(Photos courtesy of Micheline Veluvolu)
The Philadelphia Wings (1-1) visited the Rochester Knighthawks (2-0) in NLL action Saturday evening at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY.
Both teams had good weeks in their first outing last week, and were looking to build on it. For Philadelphia, the combination of Phil Caputo, Joe Resetarits, and Brennan O’Neill worked quite well together, with a bruising defense clearing the way for Nick Damude to make saves in net. For the Knighthawks, Connor Fields, Ryan Smith, Ryan Lanchbury, and Thomas McConvey had great games, setting the tone for the day.
The goaltending match-up had Nick Damude in net for the Wings facing Rylan Hartley in net for Rochester.
Rylan Hartley was sharp off the hop, stopping a few good Wings opportunities early. The Knighthawks got rolling with three quick goals inside three minutes to take charge of the frame. Although Joe Resetarits got one back, Jake Piseno and Graydon Hogg added tallies to put Rochester out to a commanding 5-1 lead after one.
A more wide open second quarter saw the Wings score two quick goals,to start the frame. However, Rochester kept pressing scoring two quick ones themselves in response. Philadelphia added one more late from Eric Fannell, but the Knighthawks went to the dressing room up by three, 7-4.
The Knighthawks started quickly in the third with three quick goals, but to their credit the Wings kept fighting with a pair of their own. Connor Fields then added his third of the game, and the Knighthawks took a five goal lead into the fourth.
The game continued to be wide open, with end to end action from both squads. The fourth quarter was highlighted by a goalie fight between Nick Damude and Rylan Hartley, sending the Knighthawks fans into a frenzy. Rochester wins 15-11.
To The Game:
After almost five minutes of back and forth action Zed Williams fired a low to low shot that beat Nick Damude off a Connor Fields pass at 4:07, followed by a blast from in close from Thomas McConvey off a Ryan Smith feed 0:50 seconds later. Connor Fields came back on a great individual effort scoring from in close at 6:53 unassisted.
The Wings got on the board on a fall away shot from the outside from joe Resetarits off a Dalton Young feed at 8:05, but a low to low laser from Jake Piseno off a Dan Coates pass restored the three goal lead at 9:48.
Graydon Hogg added a late goal diving from the back of the net off a Connor Fields pass at 13:53.
After one quarter, Rochester 5 Philadelphia 1.
Second Quarter:
Philadelphia opened the second period scoring with a shot from the side of the net from Sam LeClair off an Eric Fannell pass on the power-play at 3:46, followed by a fastbreak in transition off a turnover from Dustyn Birkhof unassisted at 6:25.
Jake Piseno answered with his second of the game with an outside blast unassisted 0:15 seconds later, followed by Ryan Smith scoring on the power-play from the top of the crease off a Connor Fields pass at 9:23.
The Wings scored late when Eric Fannell converted a Joe Resetarits feed from the top of the crease at 12:54.
At the half, Rochester 7 Philadelphia 4.
Third Quarter:
Connor Fields opened the second half scoring on the power-play threading the needle on a low to low shot to the shortside off a Ryan Smith feed at 3:21, followed by Zed Williams with an inside blast off a Fields pass 0:19 seconds later. Kyle Waters added to the lead converting a Ryan Lanchbury pass at 6:27.
Philadelphia stopped the Knighthawks run with Liam Patten scoring in transition off a long lead pass from Nick Damude at 8:12, followed by a power-play marker from Blaze Riorden converting a Brennan O’Neill pass from in close at 10:12.
Connor Fields scored his third of the game with an outside high to low blast off a Ryan Lanchbury feed at 12:39.
After three quarters, Rochester 11 Philadelphia 6.
(Photo courtesy of Micheline Veluvolu)
Fourth Quarter:
Rochester increased their lead when Connor Fields scored just 0:20 seconds into the quarter, but the Wings replied with a pair of goals. The first was Eric Fannell finishing a Joe Resetarits pass at 0:31 seconds, followed by Dustyn Birkhof in transition off a Brennan O’Neill feed 0:21 seconds later.
Rochester got back on track with Connor Fields scoring his fifth of the night off an Adam Thistlewaite pass at 1:56, followed by Ryan Smith scoring on a two man advantage off a Connor Fields pass at 6:49.
The Wings kept battling with Brennan O’Neill scoring off a Dalton Young feed at 10:36, but Jake Piseno went coast to coast at 11:30 for his first professional hat-trick.
Late in the game Joe Resetarits converted a Brennan O’Neill pass at 11:44. After the goal a scrum ensued with the main event…a goalie fight!
Once play resumed, Sam LeClair converted a Brennan O’Neill feed 0:22 seconds later, but it was too little too late for the Wings.
Final score, Rochester 15 Philadelphia 11.
The Three Stars:
1. Connor Fields
2. Ryan Lanchbury
3. Jake Piseno
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored the Knighthawks 54-47.
- The faceoff battle went to the Wings 23-
- The loose ball battle went to Philadelphia 77-63.
- Philadelphia went 3 for 5 on the power-play while Rochester went 3 for 4.
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