 2 minutes of the extra period.
“Noble stuck his stick on me and was pulling me down a little bit so I wasn’t going to fight to stay on my feet, and the ref made a call there,” Jamieson said.
The Swarm won the faceoff and Miles Thompson beat Hawk goalie Matt Vinc with the shot, but hit the pipe.
“It’s a game of inches as Thompson put that one off the crossbar in the overtime,” said Knighthawks coach Mike Hasen. “It was nice to be on the right side of these things, but it was by an inch and it could have been over if Thompson had that ball.”
The Knighthawks gained control of the ball and Jackson made no mistake as he beat Georgia netminder Mike Poulin cleanly to secure the victory.
Jamieson paced the Knighthawks with 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists.
Rochester led 9-6 entering the fourth quarter, but the Swarm went on a 4-goal run to pull ahead, 10-9, with 6:01 to play. Rookie Eric Fannell tallied the equalizer less than a minute later.
“We have a confident group right now and they’re playing with confidence,” said Hasen.
Joe Resetarits continued his fine play for Rochester with 4 points (1g, 3a). Brad Gillies, rookie Austin Shanks, and Jackson each netted 1 goal and 2 assists. Fannell and Josh Currier added 2 goals apiece as Jake Withers accounted for the other goal.
The Knighthawks evened their record at 6-6 to remain in the thick of the playoff chase as all the team are just 1.5 games apart. New England leads the Eastern Conference with a 5-4 record.
When asked if he thought he would be conducting interviews of a 6-6 team after the 6-game losing streak, Hasen said.
“You know what? You hate to say yes, but yeah. Because these guys are in this room for a reason. It’s the character they have. I mean, we knew we were going to come out of it. It may sound cocky. . . but the way we were working inside the dressing room that no one else sees, it just breeds confidence. Right now, it’s showing on the floor. So long story short, I do believe it.”
Jamieson added, “At 2-6, would we have said 6-6? That’s what the ultimate goal was. But at 2-0 when we were at the start of the season, this is a bad spot. We’re lucky. we’re very, very lucky that the East side is as close as it is this year, because we very well could have been out of it by then, losing six in a row. We’re very, very fortunate. We’re very, very lucky, but hard work brings luck. You’ve got to work hard to capitalize on luck. We’ve been having our nose to the grindstone, we’ve been putting in the work.”
*NOTES – The Knighthawks signed former Hobart College standout Frank Brown to a one-year deal. The transition player was added to the active roster for Saturday’s game. The 24-year-old is in the midst of his rookie season in the National Lacrosse League after being selected 24th overall by the Swarm in the 2017 NLL Entry Draft. The hulking 6-foot-4, 200-pound Brown appeared in 7 games this season with Georgia, recording 1 goal, 6 assists and 22 loose balls. Coming to Rochester is a fresh start for a player who has a ton of potential…The Knighthawks travel to Western Canada next weekend to take on the Calgary Roughnecks.
Links
Rochester Knighthawks – knighthawks.com
Videos
Kyle Jackson gw goal – https://youtu.be/tMPpUmzBCLE
Holding penalty – https://youtu.be/FtousBpL7xg