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Thunderbirds Late Game Surge Not Enough As Knighthawks Win 16-14 | NLL Week 11 Preview

by Eddy Tabone - 0

For the first time this season, the 6-2 Rochester Knighthawks were facing a team that they had lost to earlier in the season. In this first bounce-back attempt, they proved they can adjust game-to-game and defeated the former tenants of their home arena, 16-14.

Eric Fannell picked off where he left off in Halifax’s first game against the Knighthawks with the first goal of the night, but then the Knighthawks were able to counter with the next three, as Ryan Smith capitalized on the powerplay with 6:27 left in the first. Connor Fields gave the Knighthawks the lead, and then with Fields in the box for tripping, Thomas Vela took an open lane to the net for the shorthanded goal, the first of his NLL career. Chris Boushy got one back for Halifax, and the score was 3-2 after the first.

Both teams exchanged 3 goals apiece to start the second quarter, but then the game script changed drastically. After Ryland Rees scored in transition, Jake Withers won the ensuing faceoff and went right to the net. Getting a shot off at full speed, he was unable to try to slow down until it was too late, and he went directly into Rylan Hartley, causing a pileup inside the crease. Withers ended up not only getting a 5 minute major for goaltender interference, but he was ejected from the game. After the Thunderbirds won 24 of 28 in their initial meeting with Halifax, and Withers had scooped up 15 of 15 FO wins in the 20 minutes that he did play, the team had lost their faceoff weapon and allowed the possession counting to be closer to even the rest of the way.

Rochester then scored the final three goals of the quarter and took a 9-5 lead into the half, with shots being lopsided at 32-16 in favor of the Knighthawks through 30 minutes.

In the third, two opening goals from Austin Shanks and Johnny Pearson have countered goals from Connor Fields and Thomas Hoggarth. After Eric Fannell scored his second of the game, Ryan Smith countered to make it 12-8 and Brad Gillies scored on a transition passing display with Matt Gilray to make it 13-8 after 3. Fannell scored again to open up the fourth, but Holden Cattoni’s goal with 10:50 to play signaled the end of the night for Warren Hill. Drew Hutchinson gave up two more goals as the Thunderbirds’ deficit expanded to 16-9 with 5:38 left, and it was looking like the end of the night for this one…or so it appeared.

Johnny Pearson for the second time in the game to make it 16-10, and then the Thunderbirds’ 6-on-5 unit got to work. Cody Jamieson scored with 3:20 to play to make it 16-11. After the Knighthawks were stopped on their ensuing possession, Clarke Petterson got an offensive rebound to keep their ensuing possession alive and then buried one under Hartley’s arm to make it 16-12. Austin Shanks capitalized on a stray Knighthawks pass in transition to make it 16-13 with still 1:15 left. The Knighthawks had another chance to kill the clock after winning the ensuing faceoff, and Paul Dawson was able to get a shot off in the final seconds of the shot clock with 46 seconds left in the game that bounced out of play, appearing to give Rochester a fresh 30 seconds to essentially ice the game, but the shot hit the side of the net, not Hutchinson, and the Thunderbirds took the ball back, Clarke Petterson fed Cody Jamieson, and it was a two-goal game with 32 ticks to play. The Thunderbirds won the faceoff and called timeout, but their luck ran out, as Ryan Benesch’s shot with 20 seconds left was stopped by Hartley and the Knighthawks ran the clock out from there, securing their 7th win of the season and tying the Buffalo Bandits and Toronto Rock atop the East Standings at 7-2.

The left side stole the show for the Knighthawks offense in this one, as Connor Fields had 4 goals and 4 assists, and Holden Cattoni was right behind him with 3 goals and 4 assists. Fields are up to 28 goals on the season, which is now the most in a season (9 games in, mind you) for a Knighthawk in their expansion era. Thomas Vela finished with two goals, and Turner Evans had 3 assists. Righties stole the show in transition, as Brad Gillies, Ryland Rees, and Matt Gilray each scored on the fastbreak to help out the high-scoring efforts. Despite the rough ending to the night, Rylan Hartley still managed 42 saves as the score effects caught up to the team in the final frame.

Rochester will rest for a bye week in Week 12 before hosting the Riptide in their next game on February 25.

Austin Shanks led the Thunderbirds in points with 2 goals and 5 assists, while Eric Fannell had 3 goals and 2 assists, and Randy Staats and Ryan Benesch each had 4 point nights. Jake Withers still managed 13 loose balls in the time he played, while Ryan Terefenko picked up in that department with 16 of his own. The loss for Halifax dropped them to 4-5, putting them in a tough position with a schedule that will start with two games against the Bandits to start March and a rematch with the Rock the week after.

