NLL – Despite a hard-fought comeback, the Rochester Knighthawks fell to the Georgia Swarm 13-10 in the final home game of the season. With the loss, the Knighthawks (6-11) were eliminated from playoff contention.
“The effort was great tonight, there’s no question there,” said Knighthawks forward Joe Resetarits. “We didn’t capitalize on opportunities and we just fell short.”
“This season has been a learning curve,” said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. “We’ve had a lot of changes over here and we’ve got a lot of young guys, but the future is bright here in Rochester.”
Resetarits’ three goals gave him a career-high 26 goals this season. He also added four assists for a team-high seven points. Kyle Jackson finished with five points (2+3) and sits in second place on the Knighthawks in points with 60. Dan Dawson put up a goal and two assists to become just the fourth player in National Lacrosse League history to reach 800 assists. Cory Vitarelli had two goals, while Jarrett Davis (1+2) and Dan Lomas (1+1) each added single markers in the effort. Dylan Evans became the franchise leader, surpassing Stephen Hoar in faceoff wins with 899.
The Swarm started off strong, scoring a pair of goals 45 seconds apart and adding one more late in the first before Lomas shot a bullet that beat Georgia goaltender Mike Poulin to get the Knighthawks on the board with less than three minutes left in the quarter.
Rochester had a strong start to the second, getting goals from Resetarits, Davis and Jackson in the first five minutes to give Rochester its only lead of the game, 4-3. After the Swarm took a 5-4 lead, Vitarelli’s behind-the-net shot beat Poulin to tie it up again. Georgia would tack on one more to take a 6-5 lead heading into the second half.
Jackson tied the game up for the fourth time, scoring at 4:13 to pull Rochester even at six apiece. After a 4-0 Georgia run, Rochester added goals from Dawson and Resetarits to get within two going into the final quarter. The Swarm, however, added three more goals in the fourth before the Knighthawks would mount a run of their own to cut the deficit to 13-10.
With one final game left in Georgia, the Knighthawks are looking to cap off the season with a win.
“We did the same thing last year,” Resetarits said. “We’ve got to end on a high note. That’s all we can do at this point.”
“We’ve got to put this one behind us,” Hasen said. “We’ve got to go out there tomorrow and be ready to play a full sixty (minutes).”