Photo courtesy of David Pickering – Pick’s Pics/NLL
The Rochester Knighthawks (6-8) visited the Oshawa FireWolves (4-11) in NLL action Saturday night at the Tribute Community Centre in Oshawa, Ontario.
Rochester fell 17-13 to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs last Saturday night. The Knighthawks were led by Connor Fields and Ryan Lanchbury, with eight points each. Thomas McConvey had six assists, while Ryan Smith scored four goals and added one assist. Nathan Kapp tied a Knighthawks franchise record with a career-high 26 faceoff wins in the game. Winners of only one of their last seven games, the Knighthawks were hoping to get back on track in Oshawa.
The last time out rhe FireWolves looked strong against the Philadelphia Wings. Jumping out to a 7-1 first half lead, Oshawa cruised to an 11-6 victory. Led by Alex Simmons with seven points, the offense clicked from the start. Ryan Benesch made his debut scoring two, and assisting on four more, as he looked very comfortable with his newest club.
The goaltending match-up had Riley Hutchcraft in net for Rochester facing Doug Jamieson in net for the FireWolves.
Rochester and Oshawa traded punches through a tightly contested first half, with neither side able to gain much separation. After an early Rochester strike from Taylor Jensen, Oshawa responded quickly behind Ryan Benesch and Dawson Theede to take a brief lead. The back-and-forth pace continued into the second quarter, as big names on both sides—Benesch and Alex Simmons for Oshawa, and Connor Fields and Thomas McConvey for Rochester—kept the scoreboard moving. Rochester managed to edge ahead late in the half, taking a narrow 6–5 lead into the break after a power-play marker from McConvey in the final seconds.
The game turned decisively in the second half, as Rochester erupted with a dominant offensive surge. Although Oshawa briefly grabbed momentum early in the third quarter to go up 9–7, Rochester responded with a relentless run, highlighted by a flurry of goals from Ryan Smith and McConvey. The fourth quarter was all Rochester, as they poured in seven goals to pull away, with McConvey leading the charge in a standout performance. Despite a late push from Oshawa, Rochester’s depth and finishing ability proved too much, as they secured a convincing 18–11 victory.
To The Game:
The Knighthawks opened the scoring when Taylor Jenson grabbed a Chad Tutton pass going coast to coast in transition at 2:56, but the FireWolves evened the score when Ryan Benesch fired a high to high shot that beat Riley Hutchcraft off an Alex Simmons pass at 3:32.
Oshawa took their first lead of the night when Dawson Theede blasted a Tye Kurtz feed at 7:54, but Connor Fields found the back of the net with an outside shot off a Ryan Lanchbury pass at 11:53 to again tie the game.
After one quarter, Rochester 2 Oshawa 2.
Second Quarter:
Oshawa opened the second-quarter scoring at 1:28, as Taggert Clark ripped an outside blast off a feed from Alex Simmons. Rochester answered quickly in transition—after a ricochet off the post landed on Thomas McConvey’s stick, he found Zed Williams in tight for the finish at 2:12.
The back-and-forth continued when Ryan Benesch restored Oshawa’s lead at 5:03 with a sidearm snipe, set up by Dyson Williams. Just 20 seconds later, Connor Fields responded for Rochester, tiptoeing across the crease and burying a pass from Graydon Hogg.
Rochester grabbed the lead again at 10:53, with Chad Tutton going in alone on a transition chance and beating Doug Jamieson short side off a Josh Medeiros feed. But Oshawa pulled even late in the half, as Alex Simmons capitalized shorthanded with one minute remaining, finishing a setup from Dawson Theede.
However, with just 4.6 seconds left before the break, Thomas McConvey struck on the power play, scoring from in front to give the Knighthawks the lead heading into halftime.
At the half, Rochester 6.Oshawa 5.
Third Quarter:
The FireWolves came out flying in the second half, quickly evening the score at 1:05 as Dyson Williams converted a feed from Tye Kurtz. They followed that up with another transition strike at 4:12, when Jaxon Fridge broke in alone and finished unassisted.
Rochester answered at 4:40, with Ryan Smith picking the far corner off a pass from Ryan Lanchbury to tie the game once again. But Oshawa responded just 38 seconds later, as Taggart Clark unleashed a blast off a Dawson Theede setup at 5:18. The FireWolves kept the momentum rolling, extending their push at 7:57 when Ethan Walker wired a low-to-low shot to the far corner, again set up by Kurtz.
The Knighthawks halted the run at 8:30, with Thomas McConvey finishing in close off a Connor Fields feed. Then at 10:35, Smith struck again—rifling a low-to-low laser off another Lanchbury pass—to pull Rochester even and cap off yet another back-and-forth stretch.
Ryan Smith gave Rochester the lead just 0:23 seconds later, completing his hat trick by tightrope-walking the crease and finishing a feed from Ryan Lanchbury.
The Knighthawks added to their advantage at 12:37, as Lanchbury buried a low-to-low blast into the far corner off a Connor Fields setup.
After three quarters, Rochester 11 Oshawa 9.
Fourth Quarter:
The FireWolves pulled within one just 36 seconds in, as Jackson Nishimura scored unassisted. Rochester responded at 3:55, with Ryan Smith finishing from the top of the crease to restore the two-goal cushion.
The Knighthawks then broke the game open. Thomas McConvey made it a three-goal lead at 6:16, finishing in front off a Connor Fields pass, and struck again just 27 seconds later off a feed from Smith.
Rochester continued to pour it on, with McConvey completing a natural hat trick at 7:33 off a Josh Medeiros setup. Moments later, at 8:01, Smith added another, converting a pass from Fields to cap off the surge.
Oshawa replaced Doug Jamieson with Andrew Kidd in net.
Dawson Theede halted Rochester’s surge at 9:35, ripping a high-to-high blast off a pass from Alex Simmons. However, the Knighthawks answered less than a minute later, as Ryan Smith finished a feed from Ryan Lanchbury at 10:24.
Rochester added one more late, with Thomas McConvey scoring at 13:15 to cap off the run.
Final score, Rochester 18 Oshawa 11.
The Three Stars:
1. Thomas McConvey
2. Connor Fields
3. Ryan Smith
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored Rochester 60-51.
- The faceoff battle went to the Knighthawks 18-16.
- The loose ball battle was won by the FireWolves 89-75.
- Rochester went 1 for 2 on the power-play, while Oshawa went 0 for 1 with a shorthanded goal.
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