Two out of three ain’t bad, but two out of three isn’t a dynasty according to the old adages. So let’s talk about the context of why that’s the case? From what kept back-to-back champions from winning a third in a row, to the factors that determined the end of their elongated success outside of placing banners in rafters along the way.

But first, let’s close the book on how we got here, and what prevented the first Four-Peat.

Three-Peat Epilogue – 2015 Rochester Knighthawks

While they fell back to 12-6 in 2015 after a 14-4 season in 2014, the Knighthawks once again found themselves in the championship contention conversation. After finishing 0-2, the team won 12 of their last 16 games including another sweep of Buffalo along the way. Cody Jamieson and Dan Dawson once again led the way up front, with Jamieson registering 36 goals and 56 assists and Dawson adding 23 goals and 62 assists. Jordan Hall returned to the team and chipped in 25 goals and 39 assists. Between the pipes, Matt Vinc picked up an .803 save percentage and he and the defense put together a goals against average of 9.62. However, the Toronto Rock won the East at 14-4, so the Knighthawks didn’t have a bye to open the playoffs.

The sweep of the Bandits allowed them to host the first round playoff matchup against the 11-7 team, and while Chad Culp scored first 26 seconds into the game, the Knighthawks the next 5 goals and never trailed the rest of the way onto a 14-11 win, with Jamieson putting up 9 points, Dawson adding 7, and Joe Resetarits (4), Cory Vitarelli (3), and Jordan Hall (3) scoring hat tricks while Matt Vinc stopped 44 of the 55 shots he faced.

In the east final, the script started the same, with Toronto scoring first with a goal from Rob Hellyer before Rochester scored the next 5 goals. However this time, the Rock were able to tie the game up with the next four goals. From there, the teams exchanged goals towards a tie game at 9 with 3:59 to play. While being limited to 3 shots on goal, none of them finding the net to that point, it was Dan Dawson scoring the game winner in tight with 37 seconds left to give Rochester the Game 1 win.

For the time being, the Knighthawks once again found themselves a win away from the finals, but escaping by the skin of their teeth didn’t just occur on the scoreboard. Early in the game, the heart and soul of the team went down, and it would be awhile until they saw him again. A torn achilles for Cody Jamieson ended his season, and the Knighthawks would have to move forward without their leader. In his absence, Brad Self stepped up with 3 goals and 3 assists, and Craig Point had 3 goals and an assist.

Back at Air Canada Centre for Game 2, this time Toronto controlled the game from the start and kept it. Brett Hickey scored twice in the first 1:36 as part of a 4-2 first quarter before the Rock added 4 more goals in the second to extend their lead to 8-2, with Stephen Keogh scoring his second of the game with 3 seconds left in the half for an 8-3 halftime score. Keogh scored twice in the third quarter with Brad Self adding a goal after Stephan Leblanc opening the scoring for Toronto, and Keogh would score the first goal of the fourth quarter to cut the score to 9-7, but even with the Knighthawks going on the powerplay soon after, Josh Sanderson scored shorthanded to extend the lead, padded with another goal for Leblanc. Keogh finished the sock trick with 2:01 left, but the Knighthawks would be heading to another minigame.

Only this time, the magic had run out, and the symbolic end of the Knighthawks dynasty came along with it, as Sanderson scored twice in the first 1:13. Over the next 3 minutes, Colin Doyle, Leblanc, and Kevin Crowley extended the lead to 5-0, and Matt Vinc was pulled for Angus Goodleaf. The desperation spark wasn’t enough, as Rob Hellyer scored 32 seconds later and then again 1:34 later. It was 7-0 Rock. While Joe Resetarits and Joe Walters scored to cut the game to 7-2, there just wasn’t enough time. Patrick Merrill added a penalty shot goal to bring the score to 8-2, and the Toronto Rock had eliminated the Rochester Knighthawks to return to the Finals, as they did on the other side of the three-peat all the way back in 2011. While all putting up multi-assist games, the Rock’s defense held Dan Dawson, Cory Vitarelli, and Jordan Hall scoreless in the 70 minutes of lacrosse. Brandon Miller set aside 43 of the 51 shots he faces in Game 2 and 5 of the 7 in the minigame.

The dynasty was over, and with Jamieson’s future in jeopardy for the next season, expectations were certainly shelved heading into 2016. With fortune on his side, Jamieson not only returned for the full 2016 season, but he still led the team with 99 points along the way. However, after a win in Georgia to improve to 6-5, the team dropped their next 6 games. After winning their finale in New England, their 7-11 record was one game short of the Swarm’s 8-10, and for the first time since 2010 and the second time ever, the Knighthawks had missed the playoffs.

