The Rochester Knighthawks dropped their preseason finale to the Ottawa Black Bears, 11-9, Saturday night at Brampton Memorial Arena in Brampton, Ontario.
The Knighthawks’ bid for a second straight victory was ended by Ottawa’s Sam Firth, who scored three of his four goals in the final quarter to erase Rochester’s one-goal advantage. The Knighthawks finished their exhibition slate with a 1-2 record.
Rochester had pulled ahead 9-8 on back-to-back goals by rookie forward Clifford Gaston. His final tallying a power-play marker with just 39 seconds to play in the third. Graydon Hogg, who finished with two goals and two assists, jump-started the rally with a power-play tally at 8:58. The three-goal run was immediately following a Nathan Grenon fight, as he jumped into a scrum after Ryan Lanchbury was spun to the turf.
Lanchbury once again led the offense, posting three goals and three assists. In the first half, he contributed to five of the six Knighthawks’ goals. He set up the first two goals to give Rochester a 2-1 lead and scored his first of the night at 8:18 of the opening stanza to make it 3-1.
After Ottawa tied things up late in the first, Josh Medeiros scored on a pretty feed from Thomas McConvey to pull Rochester ahead by two just 38 seconds into the second. Lanchbury scored the Knighthawks’ next two goals to put Rochester in front 6-5 at 10:38 of the second. Ottawa took a one-goal lead into the half, getting goals from Jacob Dunbar and Kevin Brownell.
McConvey finished the game with one goal and three assists, while Ryan Smith and Zed Williams each collected two assists. Williams was one of four players making their Rochester preseason debuts, joining Grenon, Jeremy Thompson, and Casey Rogers. Thompson won 10 faceoffs, while Rogers played the entire game and dished out some punishing hits.
In goal, Rylan Hartley and Riley Huchcraft split time and each recorded 20 saves. Ottawa’s Laine Hruska earned the win, stopping all eight shots he faced in the fourth quarter. Zach
Higgins got the start and made 29 saves in the first half.
Rochester will open the season on Sunday, Dec. 14, when it travels to take on the San Diego Seals. The Knighthawks open their home schedule on Saturday, Dec. 20, when they host the Philadelphia Wings at 7 p.m. at Segar & Sciortino Field at The Blue Cross Arena.
