(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks fell in their season finale, 17-12, to the Georgia Swarm at The Blue Cross Arena on Sunday in front of a franchise record crowd of 9,024.
“It was awesome to have that many people supporting us and wanting us to do well,” Interim Head Coach Randy Mearns said. “It was there, but we got to give them more to cheer about. You’ve got to do it for 60 minutes to keep that fan base engaged because you can build off of that energy.”
Rochester donned the purple and teal for its annual Native American Heritage Game. For fans, it was an opportunity to reminisce. It was the same for a player like Ian Llord, who has worn the colors before.
“I think it’s the coolest colors in the entire league, personally,” Llord said. “I understand the rebrand the first time around. You’ve got to kind of make it your own, but it just seems right in these colors.”
The Swarm used a dominant first-half effort to take care of business in the Flower City. Rochester put together a four-goal run in the third quarter that brought the game within three, but they couldn’t get any closer than that.
With that, the Knighthawks finish their season 6-12 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Rochester was led on the day by Connor Fields with a goal and six assists. Ryan Lanchbury took home the NLL assist title with his six helpers, putting him at 82 on the season. Zed Williams, Ryan Smith, and Thomas McConvey all notched hat tricks and at least five points. Riley Hutchcraft played the full 60 minutes in net and made 34 saves.
It was a low-scoring first quarter; both teams’ defenses seemed to find their rhythm faster than the offense did. Rochester scored its first goal nine minutes in as Williams drove to the crease and went high over Swarm goalie Brett Dobson. It was clear early that Georgia was going to make the Knighthawks earn it.
By the end of the first half, Georgia had taken a 9-3 lead. Rochester, however, came out firing in the third. They put together a four-goal run that started with Jake Piseno in transition. He went low-to-low before Smith buried back-to-back goals. Fields finished the run and pulled Rochester within three, 10-7, but that was as close as the Knighthawks would get.
Rochester opened the fourth quarter with a Williams’ goal, but Georgia scored the next five and put the game away. McConvey scored a 59-second hat trick in the final moments, but it wasn’t enough as the Knighthawks fell 17-12.
The Knighthawks will now look to improve in the offseason and return to the playoffs next season.
There is still time to own a piece of history and bid on the team’s Native American Heritage jerseys by going to https://fans.winwithdash.com/team/rochesterknighthawks. The auction closes at 10 a.m. on Monday, April 20.