A back-and-forth affair between two of the hottest teams in the NLL went the distance, but it was the Rochester Knighthawks (9-7) emerging in the closing seconds of regulation to pull out a thrilling 14-13 win over the visiting San Diego Seals (8-7) Saturday at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
Rochester built a 12-6 lead with 8:32 left in the third quarter before San Diego rattled off four consecutive goals and seven of the next eight to tie the game at 13-13.
Ryan Smith played hero for the Knighthawks, coming out of the timeout to score the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining in regulation to cap a five-goal night and secure the Knighthawks a fifth straight win heading into the final two games of the regular season.
Smith led the way offensively with his second five-goal effort of the season and added an assist while Ryan Lanchbury posted a team-high seven points (1+6).
It was a big night of milestones for Rochester, with Lanchbury, Connor Fields (3+2), and head coach Mike Hasen earning accolades. Lanchbury notched his 200th career point and 150th assist in the first quarter before reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his career later in the half.
Fields eclipsed 200 career goals to make it a 9-4 game in the second quarter, completing his hat trick early in the third. He also added two assists to bring his season total to 110 points, becoming just the fourth player in league history with at least three 110-point seasons.
Hasen was on the bench for the 238th game as a head coach, moving into third all-time in league history and surpassing former coach and counterpart, Paul Day.
Two weeks after making history, @RocKnighthawks forward Connor Fields adds another milestone performance in tonight’s 14-13 win over San Diego. pic.twitter.com/gvkdUVpVmp
— Knighthawks PR (@KnighthawksPR) March 30, 2025
Goaltender Rylan Hartley made 40 stops for Rochester, earning his fifth win in seven games since returning from injury on Feb. 1. Thomas McConvey (2+3), Taylor Jensen (1+2), Graydon Hogg (0+2), and Curtis Knight (0+2) all had multi-point performances for the Hawks.
Following the 14-goal effort, Rochester pushed its total to 82 during its current five-game win streak.
FIRST QUARTER
San Diego opened the scoring in the first minute with a shot from Zach Currier for his 14th of the season.
Rochester responded by rattling off three straight markers from Josh Medeiros, McConvey, and Kyle Waters to capture the momentum in front of the home crowd.
MEDEIROS GETS THE HAWKS STARTED
1-1 | Q1 12:25 pic.twitter.com/XBZBLBsUVm
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) March 29, 2025
The teams would trade goals in the final 7:20 of the frame, including Wesley Berg getting his 39th goal of the season just nine seconds into a power-play to make it a 4-3 game.
Smith closed out the scoring with 2:58 before the break with feeds from Knight and Lanchbury on the rush to regain a two-goal cushion.
SECOND QUARTER
Fields joined in on the scoring frenzy 22 seconds into the quarter to push it to a 6-3 lead, becoming the sixth different player to score for Rochester. Defenseman Ryland Rees went down to the turf after a collision with Trevor Baptiste and would not return to the game.
Smith reached the 40-goal mark for the second straight year off a great defensive effort from Hogg near midfield to cause a turnover that resulted in a chance at the doorstep for the Burlington, Ontario, native.
9-4 Hawks with 2:20 left in the second pic.twitter.com/gKs5V3RXKh
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) March 29, 2025
Less than two minutes later, Smith completed his hat trick on the man-advantage for his seventh three-goal performance on the season.
The Seals scored their first goal in over 12 minutes from forward Tre LeClaire unassisted for his second of the night.
Fields netted another against his former team before San Diego cut the deficit to four with 37 seconds remaining in the half.
THIRD QUARTER
The Knighthawks got back-to-back goals from Smith and Fields in the opening three minutes of the second half.
Taylor Jensen got WAYYYY up! 😳 pic.twitter.com/n6XZMXG6pQ
— NLL (@NLL) March 30, 2025
Seals goaltender Chris Origlieri notched his second assist of the game to LeClaire in transition that bounced past Hartley to complete his first hat trick of the season.
Rochester would have its largest lead of the night off a nifty move from Taylor Jensen for his first goal since Jan. 4 that made it a 12-6 game with 8:32 to go.
T-Mac’s goal to put us at 13 in the third (and then San Diego scored right after 😔) pic.twitter.com/U5Hlp2XrJB
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) March 30, 2025
Ryan Benesch’s goal on the power-play began a San Diego run of three goals in 55 seconds.
Hartley was pulled for Riley Hutchcraft following Jake Govett’s second goal in as many minutes for the Seals to make it a two-goal game.
McConvey would stop the bleeding with his second goal of the night until San Diego answered right back 37 seconds later to go into the final 15 minutes down 13-10.
FOURTH QUARTER
Goals were hard to come by in the fourth, with both teams combining for just three.
Berg buried another at the 13:02 mark for his 42nd goal of the season.
Rochester killed off its first penalty of the night after Tyler Biles was called for a delay of game penalty. The Hawks would go on a power-play of their own, only for Govett to tie the game at 13 shorthanded to cap off a 7-2 run for the Seals.
Neither team could find the back of the net until Smith recorded the game-winner in the waning seconds for the Knighthawks’ third win inside Blue Cross Arena this season.
SMITTY WITH 10 SECONDS TO GO 👏👏👏
14-13 HAWKS pic.twitter.com/4CL6XdaeH4
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) March 30, 2025
UP NEXT
Rochester’s homestead continues next Saturday, April 5 for another meeting with the Ottawa Black Bears. The Knighthawks defeated the Black Bears 18-8 earlier this month inside the Canadian Tire Centre during the team’s five-game win streak. The matchup will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM and ESPN+ in addition to being available to viewers on NLL+, a free direct-to-consumer streaming platform which provides instant global access to every game as well as increased access to highlights, full game replays and exclusive league content.
