After returning to the win column on the road, the Rochester Knighthawks (4-6) hope to carry their victorious ways onto their home floor, hosting the intrastate rival Albany Firewolves (10-2) at Segar and Sciortino Field at Blue Cross Arena Saturday night.
“Every offensive guy swung some points,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “I think the biggest thing for us here tonight is getting good stops on the back-end with ‘Hutchy’ (Riley Hutchcraft) and our defense, then we can get going forward and get our offense going forward and operating downhill. We can put some pressure on Albany and get them on their heels a bit. If we do that, I like our chances here.”
EFFORT GETS REWARDED
After a six-game losing skid that began in December, Rochester finally picked up its fourth win of the year, defeating Panther City via 19-15 final on Sunday. Despite the losing streak, Hasen and company believe it was a long overdue win given the effort his team continued showing.
“We finally got rewarded for the work we’ve been doing and we ended up on the right side of things,” said Hasen. “We started on time and had a bit of a fire. We were ready and we were dialed in and we were focused. Coming home from Sunday night with a win feels a little bit better.”
“We definitely had a tough couple of weeks,” said defenseman Tyler Biles, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing a month of action. “It was very important that we got back on track last weekend. We have to take advantage of that momentum and carry it over into this game.”
“It was awesome getting that win,” said forward Ryan Smith. “If you look around the league, there’s not a lot of teams above .500 right now, so you can be a win away from eighth place and a loss away from 14th place. It was a massive win.”
ROCHESTER, New York, USA – APRIL 8: Rochester Knighthawks v Albany Firewolves April 8, 2023 in Rochester, New York, USA. (Photo by Micheline Veluvolu/ Rochester Knighthawks)
1 FROM 100
With 99 goals to his resume, Ryan Smith needs just one to go in the back of the net for the third-year pro to reach triple digits.
With eight games left in the regular season, Smith is four goals back of tying his career-high 35 set two seasons prior. The ‘Hawks 2020 first round pick is averaging over three goals per game this season. His 31 goals on the campaign rank Smith in a tie for sixth across NLL goal scorers.
“It’s awesome,” said Smith when reflecting on his journey thus far. “I’m very grateful for this franchise giving me an opportunity to come here through the draft. It’s been an up and down first couple of years, but that’s expected with a team as young as ours is. I’m just focusing on helping the team and hoping we win tonight.”
UPPER ECHELON
Like last weekend, the ‘Hawks will face a team that has already played on the weekend, as Albany hosted Vancouver Friday night, coming away with a 13-8 win. That gives the Firewolves a 10-2 start, tying a franchise record set by the original team located in Philadelphia.
“They’re a big, athletic group back there,” said Smith. “We know that they’re going to push the pace all night long. If we’re not getting on the floor hard, they’re going to double-team and push the ball the other way. We need to move the ball well because the ball will move faster than our feet.”
“It’s a good test to see where we stand against one of the best,” said Hasen. “We have to be ready to play from the get-go.”
Albany poses a threat in goal, with netminder Doug Jamieson winning 10 straight, while allowing the second fewest goals-against in the NLL.
“We’ve got to pick our spots and hit our spots. We need to get his feet constantly moving. With him playing back-to-back, if we can swing the ball a lot and get Doug moving side-to-side, maybe we can tire him out, but it’s up to us that if we see mesh, we need to hit the mesh.”
