Historically, the City of Halifax hasn’t been kind to the Rochester Knighthawks. The franchise of yesteryear had won every prior meeting with the current era of Knighthawks since their first face-off in Nova Scotia dating back to 2019. That was until last week.
Trailing 8-5 with 15 minutes to play, Rochester attacked with its best quarter of road lacrosse to date in the 2024-25 NLL season. The ‘Hawks outscored the Thunderbirds 5-1, completing a heroic rally for a 10-9 final to get back in the win column and split the season series.
With the win, Rochester improved to 3-5. The record isn’t sexy, but the season is far from over.
“We talked about it after in Halifax,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “Historically when you look back, there are moments in seasons where you can see the turning point. We’re going to try and use this as a point. We found where we’re competitive and we’re battling in different ways. We’re starting to figure our stuff out, and we’re going to use that as some momentum and see where it takes us.”
The Knighthawks are back home Saturday to host a Colorado Mammoth team that is 4-3 on the season. Yes, Rochester is two games under .500, but the margin for error in the unified NLL standings is razor thin. The Knighthawks are in 10th place, sitting two spots out of playoff positioning. A win Saturday tentatively ties them for the second-most victories in the league. That is the beauty of the parity the NLL has to offer.
Hasen, who with his win Saturday became the fifth winningest coach in league history (108 victories), has seen his team for eight weeks now. The veteran coach feels he has a pulse for what this group needs.
“We can’t let up as a staff,” said Hasen. “We’re in a stretch right now where we haven’t had a break since the start of training camp. We’ve missed a couple of practices through the Christmas break and we’re kind of banged up a little bit. We thought about taking a little bit of a break and maybe take a practice off, but then we came together as a group and said to ourselves to keep the foot on the gas pedal because our backs are against the wall.”
And they are, but the comfort Rochester’s assembly of players can take is they’ve been here before. Last year, the Knighthawks stared at a literal three percent chance of making the postseason with one week to play in the season. Seven days later they were playoff bound.
Players like Connor Fields, Ryan Smith, and Thomas McConvey were here for it. They’ve lived through it. So has Ryan Lanchbury, who enters Week 9 with 45 points (12+33), tied with Fields for the team lead and fifth in league scoring.
“He’s been a guy that’s been able to produce on the offensive end and he’s grown into a role that we feel is certainly paying dividends. He can control the pace of the game. He sees the floor well, he’s finding his teammates. When the opportunity presents itself, he has the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. He’s just playing with a lot of confidence and his teammates around him are doing a good job helping him get through it.”
Smith leads the Knighthawks with 20 goals and is fourth in the NLL. Lanchbury’s assists are fifth-most. Ian Llord leads the league with 18 blocked shots, six more than any other player. In goal, Riley Hutchcraft leads in minutes played (428:40) and saves (319).
The Knighthawks have the talent to turn things around. Their roster is loaded with league leaders and returnees from last season who know how to steer a ship that has lost its course.
The road ahead is a daunting one. Rochester will play five of its next seven games away from the Flower City, but this Saturday, the turf will be down on the floor of Blue Cross Arena. When the dust settles from their matchup with the Mammoth, the Knighthawks will be halfway complete with their season.
The team has yet to string together consecutive wins on the season. They look to change that trend Saturday and move forward to the road and upward in the standings.
