Rochester Knighthawks General Manager and Vice President of Lacrosse Operations Dan Carey announced today that the team has signed defenseman Matt Bennett and goaltender Lucas Nagy to two-year contracts, pending league approval.
Bennett, 29, returns to Rochester after posting one goal and four assists for five points in a career-high 16 games with the Knighthawks in 2021-22. Additionally, he finished fourth amongst the team’s defensemen with 60 loose ball recoveries.
Bennett enjoyed his best season in the National Lacrosse League during the Knighthawks’ truncated inaugural campaign, scoring one goal and setting career-highs in assists (8) and points (9) while appearing in all 12 games. He finished the 2019-20 season, his sixth in the NLL, leading all Rochester defensemen in assists and ranking third in points while also tying for fourth on the team with 60 loose ball recoveries.
A native of Brampton, Ontario, Bennett has collected 30 points (6+24) and 316 loose balls in 73 career NLL games with Rochester, Philadelphia and Buffalo.
Originally a second-round selection (14th overall) of the Buffalo Bandits in the 2014 NLL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman was acquired by Rochester in the eighth round of the 2019 NLL Expansion Draft.
Nagy, 21, returns to the organization after spending a majority of the 2021-22 season on Rochester’s practice squad. He made his NLL debut with the Knighthawks on Mar. 19 versus the Saskatchewan Rush.
Before turning pro in 2022, Nagy most recently spent the shortened 2021 summer season playing with the Burlington Chiefs of the Ontario Junior ‘A’ League, recording 57 saves and a 7.03 goals-against average in five starts with the team.
Prior to joining Burlington, the Brantford, Ontario, native played three seasons of Junior ‘B’ ball with the Hamilton Bengals, during which he assembled a 17-2-1 career regular-season record with a 6.70 goals-against average and a .834 save percentage in 27 appearances. His best season came during the 2019 campaign when he posted an astounding 10-1-1 record in the regular season while finishing second among all netminders in both goals-against average (6.08) and save percentage (.843) in 15 games. Additionally, Nagy contributed offensively with 11 assists over his three seasons with Hamilton.
Nagy also boasted a 7-5 record in 13 playoff contests, totaling 543 saves to go along with an 8.47 goals-against average and a .837 save percentage.
Internationally, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound netminder backstopped Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2019 World Junior Lacrosse Championship. He appeared in one game, earning a win over Israel while notching 33 saves.