NLL Insider

The Rochester Knighthawks kept their National Lacrosse League playoff hopes alive with a dominating 20-12 win over division leading Philadelphia last Saturday night. Unlikely hero Ken Millin took home game MVP honors after scoring three goals and dishing out four assists.

Rochester was led by Millin, John Grant’s eight points and 13 loose balls, Scott Evans’ seven points and Pat O’Toole’s 36 saves on 48 shots. Philadelphia was led by Jake Bergey’s five points, Athan Iannucci’s four points, and Geoff Snider’s five points and domination of the face off circle, winning 25 of 30.

This has been an up and down season for the defending champs. After two straight losses to league basement dwellers Chicago and Edmonton, it appeared that Rochester had nothing left. A convincing win over a likely playoff bound team will do great things to boast your confidence.

“Past games we’d be clicking for a quarter or a half, but tonight we had it working the whole game. We really worked hard for each other and tonight it showed,” said Grant.

Sitting at 5-6, Rochester is looking up at five teams ahead of them in the standings. With only five games left to play, this isn’t a spot the Knighthawks are used to.

“Tonight was a must-win. We’ve dug ourselves a terrible hole. Every game from here on out we need to win to have a chance,” added Grant.

As for whether or not this win was Rochester’s attempt to make a statement to the league that they aren’t going away without a fight: “We are not about statements; we are just trying to get to the playoffs by winning one game at a time.”

First Quarter

Man down, Chris Schiller opened up the scoring 5:15 into the first. His goal was quickly countered by a power-play tally from Philly’s Kyle Sweeney. Bill Greer scored to make it 2-1 in favored of Rochester, but quick goals by Patrick Heim and Snider gave the Wings their first lead at 3-2. After a Philly miss on a pipe-shot, Shawn Williams scored on the fast break to tie it up at 3. Moments later, goals by Grant and Matt McLeod put the ‘Hawks back on top 5-3. Some fancy passing from Millin and Jack Reid led to a goal by Scott Evans and a three-goal Rochester lead after the first quarter of play.

Second Quarter

The second quarter started with a huge blast by Grant followed by a marker from Scott Evans, less than a minute into the period to extend the ‘Hawk lead to five. Rochester wouldn’t get a chance to run away with this one as Philly scored two quick goals to bring the score to 8-5. Goalie Rob Blasdell was replaced with Brandon Miller after he let in eight of the 16 shots he faced. Williams scored at the 2:37 mark to make it 9-5 for the hometown club. A ridiculous Scott Evans pass to Mcleod gave the ‘Hawks their five-goal cushion back.

Grant scored his third goal of the game at 7:07 to give the K-hawks their biggest lead of the contest. The rout was on as Shawn Evans scored, just as his bucket was knocked off, to make it 12-5. The Wings got back on the scoreboard on a marker from A.J. Shannon. Looking like the Harlem Globetrotters, the Evans brothers found Millin on Miller’s doorstep to make the score 13-6 with 4:50 left in the half. After a penalty by Mcleod, Iannucci scored on the power play to finally add his name to the score sheet with a minute left in the quarter. The score was 13-7 in favor of the ‘Hawks at the half.

Third Quarter

The pace slowed in the third as the score remained stagnant until Williams scored 7:01 into the quarter to extend the Rochester lead to seven. Philly countered with two quick goals from Iannucci to make it 14-9. With just over a minute left in the quarter, Snider and Jason Crosbie scored in rapid succession to bring the Wings within three as the third quarter expired.

Fourth Quarter

Thirty seconds into the 4^th, Millin scored to give Rochester back its four-goal lead. Moments later, Greer scored short-handed to lengthen the lead to 16-11. After intercepting a pass, Steve Toll scored on the fast break to widen the gap to six goals, 8:34 into the period. His tally was quickly followed when a Hail Mary pass found Millin, who put it away to make the score 18-11. Snider scored to pull the Wings back within six with just over five minutes left to play, but it wouldn’t be enough. Another fast break goal, this time from Schiller made the score 19-12.

O’Toole was taken down at one end of the floor and a few fights started to break out, but were stopped before any punches were thrown. After a five-minute penalty was issued to Iannucci, Miller was bowled over by Shawn Evans at the other end of the field. This resulted in quite a fracas between Evans and Thomas Hajek.

After everyone cooled down, Grant finished the scoring off a pass from Scott Evans at 13:19 to make the final score 20-12 in favor of the ‘Hawks.

So, in the highly competitive East, it appears that Rochester needs to win out and hope some of its rivals lose a few to have a chance to make the playoffs.

“For us to win last year and not make the playoffs would be devastating for the city. We are going to fight and claw and scratch the rest of the season to get to the playoffs. Tonight I think we started on the right track.”

Grant is confident his team can make a playoff push, but he won’t make the mistake of looking past any opponents.

“We are just looking at Thursday, Colorado, we have to win that one. Then we’ll think about the next one after that. Right now though, we are just worried about Colorado.”

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