The NLL champion Rochester Knighthawks were not happy with their 0-3 start that left them with 32 goals. However in their last three games, all wins, Rochester has picked up 40 goals including 33 this weekend when they outscored opponents 33-17.
“Our offence is extremely talented with players like Cody [Jamieson], [Casey] Powell, and [Dan] Dawson up there it’s pretty incredible to watch what they can do with the ball.” said transition man Joel McCready. “I have been learning a lot just watching them and learning there tendencies with the ball.”
Rochester scored 20 goals on Friday morning (yes, morning) and then 13 in their win over Buffalo the next night. “The past three games we have been coming to the rink with a “just win” attitude we were not thinking about anything else besides what we could control ourselves and focused on leaving the arena with the W” says McCready.
“Our chemistry on O has been alot better the past few games, and we have been swinging the ball more and our D has been playing great.” says second year man Stephen Keogh. “I think our O fed off what a great job Vino and our defence was doing and the shots started falling for us. Our D has really stepped up so you need to give them a lot of the credit for the two games this weekend holding both teams to 10 goals or less.”
Rochester struggled offensively to start the season, and McCready is just glad it is back to how they expected it. “We had a couple one goal games to start the season that could have gone either way, we are now really starting to gel together as a group though and there is a lot of trust between the players. This league is so talented that anything can happen on any night and anyone can win, there are no easy nights.”
“I think our execution on offence was a lot better.” said Keogh. “The shots started to fall for us and we moved the ball better then we did in the first few weeks. We had a meeting and talked about our offence, and just kept it simple and we buried our chances.”
He continued, saying “I think the reason for our slow start was a few different things. We were in two games but couldn;t seem to finish them out. We never played a full 60 minutes and each team played hard against us. We need to stick to our game plan on offence and defence and play a full 60 minutes at both ends.”
Rochester faces Buffalo this weekend, and McCready says they are ready. “We’re back at home next week and we need to come to the rink with that same “just win” attitude. Focus on what we can control and come ready to work.”
“We need to come out strong off the opening face-off.” Keogh added. “Buffalo is a great team so I am sure they are fired up to get a chance to play us again after last weekend. We need to stick to our game plans, move the ball and stop their transition. They have a ton of talent on their team but our main goal is to stay focused and play our game.”
