Rochester Knighthawks (3-0) head coach Mike Hasen etched his name into National Lacrosse League history on Saturday, guiding his team to a 13-11 win over the Vancouver Warriors (1-2) at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
The win marks the 100th behind the bench for Hasen, who becomes the sixth coach in league history to reach the century mark. The win occurred nearly 13 years following Hasen’s first win as head coach on Jan. 2011.
Ryan Lanchbury led the Knighthawks with seven points, while Connor Fields (2+3) and Ryan Smith (3+2) each turned in five-point performances.
The teams traded goals early on in the opening frame with the Knighthawks holding a narrow 2-1 lead courtesy of back-to-back goals from Matt Gilray and Turner Evans.
The lead would be short-lived, however, as a power-play goal from Vancouver’s Kevin Crowley would ignite a four-goal run for the Warriors over the next eight minutes. Reid Bowering gave Vancouver its first lead of the night at 5:22 followed by goals from Owen Grant and Ryan Martel 68 seconds apart to increase the visitors’ lead to 5-2.
🚨 RYAN LANCHBURY, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRONT OF THE HOME CROWD! 🤩
7-5, us | Q2, 6:37 remaining pic.twitter.com/emKQVVJz8i
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) December 24, 2023
Rochester remained unfazed, immediately going on a six-goal run of its own to take a 7-5 lead midway through the second quarter that would temporarily chase goaltender Aaron Bold from the crease.
🚨🚨🚨 BIRTHDAY HAT TRICK? BIRTHDAY HAT TRICK!
13-10, us | Q4, 7:43 remaining pic.twitter.com/Zbbt4Yuawo
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) December 24, 2023
Austin Hasen’s buzzer-beater with two seconds remaining in the opening quarter jumpstarted the rally after the second-year forward was on the receiving end of a cross-crease feed from Thomas McConvey and stuffed it inside the near post from a tough angle.
Fields, the reigning NLL Player of the Week, factored in on Rochester’s next four goals, first setting up a long-range conversion from Kyle Waters at the 9:00 mark before scoring back-to-back goals 40 seconds apart to restore the 6-5 lead for the Knighthawks.
Lanchbury, making his home debut after being acquired by Rochester earlier this month, followed with a pair of goals of his own to give the Knighthawks their largest lead of the night with 4:51 remaining in the half.
Adam Charalambides eventually stopped the bleeding for Vancouver with his first goal of the night just 44 seconds later, but Rochester carried an 8-6 lead into the second half, marking the first time this season Rochester led after 30 minutes.
🚨 HA2EN!
10-8, Rochester | Q3, 6:51 remaining pic.twitter.com/NIEPlkEuus
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) December 24, 2023
The second half started much like that of the first with the teams exchanging goals five minutes in. Smith, who entered the matchup coming off consecutive six-point efforts to begin the season, opened the scoring at 3:48 before Grant responded with his second unassisted tally of the night 32 seconds later.
The Warriors pulled within a goal less than a minute later when Crowley scooped up a net-front rebound and deposited it into an otherwise empty net to make it a 9-8 contest. The initial point-blank offering from Charalambides left Rylan Hartley shaken up after the Knighthawks netminder took the shot in the face, ultimately leaving the game and having to be replaced by Riley Hutchcraft with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Hasen restored Rochester’s two-goal lead at 6:51, taking a feed from Gilray and winning a footrace to the cage while warding off a Vancouver defender and one-bouncing a shot past Bold.
McConvey, who netted a hat trick in the Week 2 win at Saskatchewan, scored his first of the night, but Grant would complete the hat trick on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity at the 4:54 mark to keep Rochester within reach. Vancouver again pulled within one with a last-second goal from Keegan Bal, mirroring that of Hasen’s in the opening quarter, but back-to-back goals by Smith in the fourth quarter thwarted the attempted Vancouver rally.
Hutchcraft was stellar in relief for a second straight home game, stopping 20 of 23 shots in the final 24 minutes. Hartley was credited for his first win of the season with a 25-save performance.
The Knighthawks head into the holidays joining Albany as the only two teams to begin the season at 3-0 and one of four to remain unbeaten. Rochester hopes to keep its undefeated start going when the team travels west to San Diego on Friday, Dec. 29 for a cross-country matchup with the Seals. Game time is slated for a 10 p.m. start and will be varied live on Big 107.3 FM.
