“Muffler” Mike Kostiuk – Senior Correspondent, All Lacrosse All The Time / Stream Punk Sports
The Vancouver Warriors hosted the Rochester Knighthawks in their home opener at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Friday night. The Knighthawks were coming off a loss to Buffalo that evened their record at 1-1. The Warriors entered the game winless after another second-half collapse against Colorado on the opening weekend of the season. The opposite would happen in this game, as Vancouver rallied from a halftime deficit with a six-goal third period, eventually winning 10-7 to even their record at 1-1. The Warriors are off next week, then travel to Calgary for a Week 5 matchup with the Roughnecks. The Knighthawks fall to 1-2; they host Saskatchewan in Week 4.
Warriors get plenty of shots in first half, but few results
Both teams tried to maximize their transition in the opening minutes of the game. The Warriors had a number of great opportunities both in transition and set offenses in the first quarter, but it would be Rochester who got on the board first. Josh Medeiros (3:42 shorthanded) gave the Knighthawks the early lead. Keegan Bal equalized for the Warriors at 8:37, but Vancouver got into penalty trouble at the end of the quarter. Ryan Smith capitalized for Rochester, scoring a power play goal 27 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 lead. Ryan Lanchbury (3:04) followed for a 3-1 Knighthawks lead. Bal’s second (5:16) trimmed the lead to 3-2, but Lanchbury added another (7:38), and the Warriors went into halftime trailing 4-2.
https://twitter.com/RocKnighthawks/status/1867772237119729783
Warriors rally in second half for first win this season
Vancouver’s big third quarter kicked off with 2024 #4 overall draft pick Johnathan Peshko scoring his first career NLL goal at 1:24 on a power play. Smith (4:13) buried a feed from Thomas McConvey to restore a two-goal lead, 5-3. However, Owen Grant’s fourth goal of the season (4:57), followed by Bal’s hat trick goal (7:02 power play), tied the game at 5.
Lanchbury’s hat trick goal (8:47) briefly put Rochester back in front, but Kevin Crowley (9:56 power play) and Jeff Cornwall (10:40) gave the Warriors their first lead of the game, 7-6. Smith tied the game once again with his hat trick goal (11:42 power play), but Peshko netted his second at 14:17 for an 8-7 Vancouver lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Warriors would not relinquish the lead, instead extending it as Rochester had no response. Reid Bowering (2:33) and Cornwall (14:57 power play) closed out the scoring on the Warriors’ first win of the season.
https://twitter.com/VanWarriors/status/1868064533807280351
Other Stats of Note
Knighthawks: Lanchbury (3g, 1a); Smith (3g); Medeiros (1g); McConvey (3a); Connor Fields (2a)
Warriors: Bal (3g); Peshko (2g, 1a); Cornwall (2g); Grant (1g, 1a); Crowley (1g); Ryan Martel (4a)
Faceoffs: ROC 5 of 20; VAN 15 of 20
Power Play: ROC 3 of 6; VAN 4 of 8