Knighthawks look to take over the East,
Accursi to be inducted into Knighthawks Hall of Fame
Prior to the game the Knighthawks will induct Mike Accursi into the Rochester Knighthawks Hall of Fame. Accursi will be the 17th member of this prestigious club. He will join the likes of Shawn Williams, Pat O’Toole, Paul Gait, Mike Hasen, Pat McCready and about a dozen more. Other past alumni will be there as well.
Tonight the Rochester Knighthawks (7-7) will face the Colorado Mammoth (10-4). The Knighthawks are coming off a huge 13-10 win last Saturday in Saskatchewan and pulled the Knighthawks back to the .500 mark. After starting the season 2-0 the Knighthawks lost the next six straight games to put a lot of doubt in whether or not the playoffs would be possible. Since then the Knighthawks have won five of their last six games and with a win tonight can take over first place in the eastern division.
Austin Shanks and Eric Fannell combined for eight goals, Shanks had five of the goals, (2 even strength, 1 short handed, 1 power play, and an empty net). Joe Resetarits added (2G/5A) to lead the attack for the Knighthawks in the game, while Matt Vinc turned in a stellar effort by stopping 43 of 53 shots, and even though Cody Jamieson failed to score a goal, he came up with five big assists on the night.
The Mammoth who lost a tough game to Vancouver last week 13-12, rebounded last night by defeating Toronto 11-7. This weekend is huge for the Mammoth as they truly need to win both games this weekend if they want to have a shot of taking over first place from Saskatchewan, a team they will face next weekend.
What made last night’s game interesting was that the Mammoth didn’t allow an offensive player score a goal. They were scored by the defense and transition.
Ryan Benesch, Stephen Keogh and Eli McLaughlin each scored twice in the Mammoth victory last night and Dillon Ward was able to stop 35 of 42 shots.
The mammoth no doubt will try to do the same thing tonight against the Knighthawks, by shutting down the big three Jamieson, Jackson, and Resetarits. But the offense seems to be a bit deeper now with Fannell and Shanks into the net, so the task may be a bit more difficult.
What this game is going to come down to is goaltending. Both goaltenders are in the top five.
Dillon Ward Matt Vinc
9 WINS 7
512 SAVES 516
10.55 GAA 11.19
.790 SV% .784
Regardless of the score, whether high scoring or low scoring, the fans will be in for a treat.
