Rochester Defeats Calgary 13-7, Win Streak Now at Five
Saturday night the Rochester Knighthawks (7-3) made their way to face the Calgary Roughnecks (2-8). Two weeks ago they faced each other in Rochester as the Knighthawks escaped with a 12-11 victory.
But on this night we saw a different game. Ian Llord started it off scoring at 1:08 to give the Hawks an early lead, but then the defense would take over on both sides. It wasn’t until 11 minutes later when Calgary would tie the game at a goal apiece and take a lead with :21 left as Calgary took a 2-1 lead. As the second quarter started, both teams would alternate goals giving the Roughnecks a 4-2 lead with 5:10 to go in the half. This would be the the final time the Roughnecks would be in front.
Rochester started their onslaught at 10:56 of the second quarter and ended at 13:35 of the final quarter as they outscored the Roughnecks 11-3 in that time frame. At one point they scored eight of the next nine.
The Calgary defense played a great game against Dan Dawson, Cody Jamieson and Corey Vitarelli, holding them to a combined zero goals and four assists. But they seemed to have forgotten about Craig Point (2 G, 3 A), Aaron Wilson (2 G, 3 A), Joe Walters (2 G, 5 A) and Jordan Hall (3 G).
Calgary had a total of three goal scorers. Shawn Evans (3 G, 1 A), Daryl Veltman (2 G), and Karsen Leung (2 G, 1 A). The combination of Jeff Shattler, Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson combined for a total of four assists, as the Rochester defense put them on lockdown.
Matt Vinc was solid in goal stopping 41 of 48 while Mike Pouling struggled stopping 20 of 30 in only 43 minutes of playing time.
With eight games to go, Calgary is fighting for their playoff lives. They are 2.5 games behind the Vancouver Stealth ( Vancouver holds the tie-breaker). Calgary’s remaining games are not easy: New England Black Wolves, Toronto Rock, Colorado Mammoth (2), Edmonton Rush (2), Minnesota Swarm, Vancouver.
For the Knighthawks, they are sitting solid in second place. Toronto holds a two-game lead on the Hawks, and the Hawks have a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bandits with two games in hand over both of the teams.
Calgary will host New England Friday at 9 pm, while Rochester will have a bye as they prepare to host Edmonton on March 28.
