TONIGHT’S GAME OVERVIEW
The playoff-bound Rochester Knighthawks (10-7) put a bow on the 2024-25 campaign tonight as they host the Toronto Rock (5-11) in the regular season finale at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena. The 6:00 p.m. matchup will be the lone meeting between the two teams this season and will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM and ESPN+ in addition to being available to viewers on NLL+, this year’s new streaming platform which provides instant global access to every game as well as highlights, full game replays and exclusive league content.
KNIGHTHAWKS SOARING INTO POSTSEASON
The Knighthawks are heading to the postseason for the third straight year, having clinched by way of their 12-6 home win over Ottawa earlier this month. Rochester, which has won six straight and nine of its last 12 games since the turn of the new year, currently sits in fifth place in the NLL’s unified standings entering the final week of the season. The Knighthawks can secure their first-ever first-round home playoff game with a win tonight over Toronto and either a Vancouver loss to Philadelphia or back-to-back losses by Calgary to close out the season. Rochester hasn’t advanced beyond the Quarterfinals in each of the last two years, dropping first-round matchups to Buffalo in 2023 and Toronto in 2024.
LAST TIME OUT
The Knighthawks remained the hottest team in the NLL, dominating from start to finish in a 12-6 playoff-clinching win over the Ottawa Black Bears back on April 5 at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena. It marked the team’s sixth win in a row – and third straight at home – tying the longest win streak in franchise history previously set during the 2022-23 campaign. Rochester utilized a spectacular power-play and dominant defensive showing to stifle the Black Bears on both ends of the floor. In the first half, the ‘Hawks converted on four of five power-play opportunities against the NLL’s top penalty kill. Defensively, Rochester allowed just two goals in the first half, which set a new franchise record that was previously set on March 8, 2020 in Colorado when Rochester held the Mammoth to three in the first 20 minutes of action. Connor Fields (3+6) continued to pile up the points, leading all point-getters with nine points while Ryan Smith, who was named the NLL’s Player of the Week for Week 19, netted four goals, including three on the power-play, to push his season total to a career-best 47, good for second-most in the league. Rylan Hartley shined in goal for Rochester, stopping 33 shots in his sixth win since coming back from injury on Feb. 1. Coming off his six-point (1+5) effort, Ryan Lanchbury moved into second in the NLL in assists with 84 while also surpassing the 100-point mark for the first time in his pro career. With Lanchbury reaching the century mark for points, the Knighthawks are now one of only three teams to have multiple players with 100 or more points on the season.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
There has certainly been no shortage of goals over the last several weeks for the Knighthawks, who continue to find the back of the net at a sweltering pace. Rochester has exploded for 118 goals dating back to its 15-12 win over Philadelphia on Feb. 1, including 94 goals over its current season-long six-game win streak, the most in the NLL by a single team over that span. Last month, the Knighthawks became just the second team this season to score 21 goals in a game, matching a season-high previously achieved by Calgary back on Feb. 16 in a win which also came against Las Vegas. The March 7 thrashing of the Desert Dogs marked the 106th time in league history in which a team has scored 21 or more goals in a contest. The league record for goals in a game by one team is 32, set on Nov. 24, 2001 by Montreal in a 32-17 drubbing over Calgary. That game also holds the record for total combined goals in a game with 49. The Knighthawks enter the final week of the season ranked third in the NLL in scoring with 218 goals, and coming off their most recent win over Ottawa, have scored at least 10 in each of their 10 wins this season, including reaching the 15-goal mark on five different occasions.
FIELDS FOR MVP?
The milestones just keep coming and coming for Knighthawks forward Connor Fields, who continues to make a strong push to be named this year’s Most Valuable Player. Just two weeks after becoming the first American-born player in NLL history – and second overall – to post three consecutive 100-point seasons in the 18-8 win at Ottawa on March 15, he added yet another milestone in the 14-13 win over San Diego two weeks later. Following his five-point effort, which included his 200th career NLL goal, Fields joined elite company when he became just the fourth player ever to record at least three 110-point seasons, a feat previously achieved by only Mark Matthews, Shawn Evans and Buffalo’s Dhane Smith. Fields, who’s totaled 34 points over his last four games, enters the final week of the season sitting fourth in the NLL in scoring with 118 points while ranking fourth in goals (44) and sixth in assists (74). A two-time Second Team All-Pro selection, Fields recently surpassed Drew Westervelt for seventh all-time in scoring amongst American players and his 466 career points are also third-most among active American-born players, trailing only Toronto’s Tom Schreiber (592) and Philadelphia’s Joe Resetarits (870), a former Knighthawk in the previous organization. Averaging nearly seven points per game this season, Fields, who continues to lead all forwards with 140 loose ball recoveries, has scored at least one goal and recorded at least one assist in all 52 games he’s appeared in for Rochester.
SHOOTING GALLERY
The Knighthawks, who closed out the 2023-24 regular season leading the NLL in shots per game with 81.44 and were the only team that averaged more than 80 per contest, are again at the top of the league in terms of shooting efficiency in 2024-25. Through all but one game this season, Rochester is averaging an NLL-best 80.24 shots per game. Coming into this weekend, Rochester has outshot the opposition in 27 of its last 35 games going back to last season, including all but four on the road. Fields, who averaged nearly 15 shots per game last season on his way to establishing a new league record (267), leads the NLL with 239 shots on goal through his first 17 games of the current season. He is one of only two players this season with more than 200 shots and has 16 more than the next closest player in Ottawa’s Jeff Teat. With the addition of Ryan Smith (165), Ryan Lanchbury (143) and Thomas McConvey (136), the Knighthawks are one of only six NLL teams to have four different players with more than 100 shots.
HOMECOMING FOR TORONTO’S IERLAN
Tonight’s game will serve as a homecoming for Toronto’s TD Ierlan, who’s currently in his fourth season with the Rock. Widely regarded as one of the best face-off specialists of all-time, Ierlan played his high school lacrosse at Victor, where he was a two-time US Lacrosse All-American selection and led the Blue Devils to their first two of five straight Section V championships as well as back-to-back New York State titles in 2015 and 2016. He, along with younger brother Chayse, a three-time First Team All-Greater Rochester selection and the 2018 All-Greater Rochester Male Athlete of the Year, remain the only pair of siblings to earn US Lacrosse All-American honors in back-to-back years and are one of just three Victor players in program history to earn the honors multiple times. Ierlan, who went to the Rock 20th overall in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft, remains one of the nation’s top face-off specialists in the history of NCAA Division I lacrosse between five years at the University of Denver, Yale and the University of Albany. Ierlan, who was also selected by the California Redwoods in the 2021 PLL Collegiate Draft, is a three-time All-American, a two-time First-Team All-American and was a Tewaaraton Award finalist.
HITTING ROCK BOTTOM
Playing their second game in as many nights, the Rock make their only trip to Rochester with nothing beyond the weekend having already been eliminated from playoff contention. It’s been a season filled with struggle for the six-time NLL champions, who after going winless through their first five games, recently parted ways with 2024 Goaltender of the Year Nick Rose. Toronto’s, whose five wins are tied for the fewest in franchise history, will miss the postseason for the first time since 2018.
