TONIGHT’S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Knighthawks (4-7) put the finishing touches on their season-long three-game road swing tonight at WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome when they take on the Calgary Roughnecks (6-4) in the final stop of a two-week trek through Western Canada. The 9:00 p.m. ET matchup will be the lone meeting of the season between the two teams and will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN+ and NLL+. The contest will also be available to viewers on NLL+, a free direct-to-consumer streaming platform which provides instant global access to all 126 live regular-season games and every playoff matchup as well as increased access to highlights, full game replays and exclusive league content.
HOW THE TEAMS MATCHUP
For the second straight year, the Knighthawks and Roughnecks meet just once during the regular season with tonight’s matchup making the first get-together since opening night of the 2023-24 campaign when Rochester fought its way back on the strength of a second-half surge in a 14-13 season-opening win. Trailing 10-5 at halftime, the Knighthawks exploded for eight straight unanswered goals, including a dominant third-quarter performance during which they outscored the Roughnecks 5-0 before holding off a late game push from Calgary to complete the comeback win. Connor Fields (4+2) led the team with four goals, including the eventual game-winner, as part of a six-point effort. Ryan Smith (3+3), now in his fourth season with Rochester, also sparked the charge for the Knighthawks with a six-point performance of his own. The win, which would be the first of three straight to open the season for the Knighthawks, improved Rochester to 3-0 all-time against the Roughnecks, tying for the team’s longest win streak against a single opponent. The Knighthawks also captured their first win in franchise history over Calgary during their inaugural campaign in 2019-20, a year after the Roughnecks were crowned NLL champions. Calgary is the only NLL team the Knighthawks have a perfect record against with two of the three meetings being decided by a single goal. Rochester, which makes its inaugural visit to Calgary tonight, goes up against a Roughnecks team that is currently averaging the third-most goals per game (13.30) this season while their 133 goals rank second in the NLL behind only Philadelphia. While Rochester owns two of the NLL’s top five point-getters in Fields and Ryan Lanchbury, the Roughnecks are just as formidable with the league’s top two goal-scorers comprising its well-balanced offense in veteran forwards Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson. The duo, which ranks first and second in the NLL in goals, respectively, has accounted for nearly half of the team’s 133 goals this season. Fields and Lanchbury, meanwhile, are of only two forward pairings in the only NLL to have each recorded at least 18 goals and 65 points, the other being Buffalo’s Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne.
LAST TIME OUT
After a strong first-quarter performance, the Knighthawks were unable to generate much offensive firepower for the remainder of the contest in what became a 17-9 loss to the first-place Saskatchewan Rush last Saturday at SaskTel Centre. The loss snapped Rochester’s franchise-long three-game road win streak to begin the new year. Ryan Lanchbury (2+4) topped all Knighthawks with four assists and six points while Connor Fields (3+1) and Ryan Smith (2+2) both recorded four points each. Fields totaled a game-high 16 shots while both he and team captain Dan Coates (0+2), who returned to the lineup after missing the last eight games, both had 10 loose ball recoveries. Thomas McConvey (0+3) added three assists while Matt Gilray (1+1) and Graydon Hogg (1+1) each chipped in with a goal and a helper for a multi-point effort. Ian Llord, Josh Medeiros and Curtis Knight, who won a pair of NLL Championships with the Rush, had one assist apiece to close out the scoring. Goaltenders Rylan Hartley and Riley Hutchcraft both managed the duties in the Rochester net with Hartley drawing his second start of the season. It was the team’s first loss of the season when leading after the first quarter and just the second when scoring first.
HOMECOMING FOR WATERS
Rochester’s inaugural visit to the Saddledome also serves as a homecoming of sorts for Knighthawks forward Kyle Waters, who also returns to the city he once called home for the first time since being acquired by the Knighthawks ahead of the 2023-24 season. A native of Orangeville, Ontario, Waters spent his first two pro seasons with the Roughnecks after being selected by the team in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2021 NL Entry Draft. Waters, who was acquired by Rochester from Calgary along with a pair of 2023 draft picks in exchange for forward Thomas Vela and Thomas Hoggarth, appeared in 28 career games with the Roughnecks, recording 42 points (15+27) and 37 loose ball recoveries.
