It was an important game at Gas South Arena on Saturday night, as the Georgia Swarm celebrated Native American Heritage Night
. They welcomed in the visiting Rochester Knighthawks, and looked to continue their unbeaten streak to begin the season. The Swarm were sporting some slick grey uniforms designed by Lyle Thompson, to celebrate the always important night for the team. The two sides could not have been in different spots, as Georgia came in as winners of four-in-a-row, while Rochester came in losers of four-straight. It was the Knighthawks, who had an offensive explosion, ending Georgia’s unbeaten streak, winning 16-9. Rochester used a seven-goal run spanning the second and third quarters to cruise to victory, never letting Georgia get close. Let’s get to it.
The man behind the uniforms, Thompson, opened the scoring in the first, not even two minutes in, however, that’d be it for the Swarm scoring in the frame. Rochester answered right back with a four-goal run, stout defense, and phenomenal goaltending for Riley Hutchcraft. Scorers in that K–Hawk run were Curtis Knight, Brad Gillies, Kyle Waters, and Ryan Smith. 4-1 Rochester after one.
Joey Cupido buried the first goal of the second, but once again, here came the Knighthawks. They answered with two of their own, one from Ryan Lanchbury on the power play and the other from Connor Fields. The end of the second saw two more goals from Georgia, one from Bryan Cole on the power play and the other from Andrew Kew, and one more from Rochester, specifically Graydon Hogg. Hogg’s goal was the first of his career and the beginning of that seven-goal run alluded to at the start. 7-4 Rochester at the break.
“We don’t want to change too much up,” said Lanchbury. “Just stick to the game plan and play hard for another thirty.”
Lanchbury and the rest of the Knighthawks definitely followed through with “not changing much up”, as they scored the first six goals of the third quarter. Scorers in that run were Smith, Thomas McConvey, Taylor Jensen twice, Waters, and Hogg. Blink your eyes and it was 13-4 Rochester with 6:21 to play in the third. Cole and Brendan Bomberry rattled off two quick goals for Georgia to stop the bleeding, but less than a minute later, Lanchbury buried his second. Thompson scored his second to end the frame, but this one was all but over. 14-7 Knighthawks after three.
The fourth was as rudimentary as they come. Georgia, once again, tallied the first one of the quarter, courtesy of Kew, but Rochester came back with two of their own, one from Lanchbury and the other from Fields. Kaleb Benedict buried his first at the 5:06 mark, but that would be it the rest of the way. Rochester kept the Georgia offense at bay, and Hutchcraft was as stingy as could be. Your final from the capital of the South, 16-9 Rochester.
Players of the game for Rochester were Lanchbury (3+6), Fields (2+6), and Waters (2+2). Hutchcraft was phenomenal all game long, stopping 43 of 52 in total. For Georgia, Kew (2+3), Thompson (2+1), and Cole (2+1) led the way. The goaltender situation was just downright messy. Brett Dobson stopped 25 of 35 in 34:45 of game play, and Angus Goodleaf stopped 14 of 20 the rest of the way.
“I think the last couple games just didn’t go our way”, said Fields. “Just sticking to it, once the ball got falling, we all got rolling.”
Rochester (2-4) looks to build some momentum off this win. They travel back home to welcome Halifax (1-3) this Saturday at 7pm. Georgia (4-1) looks to get right back into the win column. Their next crack at it is at home against Ottawa (2-2) this Friday at 7:30pm.
