(Rochester, NY)… We’re closing in on the end of the summer lacrosse season. Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) is in its seven-game finals right now, as seven Knighthawks are facing off there. The Premier Lacrosse League has officially set its playoff bracket and will begin next week. Five Knighthawks will compete for a championship on four different teams. Meanwhile, in Senior “B” action, Taylor Jensen and the Tonawanda Braves fell to the Newtown Golden Eagles in six games.
Six Knighthawks traveled to Kingston, Jamaica last week to compete for Team Canada in the Pan-American Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Three players, along with Knighthawks Athletic Trainer Stephen Lobsinger, equipment manager Ryan Preston, and President and General Manager Dan Carey, were presented with their medals on Sunday.
Pan-Am:
Thomas McConvey, Graydon Hogg, and Taylor Jensen all competed for Canada in five games from Monday, Aug. 17 to Sunday, Aug. 23. They earned their gold medals in a tight, one-goal game in their only matchup with the United States. Hogg and McConvey each scored in the final, with McConvey opening the game for Canada.
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He ended the tournament with 10 goals and seven assists, finishing third on the team in points. Hogg was sixth on the offense in points with seven goals and five assists. Jensen played short stick and helped drive the defensive midfield; he scored two goals and added an assist in his first-ever tournament appearance for Team Canada.
They dominated from day one of the tournament, immediately rolling through Mexico 19-2. On Tuesday, they topped the Haudenosaunee 17-5. Their last two pool play games were dominant wins over the US Virgin Islands (23-1) and Argentina (23-0). The Championship on Sunday brought a different drama, though. Canada trailed 8-5 in the third quarter before shutting out the United States in the final frame and going on a four-goal run to take home gold.
McConvey, Carey, Lobsinger, Hogg and Jensen with their gold medals.
MSL:
The Six Nations Chiefs and the Peterborough Lakers are through three games of their seven-game series to decide the MSL Champions. It will make the 13th consecutive season that either the Chiefs or Lakers will compete for the Mann Cup. Both of the newest Knighthawks, Shonwahnonkon Thompson (Six Nations) and Drew Hutchison (Peterborough), join the ranks of Rochester NLLers playing in the final.
Ryan Smith leads all Knighthawks in series points with eight after putting up one of the best games of his summer in Game One. He scored three goals and added three assists to lead the Chiefs in points in their 11-5 victory. Ryan Lanchbury has been consistent for the Lakers, notching at least a goal a game. He has six points in the three final games so far.
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Game four is set for Tuesday, Aug. 25 in Peterborough. Neither team has found a win on the road yet. A series win for the Chiefs would make a fourth straight MSL Championship. The only other team to do it was the Lakers from 2017 through 2022.
PLL:
The Premier Lacrosse League playoffs are set, and Knighthawks faceoff specialist Nathan Kapp is slated to make his second start for the Maryland Whipsnakes on Aug. 29. He will face Graydon Hogg and the Boston Cannons in a 3 vs 6 seed matchup. Kapp got his first taste of the PLL in the league’s final regular season weekend, going 13-for-23 against Alec Stathakis. This weekend, his matchup will be Andrew McMeekin; he has the highest average winning percentage in the league this summer at 62.5 percent.
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Hogg and the Cannons have been a force to be reckoned with late in the regular season. They started their season 1-4, but at the end of June flipped everything on its head, going 6-1 to clinch their playoff spot. Hogg was a consistent piece of their offense all summer, playing in 11 games. He tallied 11 goals, four assists, and 10 groundballs while also adding to the team outside of the stat sheet with his pick-assist game.
Jake Piseno will play in the earlier game of the weekend, at 6 p.m. against the Redwoods. Piseno enters the playoffs as a frontrunner again for the Brodie Merrill Long Stick Midfielder of the Year Award. He leads all LSMs in caused turnovers (15), points (10), touches (111), and passes (88). He also ranked third in ground balls with 38. Piseno and the Outlaws will have to work for a different result than their last game of the regular season, though. On Aug. 16, they fell 18-11 to the Redwoods. He spoke on the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse show two weeks ago; the full interview is below.
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Connor Fields led all Knighthawks in regular-season scoring with 24 goals and 10 assists. He also racked up 22 groundballs. He and Mitchell Dunham received a first-round bye as the Archers secured the second seed. Dunham finished his rookie regular season with 12 caused turnovers and 27 ground balls in 12 games. They will face the winner of the Outlaws and Redwoods matchup on Sept. 7. The winner between the Whipsnakes and the Cannons will face the Philadelphia Waterdogs.