Between 2016 and 2017, rookies provided a spark with the likes of Graeme Hossack, Brad Gillies, Kyle Jackson, Josh Currier, and Dan Lomas, among others, but a quick turnaround in 2017 wasn’t in the fold. Jamieson had another major injury over the summer of 2016 — a torn ACL, and while he fought back to return for the 2017 season opener, he played 7 minutes before tearing it again. The 2017 team finished with an equal 7-11 record, and once again, finished a game short of a playoff berth despite the injuries. At 6-10 through 6 games, a home-and-home sweep in the final weekend against the Swarm could’ve given them the tiebreaker over New England, but they dropped the home leg 13-10 against the eventual champions.

In 2018, Jamieson was back to health for an 18 game campaign, and another rookie class — three first round picks from Ohio State in Jake Withers, Austin Shanks, and Eric Fannell joined the fray and provided a new spark. While they started 2-6 once again, everything started to click to the tune of 8 wins in their final 10 games, including another win and in finale victory in Buffalo to end the season, and a 10-8 record got them the 2 seed, where they would not only defeat the New England Black Wolves in the first round, but also had a statement win and won a goalie battle between Matt Vinc and Mike Poulin with a 9-8 final score to get back to the finals four years after their last appearance.

The 2018 finals started poorly, as the all of a sudden young Knighthawks after years of being veteran heavy were on the other side of the experience coin. Their opponents, the Saskatchewan Rush, were in their fourth finals in a row (we’ll talk about them later), and the Rush’s buzzsaw controlled the middle quarters on the way to a 16-9 victory. While back at Blue Cross Arena for Game 2, the Knighthawks controlled the whole way to the tune of a 13-8 win, a game that ended with a goal with now-Rush-forward Dan Dawson (who the team traded to the Rush halfway through the season in an effort to play faster).

In the end, however, the Rush proved to be too strong back in Saskatoon for Game 3. Rochester led 8-7 in the third, but the Rush rattled off the next 4 goals, and after 2 goals from Rochester to get back within 1, the final 4 goals on their way to a 15-10 win and their third title in four years.

The guard would change slowly but surely over the next calendar year. With the team on their way to Halifax following the 25th season in Rochester in 2018-19, Matt Vinc moved on to sign in free agency with the Bandits, and the remnants of the past teams didn’t have the juice to overcome what spiraled into a 2-11 start before some late life and a 6-12 record, missing the playoffs.

Dynasties hold on for as long as they can, but in the end, it’s incredibly hard to have the stars align for so long. The 2018 run was one final push in the stories of guys like Cody Jamieson, but that would be all but an epilogue of what was put together from 2012-2014, and the prologue of the Halifax Thunderbirds.

Regardless of the results in the middle to late 2010s, the Rochester Knighthawks do remain as of this moment as the only team to win three championships in a row in the professional lacrosse, and the Expansion-Era of the Knighthawks has a chance to play a part in ensuring that the City of Rochester can still hold their heads high about that fact in the Summer of 2025 (as I’m sure the Thunderbirds and other non-Buffalo teams in the NLL all would love to see this year).

Let’s take a look at what kept the closest competition from also reaching that feat.

1990s Philadelphia Wings and Buffalo Bandits

We have looked into detail about the 1992-1996 run where the Bandits and Wings exchanged championships, with the 1994 Wings preventing a Bandits threepeat, and then the 1996 Bandits preventing a Wings threepeat.

The Previous 10 Buffalo Bandits Championship Game Appearances (And More)

But even before that, after the Baltimore Thunder and Washington Wave beat the Wings in the first two seasons of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League in 1987 and 1988, the Wings responded with championship wins in 1989 and 1990. However in 1991, the Gait brothers stormed onto the scene as rookies with the Detroit Turbos, and 47 goals and 16 assists from Paul and 32 goals and 36 assists later from Gary, the Turbos were the runaway favorites with an 8-2 regular season and would be the favorites to beat whichever team came out of the American division. But it wasn’t Philadelphia. While finishing 5-5, the New York Saints did so as well, and both teams finished one game behind the 6-4 Baltimore Thunder, who the Turbo would defeat in the championship 14-12. The Turbos would be kept out of the finals the next season by the eventual champion Bandits, and then ahead of the the Wings would trade their entire 1993 draft to acquire Gary and Paul ahead of the 1993 season, which was the backbone of their second threepeat in 1994 and 1995. Gary and Paul faced off in the 1995 finals, as Paul had been sent to Rochester that season.

