
cover photo courtesy of Ryan Nix NLL
Pat Bernard – Philadelphia Wings Beat Reprorter for All Lacrosse All The Time
Philadelphia, PA – For many years the Rochester Knighthawks (4-6) have been a thorn in the side of the Philadelphia Wings (5-3). Rochester has been able to find ways to beat the Wings in the past, and this game was no exception.
A fairly evenly played first half saw the Knighthawks up by only a pair of goals at the half. On the strength of a pair of goals from Ryan Lanchbury (2g,7a), and Graydon Hogg (2g,0a) Rochester took a 9-7 lead to the dressing room.
Not to be outdone, the Wings big guns of Joe Resetarits (5g,3a), Mitch Jones (1g,7a), Holden Cattoni (1g,3a), Blaze Riorden (2g,2a) and Brennan O’Neil (1g,1a) seemed to be engaged in the half to keep pace with the Knighthawks, making this a back and forth affair.
Where the difference in the game came, was the adjustments made at the half. Mike Hasen (Head Coach of Rochester) had his defense play much more aggressively, disrupting the Wings flow of the game. The added pressure handcuffed Holden Cattoni and Brennan O’Neil, and relegated Mitch Jones to the outside being more of a playmaker than a scoring threat.
While the Knighthawks defense went on the prowl, the offense also changed things up. The Wings were quite concerned with the threat of Connor Fields (2g,8a) and Ryan Lanchbury. This freed up others like Ryan Smith (3g,3a), Kyle Waters (1g,0a), and Thomas McConvey (3g,2a), who had more room to maneuver in the Wings zone.
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The third quarter had Rochester outscore Philadelphia 4-1, putting the Wings backs to the wall. Penalty trouble in the fourth hampered the Wings attempted comeback, and aided the Knighthawks in controlling the game. The final score saw Rochester hold on for a 15-12 win.

My Takes:
Connor Fields showed why he is one of the premier players in this league. While he didn’t light up the scoreboard in this game, he had a hand in half of the Knighthawks goals, and more importantly distracted the Wings defense enough to get others open looks.
Rylan Hartley showed again why he is so important to Rochester’s future. His athleticism in net gave the Knighthawks the stability to take more chances offensively. Hartley made 32 saves, not giving up his tenth goal until we’ll into the fourth quarter.
Bright spots for Philadelphia were the play of Joe Resetarits and Mitch Jones. Even under heavy pressure, they were still able to combine for 16 points on the night. Riorden and Phil Caputo (2g,1a) also had decent nights, but needed to be more prominent if the Wings were going to pull this off.
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Once again penalty trouble haunted Philadelphia. The Wings took seven penalties, giving up three power-play goals. If they want to contend this season, they need to clean this up!
The loss was the Wings first home loss of the season, putting them in third behind Saskatchewan and Buffalo. Up next is a home and home with the Halifax Thunderbirds. Now we can see how resilient a group the Wings can be.
For the Knighthawks, they now have their first bye week of the season, followed by a trip to Saskatchewan on February 15th.
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