Week 11 Around The Rest of the NLL

Toronto Rock 11 – Georgia Swarm 10

It was a closer game in Duluth to open up the weekend schedule on Friday, as Georgia had answers for multiple Toronto runs throughout the game, but their final run with the score 11-8 Rock in the fourth was not enough and the Rock escaped with the one goal win, Tom Schreiber led the Rock with 3 goals and 2 assists, while Josh Dawick scored his first two career goals and added an assist. After a tough start to the night for Brett Dobson, Craig Wende helped settle the Swarm, only allowing 4 goals on 30 shots in the final 37:47. Lyle Thompson (2G 4A) and Andrew Kew (3G 3A) led the Swarm with 6 goals each. With Buffalo on the bye, Toronto (as mentioned earlier) was able to match the East-leading 7-2 record, extending their win streak to 6 games after losses to the Bandits and Knighthawks in December.

Calgary Roughnecks 13 – Saskatchewan Rush 6

The Roughnecks had a rare weekend in the NLL with home games on both Friday and Saturday Nights. They started the weekend in Alberta with a 10-goal second half to break the game open while only allowing the Rush to score 3 goals in each half. It was a 5-goal run in 3:42 in the third quarter that ended up burying the Rush. Zach Currier’s ability to change the game on both sides of the field was on full display as he contributed 2 goals and 3 assists, which found him only behind Jesse King’s 7 point night with a goal and 6 assists. Tanner Cook had 4 goals, while Tyler Pace added 3. Christian Del Bianco stopped 44 of 50 shots in the win, as the Rush offense was limited to no player with more than 3 points.

Calgary Roughnecks 13 – Colorado Mammoth 9

After a dominant second half on Friday, the Roughnecks used a dominant 11-2 first half on Saturday Night at the Saddledome to pace themselves to their second win of the weekend. This time it was a combined effort by the brothers Currier to rack up points, with Zach adding 3 assists and Josh scoring 4 times. Tyler Pace had 4 goals and 3 assists, while Jesse King had 2 goals and 4 assists. Once again, Christian Del Bianco had a 40-save, less than 10-goal performance. Eli McLaughlin led the Mammoth with 4 goals and 2 assists.

New York Riptide 14 – Albany FireWolves 12

The Riptide stormed out to a 12-4 lead through 2 and a half quarters, but the FireWolves were able to claw their way back with a 7-goal run to make it 12-11 with 3:23 left. However, Jeff Teat was able to do his thing, scoring the next two goals in the next minute to pad their lead and lead them to their second win of the season – both coming against Albany. Teat finished with 7 goals and 2 assists, while Dan Lomas returned to the lineup after a stretch as a healthy scratch with 3 goals and an assist. Kieran McArdle was the high point man for Albany with 2 goals and 5 assists, while Connor Kelly and Ethan Walker each had 3 goals.

Panther City Lacrosse Club 14 – Vancouver Warriors 13

Vancouver showed some resiliency after going down 4-1 in the first quarter with six goals to open the second, and then the game was back and forth from there, with Panther City edging out the Warriors 14-13. The Jonathan Donville and Will Malcom connection was strong once again, with the rookie Donville registering 2 goals and 6 assists, while Malcom had 2 goals and 5 assists. Callum Crawford found the back of the net 5 times. Nick Damude had even 50 saves in Panther City’s first home game of 2023. For the Warriors, Keegan Bal had 5 goals and an assist while Shawn Evans inversed that with a goal and 5 assists.

Week 12 Schedule

  • Friday, February 17
    • Calgary Roughnecks (6-3) vs Vancouver Warriors (1-8) – 10:00pm TSN Game of the Week
    • Saskatchewan Rush (4-3) vs San Diego Seals (6-1) – 10:30pm (ESPN 2)
  • Saturday, February 18
    • Georgia Swarm (0-6) vs Toronto Rock (7-2) – 7:00pm
    • Philadelphia Wings (3-4) vs Buffalo Bandits (7-2) – 7:30pm
    • Colorado Mammoth (4-4) vs Panther City Lacrosse Club (5-4) – 8:00pm
  • Sunday, February 19
    • New York Riptide (2-6) vs Halifax Thunderbirds (4-5) – 1:00pm
Photo Credit: Micheline Veluvolu
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