(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks fell 17-10 to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on the road Sunday, falling to 5-7 on the season. The Desert Dogs jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back, keeping a four-goal cushion for the majority of the game.
The Knighthawks entered the contest under new leadership with Interim Head Coach Randy Mearns at the helm. The game was the first of a home-and-home matchup between the teams, starting in Las Vegas and ending in Rochester.
The Knighthawks were led in scoring by Connor Fields with one goal and seven assists. Zed Williams scored four goals and added an assist, along with scooping up 11 loose-ball recoveries, while Ryan Lanchbury and Ryan Smith each tallied a goal and four assists. Nathan Kapp got the start at the faceoff dot and put in the best shift of his young NLL career, going 22/31 on the night along with nine loose-ball recoveries. Riley Hutchcraft came in for Rylan Hartley during the first quarter and made 26 saves in 46 minutes.
Multiple Knighthawks reached milestones. Brad Gillies played in his 150th career regular-season game. Blaze Riorden scored his first two goals as a Knighthawk.
Las Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Kyle Killen and Jonathan Donville. Rochester netted its first goal at 4:56 on a backhander from Williams. However, the Desert Dogs answered with three straight goals to take a 5-1 lead on a goal by Connor Kirst and back-to-back tallies by Cloutier. Fields made it 5-2 as he struck back for the Knighthawks, burying a pass from Ryan Lanchbury at 10:34. Killen added his second of the contest at 11:30.
Killen then opened the second with two straight goals to put the Desert Dogs ahead 8-2. Lanchbury ended Rochester’s scoreless draught at 14:16 by jamming a shot past the right pad of Alex Buque, while on a 5-on-3 power play, to give Rochester its third goal of the game. But Las Vegas was not done. With four seconds left in the first half, Las Vegas’ Adam Poitras scored a shorthanded goal to give the Desert Dogs a 9-3 advantage.
The Knighthawks came out with a charge in the second half, scoring twice in the first minute of the third quarter thanks to Smith and McConvey. Las Vegas was quick to answer with three goals of their own. Riorden found his way onto the scoresheet next, working his way down to the crease and burying a low-to-low finish at 9:37 in the third. Just over a minute later, he worked his way into the same position and buried his second.
The Knighthawks found some rhythm defensively late in the third and held the Desert Dogs out for a ten-minute stretch. Cloutier ended that by finishing his hat trick to start the fourth quarter with an outside sidearm rip. Williams bagged two more to finish his hat trick and add one more in the final frame, but Las Vegas rifled home five more goals to seal the 17-10 win.
The Knighthawks return home to battle the 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.