Rochester battles Las Vegas in Sunday matinee game
(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks will look to get back into the win column Sunday as they travel to Las Vegas to take on the Desert Dogs. The Knighthawks enter the contest at 5-6 and will head out to the west coast under new leadership with Interim Head Coach Randy Mearns at the helm.
It will be the first of a home-and-home matchup between the teams, starting in Las Vegas and ending in Rochester. It will be the second of three home-and-home matchups for the Knighthawks this season. Rochester is 2-2 all-time against the Desert Dogs. Most recently, the Knighthawks pulled out a 21-13 win in March of last year.
Last Time Out
The Knighthawks hosted Calgary last week for their one and only matchup of the season. Despite scoring the first goal of the game, Rochester’s offense didn’t find its rhythm until it was too late. The Roughnecks went on a seven-goal run through the first half and never looked back as they pulled out a 14-7 win.
The Knighthawks were led by a hat trick from Ryan Smith and a four-point performance from Thomas McConvey. Rylan Hartley got the start in net and made 35 saves. Riley Hutchcraft played relief in the second quarter and made seven stops.
New Faces
The Knighthawks will head to Las Vegas with some new faces in the locker room. Before the trade deadline, Rochester sent its 2027 second-round pick to Philadelphia for Fairport, NY, native, Blaze Riorden. The next day, the team announced the hiring of Interim Head Coach Randy Mearns.
Riorden can have a major impact on the offense, on and off the floor. Last year, in the fall, he captained the USA men’s box team to a silver medal finish as a vocal veteran leader. He was also fourth on the team in points with 10 goals and eight assists.
Mearns joins the Knighthawks with a wealth of coaching knowledge, having spent 26 years as a college head coach at the Division I level. He has coached multiple collegiate players to become first-round NLL draft picks, including Knighthawks captain Dan Coates, Knighthawks President and General Manager Dan Carey, Buffalo Bandits goaltender Matt Vinc, and Georgia Swarm goaltender Brett Dobson, just to name a few.
Two Teams Tied Together
The Knighthawks and the Desert Dogs are two teams that have been connected since Las Vegas got an expansion team. On July 7, 2022, the trade that would establish the Knighthawks’ new era came to fruition. On that day, the Knighthawks sent Charlie Bertrand, Joel Watson, and the second overall pick to the Desert Dogs in exchange for Connor Fields, Riley Hutchcraft, and the first overall pick (which the Knighthawks used to select Thomas McConvey).
The Knighthawks’ left-handed offense would be nowhere near what it is today if it weren’t for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the watchful eye of Carey.
Scouting the Desert Dogs
Las Vegas enters the matchup 4-7, looking to keep its playoff hopes alive as they face the back stretch of its season. They made some offseason free agency moves on the offensive end ahead, acquiring Mitch Jones, Chase Fraser, and Chris Cloutier. Jones currently leads the team in points through 11 games with 23 goals and 40 assists. He’s joined by Jonathan Donville (15+47) and Cloutier (22+29) as the leading three scorers.
Defensively, it is a unit in transition, full of horses. Adam Poitras and Connor Kirst exemplify the Las Vegas transition game, two offensive guys in the field game that have learned defensive assignments in the box game and have the green light to shoot when they drive up the field. In goal, it’s Landon Kells with a 4-4 record this season. He’s made 362 saves in 11 games for a 12.81 goals-against average and currently holds a .754 save percentage.
Next Game
The Knighthawks return home to battle the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on March 21 at 7 p.m. at Segar & Sciortino at The Blue Cross Arena, as they host C.U.R.E. Cancer & Segar Hat Night. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Knighthawks trucker hat, courtesy of Segar & Sciortino. Knighthawks players will wear special-edition jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit C.U.R.E. Childhood Cancer Association.
Milestone Watch
- Next time he takes to the floor, BRAD GILLIES will play in his 150th career game.
- IAN LLORD needs four loose-ball recoveries to reach 900 in his career.
- THOMAS MCCONVEY is seven assists away from the century mark in his career.
- Captain DAN COATES needs nine loose-ball recoveries to reach 800 in his career.
- RANDY MEARNS will make his NLL head coaching debut Sunday.