After dropping last weekend's game to the Buffalo Bandits in a most disappointing fashion, the Rochester Knighthawks (3-4) have the perfect opportunity to rebound against the Philadelphia Wings (2-3) tonight at the Blue Cross Arena.
Rochester doubled up Philly in their last meeting 20-10. Considering the Knighthawks beat Philadelphia all four times they met last season (including in the playoffs) and have won 10 straight regular season games against the Wings dating back to 2010 (if you count the 2012 playoff win, it's actually 11 in a row). Rochester is definitely going into tonight's game as the favorites to win.
Hopefully Dan Dawson will be able to repeat his Week Six performance against his former team when he had 11 points (4G + 7A). That huge game aside, Dawson hasn't really performed up to his reputation thus far. He has 29 points in seven games, which puts him on pace for around 66 by season's end. This would be Dawson's lowest career total since 2003.
Also working in Rochester's favor is the fact that Matt Vinc is playing extremely well right now. He leads the NLL in goals against average (10.10) and also has the best save percentage among starters (.811). "Vino" has made 40 or more saves in his last four games straight.
Casey Powell was mysteriously scratched from last week's game and there's no word yet on whether or not he will be playing tonight. His official Twitter account has been silent on the subject thus far.
Philadelphia is coming off a bye week so they may come out swinging. If Rochester can score a few goals early on, it should demoralize the Wings and enable the Knighthawks to take a good sized lead into halftime. To do this, Rochester needs to avoid taking too many outside shots and instead focus on cutting through Philadelphia's defense.
The game tonight starts at 7:30 EST. Fans can also watch the game live online via The Lacrosse Network on YouTube.
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