TONIGHT’S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Knighthawks (3-5) return home in search of their third win in four games tonight as they welcome the Colorado Mammoth (4-3) to Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena for the first and only time this season. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN+ and NLL+. The matchup 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
As the Knighthawks return home looking for back-to-back wins for just the first time this season, they do so while also seeking their first-ever win over the Mammoth, who maintain a 2-0 record and have outscored Rochester 23-15 in the all-time series dating back to the Knighthawks’ inaugural 2019-20 campaign. Excluding the Ottawa Black Bears, who are new to the NLL this season, the Mammoth are one of only two active teams (San Diego) that Rochester has yet to defeat during regular season play. While the Knighthawks have won two of their last three since the turn of the year, they go up against a Mammoth team that, despite having a winning record, has dropped two of its last three. Both teams are also coming off a two-game split of their most recent opponents as Rochester claimed last week’s rematch in Halifax by a 10-9 score and Colorado came up short in its second straight go-around with Albany, falling 13-10 after prevailing the week prior. Despite their recent struggles, the Mammoth, who make their inaugural trip to Rochester tonight, trail only the Philadelphia Wings for the second-most goals in the league this season with 93, including an NLL-best 57 at home. Entering this weekend, Colorado is averaging 13.29 goals per game, good for fourth in the league in that category. Conversely, the Knighthawks rank at a close third with 90 goals and are averaging the seventh-most goals per game (11.25) through their first eight games.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing 8-5 entering the fourth quarter, the Knighthawks went on a 5-1 run before holding off the Halifax Thunderbirds in the final minutes of regulation to come away with a hard-fought 10-9 come-from-behind win this past Saturday at Scotiabank Centre. Connor Fields (4+2) returned to form, helping the Knighthawks erase a three-goal deficit in the final quarter while Ryan Smith (2+1) scored the game-winning goal in the closing minutes as Rochester won for the second time in three games. With the win, Rochester’s first-ever against the Thunderbirds in Halifax and the first this season when trailing after the third quarter, the Knighthawks split the season-series with Halifax after suffering a heartbreaking 19-18 defeat. Additionally, Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen now sits fifth all-time in NLL history with 108 career coaching wins, surpassing Troy Cordingley. While Fields totaled a game-high four goals and six points, Ryan Lanchbury, who had a season-high seven assists against the Thunderbirds in Week 7, topped all players with four helpers. Thomas McConvey (1+1), Chad Tutton (1+0), Turner Evans (1+0) and Jake Piseno (1+0) all chipped in one goal apiece while Curtis Knight, Matt Gilray, Ryland Rees, Josh Medeiros, and Taylor Jensen all logged an assist. Tutton’s marker was his first of the season whereas Piseno’s first pro goal came in his NLL debut. Goaltender Riley Hutchcraft drew his seventh consecutive start, finishing with 42 saves, which included 12 in the first quarter and 14 in the fourth.
COMING IN HUTCH
As has been the case all season, Knighthawks goaltender Riley Hutchcraft has continued to be a steady and reliable presence on the back end for Rochester. Hutchcraft, whose started all eight games and has played all but 51 minutes, remains the NLL’s leader in saves through the first half of the season. The veteran netminder has stopped 319 of the 401 shots he’s faced, good for a .796 save percentage that ranks sixth in the NLL. Hutchcraft, who’s one of only two goaltenders with more than 300 saves this season, also ranks first in minutes played (429) and ninth with a 11.48 goals-against average. Dating back to last season, Hutchcraft has made 40-plus saves in his 12 of his last 23 starts, including three straight to open the second half of the 2023-24 season. He also has two games of 50 or more saves over that same span, including in Week 1 of this season as well as a 52-save performance in the 18-12 win over Albany back on March 9, which remains a career-high for the seventh-year netminder.
GILRAY EARNS CONTRACT EXTENSION
The Knighthawks signed transition man Matt Gilray to a two-year contract extension, keeping the 29-year-old in Rochester through the 2026-27 season. Gilray has logged one goal and five assists for six points while also collecting 53 loose ball recoveries in eight games to begin the 2024-25 season with the Knighthawks. Since making his Rochester debut during the 2022-23 campaign, the Oshawa, Ontario native has totaled 63 points (24+39) in 56 contests while recording a franchise-record 450 loose ball recoveries. Last season, Gilray was named the club’s Defensive Most Valuable Player as he established a franchise and career-best 174 loose ball recoveries in addition to recording 21 points (7+14) while appearing in all 18 games. Gilray was acquired by Rochester along with a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2021 NLL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in the 2023 NLL Entry Draft from the Bandits. In 85 career NLL games between Rochester and Buffalo, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound transition player has amassed 80 points (32+48) and 593 loose balls since the start of 2019. He also notched two assists during Buffalo’s run to the NLL Finals in 2019.
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 eight games this season, Rochester is averaging an NLL-best 82.63 shots per game while also allowing the second-most shots-against per game (79.38). Coming into this weekend, Rochester has outshot the opposition in 19 of its last 26 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 three of the NLL’s top eight shooting forwards in Connor Fields, Ryan Smith and Ryan Lanchbury, who rank first, third and eighth 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 107 shots on goal through his first eight games game of the current season. Fields is also the only player to have more than 100 shots and has 20 more than Philadelphia’s Joe Resetarits, the next closest player, who has 87.
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. 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. The year prior, Hasen, a 2023 Coach of the Year candidate, coached his 200th regular-season game in Las Vegas, a feat only five others in league history have accomplished before him. He became just the sixth head coach – and third that season behind Georgia’s Ed Comeau and Calgary’s Troy Cordingley – to have coached 200 National Lacrosse League games. Hasen also owns the distinction of being the only member of the prestigious group, which also includes Paul Day, Darris Kilgour and Derek Keenan, to reach the mark having spent his entire career in the same city. 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. The Knighthawks also finished among the top two teams in the East Division six different times under Hasen, including each of the first five seasons (2011-2015). 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 27-47 record with the expansion-era Knighthawks, whom he’s led to back-to-back playoff appearances, as well as a 108-122 record all-time over his 14 combined seasons in Rochester. Last week, Hasen surpassed Troy Cordingley for fifth all-time in career coaching wins (108). He’s also one game back of Ed Comeau for fourth all-time in career games coached (230).