The Rochester Knighthawks opened the 2024 preseason with a 14-10 win over the intrastate rival Albany FireWolves Sunday afternoon at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.
Ryan Smith, fresh off a gold medal win with Team Canada at the 2024 World Box Lacrosse Championships, led the way with four goals while Connor Fields finished with a team-high five points (2+3) in the win for Rochester. Thomas McConvey (1+3), who was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2023-24, and Ryan Lanchbury (2+2) each recorded four points. Riley Hutchraft and Kevin Orelman posted 20 saves each while sharing the goaltending duties.
“It felt awesome,” said Smith on being back. “You can’t replicate game situations in practice. You can do your best, but it can’t match the game. It was good to be back out there with the fellas.”
Albany stormed out to a 4-0 lead, but goals from newcomers Brandon Slade and Colin Sharkey, who was signed earlier this week, and another by Fields brought the Knighthawks back to within two at the half.
Trailing 5-3 to begin the second half, Albany took a three-goal lead four minutes into the third quarter, but a four-goal run by Rochester, including back-to-back strikes from Smith, would give Rochester its first lead of the contest.
Albany answered 16 seconds after Fields’ go-ahead goal to knot the score at 7-7, but Smith would complete the hat trick followed by a goal from Dan Lomas to restore the Knighthawks’ two-goal advantage to close out the third quarter, which saw Rochester ahead 9-7 after outscoring the FireWolves by a 6-2 margin.
The FireWolves pulled within one to begin the fourth quarter, but the Knighthawks would score three of the game’s final four goals to come away with the 14-10 win.
“I felt comfortable, and the guys did a great job making it easy on me,” said Orleman, who missed all last season due to injury. “They played really well, as did the offense. It was great.”
The Knighthawks are back in action on Saturday, Nov 16 when they get their first look at the Ottawa Black Bears at 7 p.m. at Brampton Memorial Arena.
Rochester opens the 2024-25 National Lacrosse League season on Saturday, Nov. 30, when they host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs at 7:00 p.m. at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena. Knighthawks single-game tickets for the 2024-25 season are on sale now and can be purchased at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office, online at www.rochesterknighthawks.com, or by calling (585) 454-5335. Season ticket memberships start at as low as $20 per seat per game, depending on the seating location. For more information, visit www.rochesterknighthawks.com/memberships.
