Rochester plays Buffalo and Wings
(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks head to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday to take on the Philadelphia Wings at 7 p.m. It will be the team’s second matchup with the Wings this season and the first of a back-to-back as they travel home to face the Buffalo Bandits the next day at Segar & Sciortino Field. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ and NLL+.
The Wings will be home for the first time since their season opener on Dec. 13. Philadelphia comes in with a 1-2 record, following a bye in Week 6. The Knighthawks (2-1) arrive in the City of Brotherly Love after suffering their first loss of the season, 18-13, in Colorado against the Mammoth. It is likely to be a physical affair yet again between the Wings and Knighthawks. In nine games between these franchises, there have been an average of 37 penalty minutes in each game.
LAST TIME OUT
The Knighthawks dropped an 18-13 decision to Colorado last Saturday. Despite getting within two goals, 14-12, with eight minutes left, Rochester couldn’t put the final touches on the comeback attempt. The Mammoth closed out the game with three empty-net goals. Through the first quarter, the Knighthawks’ power play was on fire. They went four for four on their opening chances and used the man-up to take a lead through the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately, in the second, the Mammoth went on a seven-goal run that the Knighthawks just couldn’t come back from.
MVP CHASING 500
NLL MVP Connor Fields has picked up right where he left off last season. Through the first six weeks, no player has averaged more points per game than Fields at 8.33. Dhane Smith and Jeff Teat are just behind him, averaging eight per game, but Fields has been setting the pace despite playing in fewer games so far this season. Now, as he gets ready to take on the Wings, a milestone is looming. Fields needs only five points to hit the 500 mark in his career. He will become only the seventh American-born player in the NLL to reach that mark.
SCOUTING THE WINGS
Philadelphia (1-2) heads home following two away games to close out 2025 and a bye week to start the new year. In their last time out, the Wings fell to the Ottawa Black Bears 16-12. It was Brennan O’Neill and Joe Resetarits who led the way offensively. O’Neill notched his first NLL sock trick, bagging six goals, and adding two assists. Resetarits played the quarterback with six assists. In goal, Nick Damude got the start but was relieved by Deacan Knott in the first quarter after allowing four goals in a row. Knott played 54 minutes and made 37 saves. In the second half, the Wings went on a seven-goal run and took the lead 11-9, but Jeff Teat assisted four goals to four different scorers. The Black Bears took back the lead and held on.
BACK-TO-BACK
This weekend will be the fifth back-to-back set of games in the Knighthawks’ franchise history. In 2020, Rochester played a pair of back-to-backs. They went 1-1 against Calgary and Philadelphia in January and 0-2 against San Diego and Colorado in March. In 2024, it was the only time the Knighthawks have played an away-and-home back-to-back, like they will this weekend. Against Georgia and Philadelphia, they went 2-0, winning 11-10 against the Swarm and 12-3 against the Wings.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Connor Fields needs five points to reach 500 in his career.
• Matt Gilray needs five points to hit the century mark in his career and two more games played to hit 100.
• Chad Tutton will reach 150 games played against Philadelphia.
• Jeremy Thompson needs 15 faceoff wins to reach 2,600. He will be the second player ever to reach that total.
• Brad Gillies is nine loose-ball recoveries away from 500 in his career.
• Dan Coates needs nine more assists to reach 100 in his career.
NEXT HOME GAME
The Knighthawks will host the Buffalo Bandits on Saturday at 7 p.m. on Chopper’s birthday. Fans can celebrate their favorite mascot’s birthday, along with some of his mascot buddies. There will be face painters, balloon artists, and a coloring area for kids. For tickets, fans can go online to www.rochesterknighthawks.com or call (585) 400-HAWK (4295).