1999 – 2005 Toronto Rock

With the NLL adding their first Canadian team in Hamilton in 1998, the Ontario Raiders were sold and relocated to Maple Leaf Gardens to become the Toronto Rock, and alongside that, they developed a roster of legends right off the bat, with Bob Watson in net and familiar names such as Colin Doyle, Jim Veltman, Shawn Williams, Pat Coyle, Derek Keenan, Glenn Clark, Dan Ladoceur, and Steve Toll (you think Les Bartley had any influence on these guys to get into coaching?). While the Raiders were 5-5 in 1998, the Rock went 9-3 in 1999 and obliterated the Philadelphia Wings 13-2 in the semifinals and then beat the Rochester Knighthawks 13-10 in the championship, and the next year, the Rock ran it back with another 9-3 seasons and another finals matchup with the Knighthawks, and the two teams closed out the Maple Leaf Gardens with one of the most famous lacrosse games of all time. Kaleb Toth’s buzzer beating goal gave the Rock a 14-13 win and their second championship in a row.

In 2001, things went fairly similarly for the Rock with the exception of sharing the top record (10-4 this time) with the Knighthawks, but it wouldn’t be Rochester joining them in the finals for a third straight year. The Philadelphia Wings found their way past the Knighthawks (but certainly not without controversy), and it was their turn to head to Toronto, hoping to spoil Air Canada Centre’s first championship game. But one heroic goaltending performance from Dallas Elliuk led the Wings to a 9-8 win.

Despite coming up short in 2001, the Rock continued to be the cream of the crop in the early-2000s NLL with a 4th straight championship appearance in 2002, this time going on the road to face an Albany Attack team that went 14-2, led by 103 points from Josh Sanderson. Despite going 8-1 in the capital region while the Rock were 3-5 on the road in the regular season, the playoff expertise of the Rock pulled away with a 13-12 win. In 2003, with their defense leading the league in limiting goals against for the 5th straight season, the 11-5 Rock went to their 5th straight championship appearance, once again playing the Knighthawks and once again heading on the road. And their defense came up with another victory, as Bob Watson outdueled Pat O’Toole to the tune of an 8-6 win at the Blue Cross Arena at The War Memorial.

In 2004, the Rock weren’t the top goal suppressing defense, with the Colorado Mammoth allowing 8 less goals than them. It’s not actually why they didn’t make it back to the finals, but that was uncanny considering the previous 5 years. And yet after winning the East, a red hot Bandits offense came into town and put up 19 goals to advance to their first Championship game in 8 years. While the Rock would return to the finals in 2005 and defeat the Arizona Sting, they were once again unable to three-peat. They wouldn’t return to the finals again until 2010, and won in 2011.

5 championships in 7 years, but not a three-peat. Obviously, those teams have gone down as one of the foundational pieces of the history of the NLL, but the sequencing kept them from three in a row. Is it a lesson in how to interpret success in pro sports? Maybe, but it does show how many consecutive building blocks need to successfully be put together to be atop the mountain for three straight seasons.

2015 – 2018 Edmonton/Saskatchewan Rush

After the Rush lost the finals in 2012 and were stunned by Calgary in the West Final in 2014, the Rush were back atop the West as the only team in their division to boast a positive goal differential with a league high +64 and their Mark Matthews, Robert Church, Ben McIntosh, Zack Greer led offense led the league with 241 goals. Facing Calgary again in the West final, it was the home teams winning each of the two games, but the Rush prevailed with a 4-1 win in their minigame and found themselves ready to take on the Rock in the finals. The Rush handled the Rock 15-9 in Game 1 in Toronto and then went back to Edmonton for a much tighter Game 2. Tied at 8 after 3, Rob Hellyer’s go ahead goal 6 minutes into the quarter was responded to with two goals from Mark Matthews. Colin Doyle scored what would be the final playoff goal of his illustrious career (which started during the Rock dynasty) with 2:18 to play, but Marty Dinnsdale would score the game winner with 1:02 left to give the Rush their franchise’s first championship…

