Well I guess the trade deadline recap will have to wait.

Calgary Roughnecks 14 – Rochester Knighthawks 7

After Jeremy Thompson scored in transition to open the scoring, the lid was closed on one side of the floor and opened on the other. Haiden Dickson tied the game after receiving a two-man screen by Noah Manning before Tanner Cook gave the Roughnecks the lead that they would not relinquish. A transition goal with 4:16 left in the quarter from Tyler Pace followed by an outside laser from Brayden Mayea made it 4-1, and then in the final seconds of the first, Mayea extended the lead to 5-1 after the first. The Roughnecks picked up an opportune powerplay right out of the quarter break, and Tanner Cook picked the corner from outside, sending Rylan Hartley to the bench. While Calgary took a penalty of their own soon after, Mayea cut past his man with a basketball-baseline-equivalent drive and for the second week in a row scored a mid air behind the back tally to welcome Riley Hutchcraft to the game and make it 7-1 just 20 minutes into the game. While Ryan Lanchbury ended the run and Connor Fields scored the third goal for Rochester in the second frame, two more goals from Tanner Cook extended the halftime lead to 9-3.

Into the third, Calgary picked back up where they left off starting with a transition look from Riley Loewen, who was initially stopped but got his rebound and flew through the crease. Minutes later, Haiden Dickson pumped and scored through a screen to make it 11-3, which would become the largest lead of the game. Life returned for the Knighthawks offense in the final five minutes of the third with two goals from Ryan Smith and then a powerplay goal from Thomas McConvey, cutting the deficit to 5. However in the fourth, goals in quick succession from Noah Manning and Haiden Dickson extended the lead again, and while Smith picked up his third of the game soon after, Tanner Cook had time for a fifth of the game to settle the final score at 14-7.

While Rochester peppered shots for most of the second half, Aden Walsh was able to turn aside 29 of them and finished his save total on the game at 51. Offensively, Cook’s 5 goals were complimented by 3 assists. Tyler Pace had a goal and 5 assists, and Brayden Mayea finished with 3 goals and 2 assists.

For the Knighthawks, outside of Smith’s hat trick, Thomas McConvey, Ryan Lanchbury, and Connor Fields were limited to a combined 3 goals and 7 assists. Rylan Hartley stopped 35 of the 46 shots he faced, while Riley Hutchcraft stopped 7 of the 10 he faced. With the loss, after the statement overtime win against the Rush the week before, the Knighthawks dropped back below .500 at 5-6, with 5 losses in their last 6 games.

The next stretch of lacrosse for the Knighthawks sees two games next week (Sunday and the following Saturday) against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs who are directly competing with them for a playoff spot, followed by a struggling FireWolves team and two road games against more teams directly competing with them for the Top 8: The Halifax Thunderbirds and Buffalo Bandits. The time to flip the switch is now, and the switch provided an electric shock as a wakeup call.

Monday evening, fresh after the sun set an hour later than two days prior, President and General Manager Dan Carey announced that the team was relieving Head Coach Mike Hasen and Assistant Coach Pat O’Toole of their duties, with more on the matter being expected to be announced Tuesday (the Knighthawks typically practice on Tuesdays).

Hasen’s tenure behind the bench ends with 120 wins in 251 games, dating back to the old franchise starting in the 2011 season and taking over the expansion franchise right away in 2019-20. After two expansion struggles, the Knighthawks made the playoffs each of the last three seasons, but they have been unable to win a playoff game in that time, with the last home playoff game in Rochester dating back to June 2018 with Game 2 of that year’s NLL Finals. Hasen of course was also the coach of the Three-Peat from 2012 to 2014 and played for the Knighthawks from 1999 to their 2007 championship. After his own retirement in 2010 after joining the team as a hall of fame goaltender in 1999, O’Toole also joined the coaching ranks and continued in that role through this weekend.

