The Rochester Knighthawks entered Saturday’s showdown with the Ottawa Black Bears, winners of five straight. By the time the evening concluded, the inhabitants of Blue Cross Arena owned a six-game win streak, a 10-7 record, and a guaranteed spot in the NLL postseason. This team is a runaway train barreling down the tracks!
During the half-dozen game heater, the club has outscored its opponents by an absurd 94-57 margin, including Saturday’s 12-6 triumph over Jeff Teat and the visiting fellas from the Canadian capital.
Rochester led 6-2 at half, on the backs of three scores from Connor Fields and two blasts courtesy of Ryan Smith. Separate third and fourth quarter three consecutive goal stretches sealed the easy six-goal spread from the team that nobody wants any part of come the postseason.
Fields finished with three goals and six assists, while Smith notched four scores and one helper, alongside Ryan Lanchbury’s one connector and five distributions to his buddies. This Western New York trio is playing out of their minds this season.
Ottawa’s Mr. Teat contributed two goals and three assists, while Reilly O’Connor tabulated two and two in a decisive defeat.
Rylan Hartley easily conquered the goalie comparison, stifling 33 of 39 attempts, with Zach Higgins erasing 32 of 44 projectiles.
The Thunderbirds Punch Their Ticket To The Postseason
Just shy of 11,000 residents of Canada’s Atlantic Coast spent the best part of their Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre watching Halifax’s beloved NLL team secure its 10th win of the season and an eventual reservation in the 2025 playoffs, thanks to a Mammoth loss later in the night. The Thunderbirds thrilled The Nest faithful with a 13-10 success over the visiting San Diego Seals.
Halifax, Nova Scotia – Apr 05: National Lacrosse League game between the Halifax Thunderbirds and San Diego Seals (Trevor MacMillan/Halifax Thunderbirds)
The guys from The Golden State jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with the Nova Scotians delivering a four successive second quarter goal parade, taking a 9-7 lead into the halftime intermission. After only two combined scores found twine in the third, HFX outscored SD 3-2 in the fourth, establishing the three-goal separation as the horn sounded.
Randy Staats provided a captivating performance, scoring four and helping on two others. Clarke Petterson tabulated one goal and six assists, with Dawson Theede and Thomas Hoggarth pushing two goals apiece.
Randy Staats was the catalyst for @HFXThunderbirds in their win over the Seals!
On the losing San Diego side, Ben McIntosh etched a hat-trick, to go along with three passes to his friends. Zach Currier and Wesley Berg combined on four goals and three assists, while Ryan Benesch posted one and three in his return to Halifax.
Thunderbirds starting keeper Warren Hill struggled off the bat, giving up five early goals. He was quickly replaced by Drew Hutchison, who righted the ship beautifully, walling off 39 of 44 attempts at paydirt.
Philly is Flying Again
The Philadelphia Wings arrived in suburban Atlanta losers of eight consecutive games. Fortunately for the club from America’s birthplace, that epic losing streak is now a figment of history, with the Wings coming out on the jubilant side of a 15-13 victory over the Georgia Swarm.
Wings’ high-scoring forward Mitch Jones set the tone very early, locking horns with Georgia’s Adam Wiedemann a mere one minute into the contest. The melee would result in a game misconduct for Jones and a trip to the showers with 59 whole minutes remaining in the festivities.
Looking like it was going to be more of the same for the visitors, in the wake of 4-0 and 6-1 deficits to the Southerners, Philly came storming back, finding the back of the net on six straight occasions in the third and fourth. When the dust settled, the Pennsylvanians held a 14-11 lead that they would never relinquish. The Wings truly gave it everything they had, and we’re very much rewarded for their efforts.
Joe Resetarits was on another planet, scoring four and assisting on seven more. Blaze Riorden gathered three and facilitated four, while Phil Caputo commandeered a hat trick. Rookie phenom Brennan O’Neill deposited six total points on the Duluth, Georgia landscape.
Lyle Thompson, Shayne Jackson, and Bryan Cole each presented three goals a man for the Swarm, with the triad being on the charitable end of 11 assists to Swarm goal-scorers.
The Bandits Lock Up a First-Round Home Playoff Game
The two-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits descended into Denver losers of two in a row, taking on a Colorado Mammoth franchise that was also in the midst of a two-game losing slide. With nearly 11,000 spectators jamming Ball Arena, the 2023 and 2024 champs knocked off the 2022 title holders 15-10.
Buffalo sprinted to 3-0 and 5-2 advantages, before the Mammoth propelled back up the mountain, tying the expedition at 6-6 in the third. The Bandits countered with seven out of eight goals, including stretches of three and four in sequence, which created the distancing needed to scale the summit and close out the game.
Buffalo leading men Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith combined on four goals and an astonishing 13 assists, with Kyle Buchanan and Ian MacKay each excavating hat-tricks.
Unstoppable Duo
Dhane Smith (2G, 5A) and Josh Byrne (2G,8A) lead the Buffalo Bandits to a 15-10 win over the Colorado Mammoth, clinching a home playoff game. pic.twitter.com/cEgcUQkUGf
Ryan Lee and Will Malcom starred for the non-victorious contingent, with each of the men soliciting hat tricks to their cause.
Living legend Matt Vinc congested 32 of 42 endeavors, amid finding his name on the goal scoring sheet, for the first time in 17 years, after scoring an empty net heave with under a minute remaining. Iconic counterpart Dillon Ward was not quite as strong, hindering 44 of 58 flares unleashed by the Bandits.
Week 19’s culminating performance took place in none other than Sin City, where the Toronto Rock clashed with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs at Lee’s Family Forum in suburban Henderson, Nevada. Toronto entered the fracas with a 5-9 record, while the local guys put on their helmets, owning the NLL’s worst record and a four-game losing streak.
The Rock possesses the Desert Dogs’ 2025 first-round pick (part of the Rob Hellyer trade), providing the visitors with even greater incentive to win this matinee.
This matchup turned out to be an unexpected thriller. Las Vegas hit the jackpot in overtime, cashing out with a 14-13 prize.
The game was played close to the vest throughout, with Toronto leading 13-11, late in the fourth. That was until Kyle Killen and Jackson Webster scored 56 seconds apart, sending the party to an extra session. Then, just 1:16 into the fifth stanza, Jack Hannah eviscerated a short-handed game-winner, giving the Desert Dogs their first win since February.
Hannah was one of five LV players to score exactly two goals, as a grand total of nine Desert Dogs rolled the dice into the net.
On the losing Toronto side, Josh Dawick was tremendous, scoring five and helping on one more. Nathan Grenon also came up big in defeat, netting a hat trick for the glum Ontario travelers. Challen Rogers scored two, including his 100th career goal.
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