…as a send off to their time in Edmonton. After 10 seasons in Edmonton, with the Oilers moving into their new arena, the teams could not agree to an arena deal with owner Bruce Urban, who had tensions with the Oilers after their marketing within Rexall Place was slim to none. Amidst struggles to come to a resolution, the Rush officially relocated to Saskatoon. In a rare instance in pro sports where the new kids in town are defending champions, the 2016 Rush didn’t miss a step, finishing 13-5 with the 3rd most goals for and least goals against (only team to give up less than 200 in this season). The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. After the bye in the first round, they once again welcomed the Roughnecks after Calgary defeated the Mammoth. Only this time, the Rush won both games easily to avoid any more mini game shenanigans and advanced to the finals to face the Buffalo Bandits in their first finals appearance since 2008. (Another series that can be read about here). Jeff Cornwall’s game winner in Game 2 gave the fans in Saskatoon a championship of their own with a core that was only getting better the next year with Ryan Keenan being selected first overall and Mike Messenger third. They acquired the first overall pick from Vancouver in January 2015 in a trade of Corey Small to the Stealth.

Into 2017, the Rush did get off to an 0-2 start, but after they they won 12 of their final 16 games and once again were atop the Western standings, but joining them on the other side of the bracket with an equal 13-5 record was a Georgia Swarm roster that shattered the still-standing single season record for Goals For with 266. The Swarm swept the Rock to get to the finals, and the Rush held up their end of the best-on-best bargain. It wasn’t the Roughnecks this time, as they missed the playoffs at 8-10. The Mammoth defeated the Stealth 13-12 in Langley, but the Rush won both matchups of their series as well to get back to the finals. The Swarm put up a Ludacris 18 goals in game 1 to take control of the series.

Game 2 went into the history books as an instant classic. Trailing 10-8 after 3, the Rush scored 4 straight goals to go up 12-10, only for the Swarm to score 3 straight to go up 1 in the final 3 minutes. Jeremy Thompson and Adam Jones scored with less than 2 minutes left to take the lead back, and the Rush were 1:12 away from history. But then even more dramatic history was made. With the seconds winding down, the Rush had the ball and pulled Aaron Bold for the extra attacker to go along with Georgia’s six players with Mike Poulin already on the bench. Jeremy Thompson threw a bounce pass to Chris Corbeil, but he misplayed the pass and the Swarm got the ball back. Lyle Thompson had the empty net in front of him, but brother Jeremy blocked the shot. However, the rebound went right to Joel White who fired it into the empty net while Jeremy was looking for the rebound. With 2 seconds left, it was all of a sudden the brink of overtime. And early in the final frame, Lyle drew a double team and slipped a pass to Miles Thompson who beat Aaron Bold high and gave the Swarm a 15-14 win and the first championship in Swarm history.

Two seconds away from one three-peat being followed up by a second, the Swarm prevented the Rush from history.

Now, the Rush did run it back in 2018, albeit with a different goalie after they traded Aaron Bold for Evan Kirk in net, to a 14-4 record, and Georgia won the east with an 11-7 record, but of course the rematch would be foiled by the Knighthawks, who took the Rush to a third game in the finals, but the Rush rebounded for a third title in four years.

And that would be it for the Rush, as another division win in 2019 was halted in the first round by an overtime winning goal from Joey Cupido and the 6-10 Mammoth in the first round. COVID taking opportunities away in 2020 and 2021 for champions to be crowned left a what if for the dynastic core, but by the time that the league resumed, they simply didn’t have it anymore, missing the playoffs in every season since.

Are There Lessons the 2025 Bandits Can Learn?

Kind of? When it comes down to it, this is a team that has been to the finals 4 straight years in addition to winning the last two. They know the grind better than any other team in the NLL right now about how hard it is to get back to the finals a second time. Heck, look at the 2024 Colorado Mammoth and how the wrong combination of bad luck can turn championship aspirations into a 5 win season.

You have to be lucky, you have to be timely, and most importantly, you have to be on top of your game good for a long time. Whatever the formula looks like, as long as you’re getting the trophy to end three straight seasons, people will remember that over the struggles to get there. And as the 2015 Knighthawks showed while being stopped in their tracks in the quest for a 4-peat, you need to hold off the major injuries the whole way too.

They’re going to go and play the season out one week at a time, take the adversity head on, and have the understanding of the bigger picture. Their 5-6 record through 11 games last year before rallying to be the 4-seed. It’s all a matter of how the records play out and the bracket is set, and then the play on the floor will determine if the Buffalo Bandits can join their neighbors 90 minutes east in the history books.

(Photo Credit: Knighthawks Flickr)