NLL Insider

Turns out Mammoth fans sure do know how to black out… as in blackout night at the Pepsi Center. And so far, looks like a better turnout than last year’s blackout game in terms of the number of fans who got the memo. The 5-6 Rochester Knighthawks are here to take on Colorado, which sits in third place in the West at 6-6. Gary Gait won’t be on the floor tonight for Rochester, as he had commitments to the Syracuse women’s team. However, Josh Sims will be making his season debut tonight after coming out of retirement earlier this week. Should be a good one… let’s roll!

First Quarter

15:00: Opening face-off about to kick this thing off – meanwhile the Rolling Stones “Paint it Black” is playing. How appropriate.

13:35: Knighthawks get the first power play of the night. Craig Point and Shawn Williams run it from up top. Good movement but Rochester doesn’t convert. By the way, Williams is one point away from 800 in his career.

9:08: Both teams have been able to control the ball in their zone but neither of them have gotten quality shots off. Jamie Shewchuck just had what is probably the best opportunity of the game, putting a nifty move on Ken Millin. Couldn’t put it past Pat O’Toole but Kyle Laverty got called for a high-sticking major and the Mammoth have a five minute man-up opportunity.

7:22: Which was immediately counteracted by a cross checking penalty on John Gallant… then offset by a penalty to Jason Henhawk. Basically, two Knighthawks and one Mammoth in the box. Still scoreless.

6:14: And now Shawn Williams is going… getting crowded in sin bin. The Mammoth will have a penalty shot opportunity – a rare occasion in lacrosse. Brian Langtry will take it. He ran in, kind of hesitated at the crease and rang it off the right post.

4:30: Colorado now has a 5-on-3 opportunity for about 1:14. They don’t convert but we’ll have some 4-on-4 lacrosse for two minutes as Gavin Prout and Mac Allen go to the box for matching roughing penalties – slight altercation between the two after Prout missed a shot in transition.

3:00 Jamie Rooney scores from outside to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.

:00: So at the end of one we’ve had one goal and 17 minutes worth of penalties.

Second Quarter

11:22: Dean Hill had a good look on net on another power play chance. He was patient and held on to it and found the net a few seconds later when he redirected Craig Point’s pass from across the crease. And Joe Walters scored on the next possession. 3-0 Rochester.

9:48: The one thing that’s received the loudest boos from the fans is not even lacrosse related… it’s the people wearing Jay Cutler jerseys. Not a good time to be breaking that out. Welcome to the Kyle Orton era in Denver.

8:36: Craig Point makes it 4-0.

6:41: The penalty box is getting a lot of love tonight. Small scuffle broke out left of the team benches. Two players from each team are out for 2 minutes – matching roughing penalties.

2:37 Colorado finally gets on the board, compliments of a Gary Rosyski shot from up top that somehow snuck over O’Toole’s left shoulder.

:00 Williams, up top at the right point, had just enough time and room to rip a shot to make it 5-1 as time expired. Colorado’s defense didn’t switch on their picks quite fast enough and Williams was able to get the shot off before Nick Carlson could slide.

Halftime Thoughts
- I wouldn’t quite call this a physical game, not in the sense that we’ve seen with Minnesota or Calgary at the Pepsi Center this season but the penalty section of the scoresheet would indicate otherwise – 29 minutes in penalties so far.
- There have been 39 shots taken in this game between the two teams and only 6 total goals. The shot selection has been especially bad from the Mammoth. They’ve had their fair share of looks on cage. I can remember good scoring chances from Tyler Crompton, Langtry and Prout off the top of my head, but they only have one goal to show for it.
- Rochester has moved the ball well offensively. All five of their goals have been scored by different guys.

Third Quarter

14:36: Colorado opens the second half scoring. Shewchuck looked like he was going to pass to Prossner on a give-and-go but found Prout cutting across the crease for the goal. 5-2 Rochester.

9:11: Mac Allen had a shorthanded opportunity (Regy Thorpe is in the box). It was just him and Gary Rosyski but Andy Leyshon made a great save. Same thing happened at the end of Colorado’s power play. Chris Schiller intercepted a pass by Shewchuck and went coast to coast for the goal. 6-2 Knighthawks.

6:34: Rooney beat Mike Ward cutting in from top center and received a pass from Jason Henhawk, which he buried to give Rochester a 5-goal lead.

6:09: Langtry dodging through traffic makes it 7-3.

3:08: Shewchuck might not be having the best shooting night, or season for that matter (.137). He’s been more of a playmaker tonight and just assisted on Prout’s power play goal.

Fourth Quarter

14:05: Josh Sims gets his first point of the season, the second assist on Gary Rosyski’s goal to open the fourth. 7-5 Rochester. He hasn’t looked quite like Mammoth fans are used to, but then again, you can’t really expect a guy coming out of retirement to be at 100% his first game back… he’s still pretty darn speedy though.

10:55: To make a long story short, Shawn Williams scored for Rochester, Rosyski netted another for Colorado and Brian Langtry somehow got a shot past O’Toole. It literally trickled past him. So basically, what was once Colorado getting stomped is now a one-goal game. 8-7 Rochester and still a lot of time left.

8:23: Colorado is playing some physical defense now and Rochester keeps coughing up the ball on offense. Knighthawks just got a bench minor for too many men. Colorado has Langtry, Prout, Prossner, Crompton and Shewchuck on the PP. But Evans and Schiller have a 2-on-1 going the other way and Evans makes a great high-to-low shot. That’s Rochester’s second shorty of the night. 9-7 Knighthawks.

5:47: I would like to see Mike Ward and Josh Sims race… say endline to endline? From one restraining line to the other? Ward just sped off the bench to catch up to Rooney, potentially stopping another Rochester score. Guy’s got wheels.

3:34: Evans fired a shot that hit just inside the left post of Leyshon. 10-7 Rochester and this crowd is deflated. Lifeless even… not usually terms to describe them. The stands are emptying like someone just yelled “fire.”

:00: Final Score: Rochester 12 Colorado 8

Postgame Thoughts from…

Rochester forward Shawn Evans
on the first road win…
“It was a big win for us. Everyone played well. We needed this game. Everyone stayed focused. Moved the ball and were able to find the net.”

on the quick turnaround for Calgary tomorrow night…
“We have to get some rest, get a lot of water in us and take tomorrow as it comes. Stay focused and play our game and we should be fine.”

Colorado forward Josh Sims
on being back…
“I felt pretty good. It’s tough to come back from not doing much and then go full speed but it felt pretty good. I wish we had a better outcome but that was what I was really excited for was just getting back and enjoying the experience. Mentally, I was a little more lax than I wanted to be but physically I felt fine.”

on the team at this point in the season…
“We need to commit ourselves to each other. When we’re out there it feels like we’re waiting for someone else to do something and not doing it ourselves. We’re trying to do too much individually. We need to play together and have fun.”

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