Because of COVID, we still have a fair amount of “First time in xx days since” scenarios going on. Saturday will mark 781 days from the day sports started shutting down due to COVID (3/11/2020); this date in question goes back 1100 days.

No. Thank You. pic.twitter.com/UjoxyV79jZ

— Halifax Thunderbirds (@HFXThunderbirds) April 28, 2019

The Halifax Thunderbirds will play their first game in Rochester following their relocation from the Flower City following the 2018-19 NLL season. The story has been told plenty of times: Curt Styers relocated the Knighthawks to Halifax, and, subsequently, PSE was granted an expansion franchise in Rochester which would stay named the Knighthawks with a uniform makeover, yadda yadda yadda, the two teams play in Rochester on Saturday. 15 of the Thunderbirds were on that 2019 Knighthawks team. Additionally, Shawn Evans will play his first game in Rochester since being traded at the March trade deadline to the Thunderbirds.

Now we’re all caught up? Okay, let’s talk Knighthawks. Don’t worry Rochester. Next season will get a full schedule of coverage for the green and black. Think of this as a sneak peek into that coverage.

It’s been a Murphy’s Law season for the 2021-22 rendition of the Knighthawks. After a 2-10 inaugural season before the COVID shutdown in 2019-20, the Knighthawks revamped their defense with trades and UFA signings, signed a veteran starter to anchor the pipes, and drafted to beef up the offense. Veteran defenseman Mike Manley was injured during the PLL season and will not dress this season. After a 1-1 start to the season after a win on Long Island against the Riptide and a home loss to the Bandits, Evan Kirk, the aforementioned new starting goalie, was placed on the holdout list after work commitments were going to force him to be unable to travel for both practices and games. They won the following week in Albany convincingly led in the pipes by goalie prospect Rylan Hartley, who you may have seen drop the gloves (and other equipment) in this game to improve to 2-1.

Then COVID hit the roster hard, leading, in turn, to the team going a full month until their next game, and the team stumbled through 4 straight losses until their next win, once again against Albany. After a third loss to the Bandits to end February, the team went back and forth with the Georgia Swarm down in Duluth into overtime tied at 16, where Hartley took a shot off the mask and was visibly shaken up. He finished the game in a losing effort about a minute later, but that would be the last time we see the breakout goalie this season as he was later diagnosed with a concussion, forcing practice squad rookie goalie Joel Watson into the starting role. It was also a transition second-year player Cory Highfield’s final game of the season due to injury. Along with a heavy volume of growing pains for Watson early, second-year defender Thomas Whitty and third-year defender Matt Gilray, who they traded for over the offseason from Buffalo, also went down from injury.

The roster losses, especially in net, took the Knighthawks off their initial path of pursuing a playoff spot in their second season, but in these final games, they’ve started to see their young players grow into larger roles and were fortunate to end an 8 game losing streak this past Friday against the Calgary Roughnecks, defeating the defending champs 15-7, and now they will look to finish the season off with a statement win against the team that used to call their barn their home.

The Knighthawks are led by rookie forward Ryan Smith. The #3 pick in the 2020 draft has 33 goals and 24 assists in 16 games, which is good for third in scoring for rookies. His lefty counterpart is Holden Cattoni, who led the Knighthawks in points during their inaugural season and is three points ahead of Smith in points with 27 goals and 33 assists. Veterans Curtis Knight, Turner Evans, and Thomas Hoggarth are the primary secondary offensive options with Charlie Bertrand also offering a strong shot in his first season playing box lacrosse. Not to look too far into the future, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Knighthawks go offense again when they pick #2 in the upcoming draft to add to this group.

Defensively, we’ve mentioned some names that have been out of the lineup, but that isn’t to take away from those who have still been around. Dan Coates and Paul Dawson are the veteran anchors of the defense and the leadership of the team. Ryland Rees, the organization’s first draft pick back in 2019, has had a breakout second season defensively and has added 10 goals in transition this season. Those three along with Whitty and Gilray will likely be back as the starting 5 defenders on the Knighthawks next season. The young group is still developing and has had their growing pains as a whole, giving up close to a league-high in goals this season so far, but they’re on the rise. With Hartley back in the pipes next season and Joel Watson there to return to a backup development role, they’re on track to get back on the track they found themselves at the beginning of next season.

While the East won’t get any less competitive next season, especially with their expansion sibling Riptide taking a big step of their own this season, getting back into a competitive place in the standings as teams take turns beating each other will be good for this young group to be in the mix next season to try and return box lacrosse in Rochester to its traditional glory.

Which I guess brings us back to Saturday.

Keys to Saturday’s Game vs Halifax

• First 5 Minutes: The Knighthawks have gotten themselves into trouble late in the season with slow starts, finding themselves down 4 or 5 multiple times this spring before scoring their first goal. They’re going to get their best crowd of the season on Saturday, and considering how their opponent moved on from the Flower City, they will be very active and energetic out of the gates. If they can keep the crowd engaged from the jump and net a couple of goals early, they should be able to control the pace of play and the game script. Especially because the familiar faces on the Thunderbirds will, themselves be fired up out of the gate as well.
• Value Possession: Jake Withers has won 69.7% of his faceoffs this season to lead the lead in that category. The two Knighthawks’ primary faceoff takers, Tyler Halls and Chris Willman have struggled in getting results on draws this year, especially against the cream of the crop faceoff athletes. Halls held his own in the first half against TD Ierlan two weeks ago against Toronto, but Ierlan came back and won 9 of 10 faceoffs in the second half in a game that the Rock came back late to snatch a victory from the upset-seeking Knighthawks. Whether it’s in transition or following defensive stops, the Knighthawks need to make sure that they don’t waste their offensive opportunities in a game where they will likely not have as many possessions as the Thunderbirds.
• Unload The Playbook on The Powerplay: While neither team is very strong on special teams (ROC 12th in PP 13th in PK, HFX last in both PP and PK), the Thunderbirds have been shorthanded the second-most times in the NLL, so they will certainly be due to taking some more penalties on Saturday. Again, as part of valuing offensive possessions, and with the team playing their final game of the season, take that nothing to lose mindset and pull all the strings to get high-percentage opportunities with the man advantage.
• The Pipes: It will likely be Joel Watson once again in the net for the Knighthawks, but regardless if it’s him or if Rylan Hartley makes a cameo appearance to end the season, both goalies bringing in some confidence will be very valuable for the Knighthawks. Their defense has done a great job this month of forcing their opponents into a heavy dose of low percentage shots, so, as easy as it is to stay, just stop the ball and control what you can control. As for Halifax, after being pulled in 3 of his previous 4 appearances, Warren Hill was benched for Aaron Bold this past Saturday against the Riptide. With this being the last game before the playoffs, it could go either way as for who coach Mike Accursi goes with to start the game. Regardless, both goalies can be beaten by moving them around and keeping them on their toes with different looks.

Saturday’s game at Blue Cross Arena will begin at 7:30 PM and can be seen in person and on ESPN+. CW Rochester will also be carrying the game for those who are unable to make it. (But if you can, and you’re in Rochester, you should really consider attending this one, because it’s a big one).

Photo Credit: Micheline V