After being outscored 5-1 in the third quarter, the Rochester Knighthawks (7-10) flipped the script in the final frame, holding the playoff bound Georgia Swarm (10-8) to just a single goal in a narrow 11-10 win Friday at Gas South Arena.
The victory keeps the Knighthawks playoff hopes alive going into Sunday’s regular season finale and also snaps a four-game skid. Rochester will take its 7-10 record looking to earn its first home victory since March 9.
Connor Fields (4+4) recorded a natural hat trick as part of a four-goal night to go with four assists for the Knighthawks. Ryan Smith (2+2) tallied a pair of goals and two helpers while Matt Gilray (0+2) and former Swarm Ryan Lanchbury (0+3), Dan Coates (0+2) all contributed with multi-assists efforts. Mitch Ogilvie (2+0), Curtis Knight (1+1), Turner Evans (1+0), Kyle Waters (1+0), and Thomas Whitty (0+1) capped off the scoring.
Goaltender Rylan Hartley (1+1) picked up his first victory of the season in his sixth appearance as he stopped 36 of the 46 shots he faced.
Andrew Kew (3+5) totaled a team-best eight points and three goals for Georgia. Lyle Thompson (2+3) and Seth Oakes (2+0) both netted a pair of goals while Brendan Bomberry (0+2) also turned in a two-point night. Jordan MacIntosh (1+1), Shayne Jackson (1+1), and Bryan Cole (1+1) scored once while Jeff Henrick (0+1) concluded the scoring.
Netminder Brett Dobson (10-7) made his 18th appearance of the season for Swarm and in addition to making 47 saves, he recorded an assist. The second-year goaltender combined for 30 saves in the first and third quarters, respectively.
Trailing to start the final frame, Rochester knotted the score as Smith, who had nine shots prior to the goal, bullied his way towards the net before snapping in his first marker of the night near the 13:00 minute mark.
FIELDSY GETS HIS 4️⃣th!
5-4, us | Q2, 10:25 remaining pic.twitter.com/GeTdRIVFN4
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) April 20, 2024
Less than a minute later, Coates carried the ball down the middle of the floor and fired a shot on Dobson. As luck would have it, Ogilvie parked himself to the right of the crease, scooped up the rebound and tucked in his second of the night.
The Swarm tied the score at 10-10 on MacIntosh’s goal, which ultimately proved to be Georgia’s lone tally for the final eight minutes of regulation.
Late in the game, Coates had the ball in the offensive zone again before giving it to Fields just inside the restraining line. The latter patiently waited for Smith to sneak off the bench and then dished a perfect cross-field feed for the Robert Morris product to wire past Dobson with 2:47 left in the contest.
FIELDSY CONVERTS ON THE PENALTY SHOT 🚨🥍
3-2, us | Q1, 1:59 remaining pic.twitter.com/8gHQKIoF9v
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) April 20, 2024
The Swarm had a few chances to force overtime, however, Hartley and company preserved the lead for the final minutes and held on for the 11-10 victory.
For much of the first five minutes of the opening quarter, the two clubs were unable to find any offense as the game was scoreless before Rochester struck twice with Knight and Fields both being setup by Gilray.
In-between Knight and Fields’ goals, Hartley made a pair of Grade-A stops on a pair of Georgia players in-front of his goal crease.
Connor Fields scores a ROCKET and the @RocKnighthawks are up 2-0 early over Georgia in a bid to make the playoffs!
Watch LIVE on ESPN+ (https://t.co/UuAIM0Z1HA) and TSN+ pic.twitter.com/ZzH23jhe3u
— NLL (@NLL) April 19, 2024
The visitors used the momentum and appeared to take a three-goal lead, but Georgia challenged the marker and had the call on the floor reversed, thus keeping the margin at two.
After the Swarm evened the game, Rochester was awarded consecutive penalty shots and Fields would capitalize on both attempts to reclaim the Knighthawks lead to close out the quarter.
To start the second frame, the Swarm tied the contest for the second time as Thompson and Jackson each scored in 35-second span, however, Rochester used a three-goal run to take a 7-4 lead into the half.
Connor Fields is EVERYTHING.
2-0, us | Q1, 9:09 remaining pic.twitter.com/XmptWqyOmN
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) April 19, 2024
Georgia emerged from the locker room scoring five of the six goals in the third quarter, including three straight from Kew, to take a 9-8 lead into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Smith tied the score before Ogilvie reclaimed the Knighthawks advantage just three minutes into the quarter.
MacIntosh made it a 10-10 game, but Smith netted the eventual go-ahead goal with 2:47 remaining and Rochester clamped down defensively in the final minutes to earn its fourth win in the last five meetings against Georgia.
Ryan Smith gives the Knighthawks a 1-goal lead late in the 4th.
📺Watch the final minutes LIVE on ESPN+ (https://t.co/UuAIM0Z1HA) and TSN+ pic.twitter.com/IzmA0QzAmf
— NLL (@NLL) April 20, 2024
The Knighthawks close out the regular season on Sunday, April 21 in a 3:00 p.m. matinee against Rochester native Blaze Riorden and the Philadelphia Wings. All the action from Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN+.
