The Rochester Knighthawks earned their fourth win of the season after squeaking out a 12-11 victory against the Colorado Mammoth last weekend in Denver. It was a much-needed win after Rochester suffered a pair of very disappointing losses the last two weeks.
It was a game of goals that came in bunches. Colorado would score a couple and then Rochester answered with a mini-streak of goals themselves. It was actually looking pretty grim for the Knighthawks early on as the Mammoth scored the first two goals of the game. Luckily Rochester wasn't trailing for too long and quickly took the lead with three straight goals from Jamieson, Powless, and Vitarelli.
Colorado were unable to score again for the rest of the quarter but scored the first two goals in the second. Jordan McBride beat Matt Vinc on a pinpoint pass from John Grant Jr. Colorado then scored on the very next possession, giving them a 4-3 lead. Rochester once again answered with three straight from Jamieson and Powless (JP completing his first hat trick of the season). Adam Jones and John Grant Jr. helped the Mammoth tie the game back up at 6-6 going into halftime.
Rochester struck first coming out of the half as Joel McCready found the back of the net for the first time in the game. McCready was actually playing offense most of the game since Stephen Keogh, Joe Walters, and Mike Accursi were all scratched from the lineup. McCready played well and had one goal and one assist as well as a couple of loosies.
Colorado yet again scored a pair of goals with Adam Jones netting his second of the night. The Mammoth won the ensuing faceoff and immediately scored just a few seconds later. The pattern of counter attacks continued but Rochester's next mini-streak was their longest yet, scoring four in a row this time to take a commanding 11-8 lead into the final quarter of the game. Dan Dawson even got on the board with a goal from the outside. He led the team in points and had one of his best games as a Knighthawk thus far.
The Mammoth fought back and tied it up at 11-11 thanks to three points from Mat MacLeod and two from JGJ. The Knighthawks would have the final say, however, as Cody Jamieson put in his fourth goal of the game, which ended up being the game winner.
Overall, Rochester's offense looked better than it has in recent weeks but still needs some work on cutting in to the next. They took a lot of outside shots. Fortunately, a few beat rookie goaltender Dan Lewis, who made his first NLL start after Colorado released Matt Roik on Monday.
Dan Dawson led Rochester in scoring with 7 total points (1G + 6A). Jamieson earned MVP honors with 5 points including the game winner (4G +1A). Cory Vitarelli (2G + 3A) and Johnny Powless (3G + 1A) also had notable performances. Matt Vinc made 33 saves.
On the Mammoth side of things, it comes as no surprise to see John Grant Jr. leading the game in points with 7 (2G + 5A). Jordan McBride had a hat trick (3G + 1A) and Adam Jones also had a solid game with 4 points (2G + 2A). Goaltender Dan Lewis played fairly well and made 28 saves.
The Knighthawks have a bye week this weekend but will return home to the Blue Cross Arena to face the Edmonton Rush on March 16th.
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