(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks got back in the win column Saturday, earning a 13-12 overtime win against the Saskatchewan Rush. Ryan Smith ended the hard-fought contest on the doorstep six minutes into the overtime.
“It’s like ministicks back in the day with him in my parents’ basement,” Smith said about playing with Ryan Lanchbury. “He’s a hell of a playmaker, and I think that’s when we’re at our best when we’re all contributing up front.”
The Knighthawks were led in scoring by Lanchbury with eight assists. Connor Fields had a six-point night on two goals and four assists. Zed Williams set a career high with five goals. Smith finished his hat trick with the game-winner and added two assists. Rylan Hartley got the start in his return to Rochester, making 43 saves with six coming in overtime.
Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen and several Knighthawks reached milestones. Hasen coached in the 250th career regular-season game. Fields hit the 300-assist mark in his career, while Matt Gilray also hit the century mark for points in his career.
It was a game full of two-goal runs. After the score was 3-3, the Rush and Knighthawks exchanged eight two-goal runs. It finally ended when the Rush scored four minutes into the fourth. The Knighthawks had the last run of the night. Williams buried the game-tying goal with 10 minutes to go, and Smith won it in OT.
“It’s phenomenal when you see ownership and President (J. Conrad) Seneca just have so much love for our team,” “I’ve known him before he was president, so I know he loves lacrosse, and just to see his support with the team. Just to know that we have the backing of an owner who’s here with us win or lose.”
The Knighthawks will now play every remaining week of the regular season. An overtime win against the league leaders can be a big momentum driver.
“We get fulfilled, we get to build off of something that’s been good,” Hasen said. “It went a little bit we were trying to find something to build off of. Tonight, we’re able to build off this and just the emotion, the way we played, it’s contagious.”
The Knighthawks erased an early 3-0 deficit with three goals of their own in a span of 1:18 to tie the game in the first quarter. Williams, Matt Gilray, and Ryan Smith powered the three-goal run. After a two-goal response by the Rush, Williams powered his way through the defense and scored his second of the night with 3:18 to go in the opening frame. Smith followed suit with his second of the contest just 13 seconds later to even the game at five.
Saskatchewan retook the lead with back-to-back shorthanded goals. Jake Boudreau scored off a breakaway with 11.8 to go in the opening frame to give Saskatchewan a 6-5 advantage. Former RIT standout Matt Hossack then scored 15 seconds into the second quarter to make it 7-5. Rochester clawed its way back into a tie on an outside shot from Kyle Waters at 3:20 and a quick-stick marker from Thomas McConvey at 5:15 of the second.
The Rush’s Brock Haley scored on an outside bounce shot at 11:11 of the second to give Saskatchewan an 8-7 lead. Ryan Barnable, who also played at RIT, then connected for their third shorthanded goal to make it 9-7. Williams answered back quickly with a diving goal just 43 seconds later to give him three on the night and get Rochester within one at 9-8.
The Knighthawks stormed out of the locker room in the second half as Fields tied the contest with a bounce shot early. Hartley kept the game tied at nine with three breakaway stops in the first seven minutes of the third. The Rush, however, collected the next two goals to pull ahead 11-9 late in the third.
Right on cue, the Knighthawks scored two goals to force another tie. Williams answered as he slammed home a dunk with 23.5 to play in the third. His fourth goal of the evening trimmed the Rush lead to 11-10. Fields connected from the outside to tie the game at 3:30 of the fourth.
Haley put Saskatchewan in front 12-11 with a dunk goal at the four-minute mark. But tonight belonged to Williams, who scored his fifth of the contest just 1:05 later. Then the defenses clamped down. Neither team found the back of the net in the final ten minutes of regulation, and both goalies combined for 22 saves in the fourth.
In OT, the defenses stayed strong, and it became clear the game winner would have to come out of a broken play or transition.
That broken play was Lanchbury finding Smith behind his defender after a turnover in the neutral zone. Smith, down low, left no doubt.
The Knighthawks will return to Segar & Sciortino Field next weekend as they host the Calgary Roughnecks at 1 p.m. on Marvel Super Hero™️ Day, brought to you by Toshiba Business Solutions. The Knighthawks will wear one-of-a-kind Spider-Man: Miles Morales jerseys that will be auctioned off, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Webster Comfort Care Home.
The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a Legends of Lax Marvel comic book featuring Knighthawks players. Upon exit, the first 750 fans will receive a light-up yo-yo, courtesy of Toshiba Business Solutions.