While the team has not spoken on the announcement yet other than the official statement thanking them for their generation of service to lacrosse in Rochester, it is expected that the quick sand the team has found themselves in since their statement win against the Bandits on January 10 played a big part in it, with the back-to-back losses to Vancouver and suspensions to Rylan Hartley and Tyler Biles impacting the flow of the season and never really finding an emotional reset place that might come now with a new voice starting Sunday in Henderson. Despite the playoff appearances, the two seasons prior saw 1-4 and 3-6 starts that prevented them from being higher in the standings, and a 4-8 finish in 2023 after starting 6-0. The season began with championship aspirations, and while the team has the talent on paper to still get there this season, the teams they have lost to before this weekend (Colorado, Toronto, Vancouver x2, and Ottawa) sit between 9-4 and 7-5 and all stand in the way of a postseason spot let alone one in the top 4, where a home game would be ensured in the playoffs. They also finish their season with two games against the Georgia Swarm, who are 8-4.

The offense has dropped under 12 goals for per game for the first time this season, while the defense has given up 14 or more goals now 4 times, averaging 12.45 per game. Their penalty kill currently sits tied for last at 40%, giving up 28 powerplay goals in 47 times shorthanded. The goaltenders have combined for a .758 save percentage after a .777 season last year. The players will be given the opportunity to turn this around, but as one piece is removed from the puzzle, it serves as a wakeup call that more moves could come this summer if they fall short again. Ryan Smith pointed out postgame that the players do have a piece of the blame for the struggles the last 6 weeks:

As of right now, Assistant Coaches Kyle Kallay and Matt Di Lella remain on the staff.

Week 15 Review

Toronto Rock 13 – Vancouver Warriors 10

The Knighthawks certainly did not get help in the standings either, as the Rock, energized by the return of Nick Rose from injury, got out to a 10-3 lead and held on for a road win in Vancouver to stand pat as the 6-seed. Rose finished with 39 saves in the win, while the offense was led by CJ Kirst with 5 goals and 2 assists and 3 goals and an assist for Challen Rogers. Marcus Klarich had 5 goals in a losing effort for the Warriors, while Keegan Bal had a goal and 8 assists.

Halifax Thunderbirds 13 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 11

After getting out to a 5-1 deficit, the Thunderbirds ensured that their season was certainly not over yet, storming back the rest of the way and holding on for a home win to get to 5-7. Clarke Petterson led the Thunderbirds with 3 goals and 4 assists, and despite Randy Staats missing another game to injury, Stephen Keogh stepped up with 3 goals and an assist, much to the delight postgame of longtime teammate Cody Jamieson, who had a goal and 3 assists. Jonathan Donville had a goal and 4 assists to lead Vegas, who is now 4-7. Chris Cloutier had 2 goals and 3 assists.

Ottawa Black Bears 10 – Colorado Mammoth 5

If it’s still not clear that the Ottawa Black Bears defense is for real this season, what more is it going to take? They did not allow a goal across the final 26:15 of the game and scored the final 7 goals for a road win in Denver for their 4th win in a row, placing them at 8-5 in the 5-seed. Zach Higgins got the win with 35 saves, as his defense limited the Mammoth to only 5 shots on goal in the fourth quarter. Jeff Teat led the offense with 4 goals and 3 assists, and Rob Hellyer and Sam Firth combined for 8 assists. Andrew Kew had 4 of the 5 Mammoth goals, joined in that column by one from Dylan McIntosh. Despite the loss, Dillon Ward rebounded from the week prior with 42 saves. With the Warriors also losing, the two teams stay tied at 9-4 with the Mammoth owning the tiebreak after their early season head-to-head win.

Oshawa FireWolves 13 – Philadelphia Wings 12

Highlights are not yet on YouTube. They, like every game, are available on NLL+

Despite relinquishing their 5-0 first quarter lead and giving up 7 goals in the second quarter, the FireWolves stuck with it and picked up a 13-12 win on the road for their third win of the season, led by a goal and 7 assists from Alex Simmons, 4 goals and an assist for Tye Kurtz, and a combined 5 and 5 for Dyson Williams and Dawson Theede. Brennan O’Neill led the Wings with 5 goals and 2 assists, while Joe Resetarits had 2 goals and 5 assists in what would be his final game with the team (more on that later in the week of course). Dalton Young had 3 goals and an assist. Deacon Knott made 36 saves in relief of Nick Damude.

We’ll recap the deadline and preview the week ahead later in the week. Also how about those Buffalo Sabres?

(Photo Credit: Micheline Veluvolu)