On Sunday evening, the Rochester Knighthawks were able to snag their second victory in two days as they defeated the New England Black Wolves 15-10 at Mohegan Sun Arena. In a game that saw a total of 85 penalty minutes, Rochester was able to frustrate New England many times while being on the penalty kill.
The Black Wolves gave up two short handed goals over the course of the game and Black Wolves Head Coach, Blane Harrison, noted that could have been due to Bill O’Brian leaving the game early. “We lost Billy early on in the game and we’re down a player. All of a sudden you’re a player down over the course of a game, I think it wore us a little bit,” Harrison told NLL.com.
New England lost O’Brian to an early game misconduct as he dropped the gloves in the first quarter to stand up for his team. However, a more notable occurrence was the great defense that Rochester showed against Kevin Crowley. Only a few times during the Sunday night thriller was Crowley able to create some space and rip a shot on net. Crowley finished with one goal and four assists on the night. Stepping up in the scoring department was Brett Bucktooth, who played his first game on the year. Bucktooth finished with four goals on the night.
For Rochester it was a healthy mix of transition goals and taking advantage of New England’s weak spots on the outside. Cody Jamieson and Cory Vitarelli lead the team in scoring with three goals each.
New England’s next game is at home on the 22nd of February as they take on the Colorado Mammoth at 1 pm.