FIELDS CHASING DOWN HISTORY
Over the last two and a half seasons, Connor Fields has rapidly evolved into arguably one of the most dynamic and elite scorers in the National Lacrosse League, most notably among American-born players. Entering the weekend ranked fourth in scoring with 68 points (23+45) in 11 games, Fields remains on pace to become just the first-ever American player in league history to reach the 100-point mark in three consecutive years. A two-time Second Team All-Pro selection, Fields recently surpassed Dan Marohl for ninth all-time in scoring amongst American players following his 11-point effort in Week 10 against Philadelphia. Fields’ 416 career points are also third-most among active American-born players, trailing only Toronto’s Tom Schreiber and Philadelphia’s Joe Resetarits, a former Knighthawk in the previous organization. Averaging nearly six and a half points per game this season, Fields, who continues to lead all forwards with 104 loose ball recoveries, could potentially move into eighth all-time among the NLL’s top American-born players, sitting just five points back of Kevin Buchanan.
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 the first 11 games this season, Rochester is averaging an NLL-best 82.18 shots per game while also allowing the third-most shots-against per game (75.36). Coming into this weekend, Rochester has outshot the opposition in 22 of its last 29 games going back to last season, including all but three on the road. The Knighthawks have also topped the 70-shot mark twice over that span, the most recent of which came in the season-opening win over Las Vegas back on Nov. 30 when they came within a shot of matching their single-game franchise record of 73. Collectively, the Knighthawks also own two of the NLL’s top five shooting forwards in Connor Fields, and Ryan Smith, who rank first and fifth in the NLL, respectively. Fields, who averaged nearly 15 shots per game last season on his way to establishing a new league record (267), is already on pace to duplicate the effort with an NLL-best 152 shots on goal through his first 11 games game of the current season. Fields and Smith are also the only duo in the NLL to each have more than 100 shots this season.
HASEN ON THE MOVE
Leading the Knighthawks into their fifth season of the expansion-era is an all-too-familiar face in head coach Mike Hasen, who recently surpassed Troy Cordingley for fifth all-time in career coaching wins (109). He’s also one game back of Ed Comeau for fourth all-time in career games coached (233). Last season, Hasen became just the sixth head coach in NLL history to reach 100 career wins, doing so by way of a 13-11 win over Vancouver on Dec. 23. One of the most decorated coaches in league history, Hasen is certainly no stranger to Rochester, having previously served as head coach of the former Knighthawks franchise from 2011 to 2019. In nine seasons behind the bench with the original Knighthawks, Hasen guided Rochester to an 81-75 regular season record while leading the team to six playoff appearances. Hasen’s most successful run at the helm of the Knighthawks came from 2012-14 when he made National Lacrosse League history by leading Rochester to an unprecedented three straight Champion’s Cups. He remains the only NLL bench boss to accomplish the feat. Hasen, who was named the NLL’s Coach of the Year in 2011 following his first season behind the bench, boasts a 28-49 record with the expansion-era Knighthawks, whom he’s led to back-to-back playoff appearances, as well as a 109-124 record all-time over his 14 combined seasons in Rochester.
SCOUTING THE ROUGHNECKS
Wrapping up a three-game homestand tonight, Calgary has won three of its last four games after splitting a weekend doubleheader at home during Week 12. After coming up short in a 16-13 loss to Saskatchewan on Friday, the Roughnecks responded in a big way two days later with a 21-8 thrashing of Las Vegas. Dane Dobbie scored a team-high six goals, marking his second sock trick of the season, while he and Jesse King finished with 10 points each. Dobbie, who returned to Calgary for his second stint with the Roughnecks following three seasons in San Diego, is just the seventh player in league history to score 500 goals and only the 13th to reach 1,000 career points. The all-time leading scorer in franchise history, Dobbie led Calgary to an NLL championship and was named league MVP in 2019.
