A seven-goal run by the New York Riptide (8-8) proved too much for the Rochester Knighthawks (6-9) to overcome as they dropped a 14-9 decision to their intrastate rival Saturday at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
With the defeat, Rochester, which has come up short in five of its last six home contests, shows a 4-3 record in the seven games all-time against New York. The Knighthawks have a 6-9 record entering the final three games of the regular season.
Ryan Lanchbury (3+2) had a team-high five points for Rochester, while Connor Fields (1+3), Kyle Waters (2+2) and Curtis Knight (1+2) each turned in a multi-point game. Turner Evans (0+2), Ryan Smith (2+0) and Thomas McConvey (0+2) all had two points each while Ethan O’Connor (0+1) and Matt Gilray (0+1) completed the scoring.
Doug Buchan made his first start of the season, and first since 2019 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Wings, becoming the third different goaltender for Rochester to appear in a game this season. The netminder stopped 35 of the 49 shots he faced while Rylan Hartley allowed one goal in 20 seconds of relief in the third quarter.
Jeff Teat turned in yet another dominant nine-point performance for New York, factoring in each of his team’s first seven goals, while former Knighthawk Stephen Keogh (3+2) and Reilly O’Connor (2+0) had multi-goal efforts. Larson Sundown (1+2), Kiel Matisz (0+3), Taggart Clark (0+2), Connor Kearnan (1+1) and Kevin Brownell (1+1) all finished with multi-point efforts. Callum Jones (0+1), Matt Marinier (0+1), Damon Edwards (0+1), and Mitch Wilde (1+0) each had one point.
Netminder Cameron Dunkerley (8-8) appeared in his 16th appearance of the season for Riptide, making 49 saves, which included double digits in all four quarters.
Trailing 4-3 with six minutes left in the opening half, Dunkerley sent a long stretch pass to Teat as he snuck behind the Rochester defense. As Teat sprinted towards the Knighthawks cage, he fired home his second goal of the night.
🚨 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAVE A HAT TRICK, LANCH! 🎉
11-9, them | Q4, 5:19 remaining pic.twitter.com/iStp757Eks
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) April 7, 2024
The Riptide’s leading scorer helped set up three more goals to give New York a 7-4 advantage just 3:28 into the third quarter, two of which came from Keogh, including a jaw-dropping, no-look highlight reel goal.
New York finished the frame with three additional tallies to take command of the contest with a 10-4 score.
Knight, Waters and Lanchbury helped the Knighthawks pull within three with just over eight minutes left in regulation, however, the Riptide temporarily stopped the run with Wilde’s shorthanded breakaway conversion at the 7:00 mark.
The Knighthawks responded again as Smith and Lanchbury scored 31 seconds apart, but New York closed out the contest with the final three more goals over the final three minutes for a 14-9 win.
In the opening quarter, the teams combined for just five goals as the Riptide held a narrow 3-2 cushion.
Rochester regained its lead early in the second quarter but were outscored 11-5 for the remainder of the contest, including 5-0 to begin the second half.
The Knighthawks hit the road for a pair of matchups beginning on Saturday, April 13 when they head north of the border to take on the league-leading Toronto Rock. All the action from FirstOntario Centre will be carried live on Big 107.3 FM as well as ESPN+.
