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WEEKEND RECAP, NEWS & QUOTES

Tavares makes history; Rochester falls to 1-2

01/21/2008

by Darek Truesdale, NLL.com

History was made in the NLL on Saturday night when Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares became the league's all-time regular season goal scorer with 597 career goals, surpassing the Gary Gait's mark of 596. The goal, which was Tavares' fourth of the game, came with 1:52 left in the third quarter as the Bandits (2-1) held on to defeat the New York Titans (1-1) 17-13 in front of 12,961 fans at HSBC Arena. "I realized they were kind of sagging in and I was going to take my chances and shoot it", said Tavares to Buffalo News sports reporter Tom Borrelli. "I got kind of a shooter's goal on it. . . . But it would have been anticlimactic if we hadn't won the game."

Tavares' 17-year career totals, all with Buffalo, now stand at 597 goals and 650 assists in 195 career games. He has six goals and 11 assists in three games this season. "We didn't play very good defensively so the offense really carried us through, and John Tavares was the No. 1 factor in that", said Bandits coach Darris Kilgour to Borrelli after Saturday night's win. "He's done that for 17 years now. I really don't know what we're going to do when he decides to hang them up."

In Edmonton, the Toronto Rock (2-2) defeated the Edmonton Rush (0-2) 14-9 on Saturday night in front a Rexall Place crowd of 12,109. Blaine Manning led the way with three goals and three assists for Toronto, while Edmonton's Kyle Goundrey led his team with three goals in a losing effort. "Realistically, we got outworked," said Rush head coach Paul Day to the Canadian Press after the game. "We had five or ten minutes that we really worked hard to get back into it. Guys laid it on the line. Some faceoffs or loose balls where we have time to pick it up, we aren't picking it up and I think that comes down to hard work."

Edmonton took an early 2-1 in the first quarter before Toronto scored five unanswered goals. By the fourth quarter, the Rush cut the lead down to one before the Rock sealed the win by scoring the game's last four goals. "Goaltending wasn't the problem tonight," said Day to the Canadian Press, "it was definitely a lack of effort for 60 minutes."

In Philadelphia on Friday, the defending NLL champion Rochester Knighthawks fell to the Philadelphia Wings 15-14, dropping the Knighthawks record to 1-2 this season. Philadelphia took a 13-7 lead into the fourth quarter before a late surge by Rochester made the game close. However, it wasn't enough as the Wings were able to hold off the Knighthawks to secure the win. "It's a long season, but not too long that you want to dig yourself a hole," said Rochester coach Ed Comeau to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle following the loss. "Every team is up a notch and every team is gunning to knock us off. We have to get back on track."

Philadelphia improved to 2-0 with Friday night's victory. Athan Iannucci led the wings with five goals and three assists, while John Grant led the Knighthawks with five goals of his own to go along with an assist.

In Calgary, the Roughnecks were asked by Ian Busby of the Calgary Sun for their reactions to the news that Toronto head coach Glenn Clark had been suspended by the league indefinitely for his role in a post-game incident with Minnesota Swarm player Sean Pollock on January 11. Roughnecks veteran Kaleb Toth played two season with Clark when he started his career with the Rock and calls the incident unfortunate. "He's a team guy who cares about his players," Toth said in Busby's article in Sunday's Calgary Sun. "It's 30 seconds of not really thinking and just reacting. It could possibly affect the rest of his life. I wish him the best and hope it all works out for him."

On the television front, some news from San Jose. The first two Stealth home games will each air live on Fox Sports Net Bay Area. FSN Bay Area can be seen across the United States on Dish Network Channel 419 and DirecTV Channel 654.

January 25 Calgary at San Jose 10:30pm ET
February 2 Minnesota at San Jose 10:30pm ET

The Stealth are expected to announce additional telecasts on Comcast Sportsnet West in the next couple of days. CSW can be seen across the United States on Dish Network Channel 409 and DirecTV Channel 656. Check back to this page for updates.