The Rochester Knighthawks are coming off an 11-7 victory over the Toronto Rock on Saturday, which means forward Thomas Hoggarth is coming off a four-goal effort. The sixth-year pro seems to be picking up right where he left off from last season.
With Hoggarth’s four tallies against the Rock, including a natural hat trick in the first quarter, he was just one away from tying a single-game record for himself and the franchise.
“Honestly, I was just putting the ball in the net, and I was just trying to score,” laughed Hoggarth when asked if he was trying to match his record he established on March 12 against the New York Riptide last season.
As Hoggarth embarks on his sixth season in the National Lacrosse League, it’s his second season with the expansion-era Knighthawks. In 2021-22, Hoggarth finished third among all Knighthawks with his 25 goals and seventh with his 40 points after appearing in 16 of the team’s 18 contests.
Does it get any prettier than that 🤩 pic.twitter.com/1UvvmDOghC
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) December 11, 2022
After re-signing a two-year contract for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons on Sept. 9 of this year, Hoggarth is ready to continue making an impact. And, it most definitely shows.
“Hoagie’s (Hoggarth) a guy that gets open for anybody who has a ball in their stick and has a pretty good knack for catching in tight and smaller areas and spaces when he’s covered by defenders,” said Knighthawks general manager Dan Carey when asked about Hoggarth’s four-goal performance on Saturday.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed that Hoggarth and fellow forward Connor Fields combined for 11 points against Toronto, including eight of the team’s 11 goals on the night. Not too bad for an offense that has a lot of new faces that complement the tenured Knighthawks players.
“I think from preseason and the practices, I think we’re just building chemistry up there and it’s starting to work right now,” explained Hoggarth when asked when the chemistry really began rolling on this new offense.
🗣️ NATTY HATTY pic.twitter.com/Yv6pmZdW5K
— NLL (@NLL) December 11, 2022
Rochester is only two games into the 2022-23 season, meaning there’s still a lot of proving that this Knighthawks team can do with 16 more games on tap.
Hoggarth and company know this, however: the Knighthawks don’t want to be counted out.
“I think the years before, right? We’re always a bottom feeder. So, right now, we’re just proving to ourselves how well we can play and…right now it’s working,” finished Hoggarth when asked how the team can continue to prove themselves in the weeks to come.
The Knighthawks and Hoggarth look to continue their winning ways as they travel to MVP Arena to face the Albany FireWolves on Saturday, Dec. 17. Face-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be carried live on Big 107.3 and ESPN+.
