Knighthawks forward Shawn Evans (left) finished with two goals and three assists Saturday night, helping to get the Knighthawks back in the win column with a 16-8 triumph over the Toronto Rock at Blue Cross Arena.
KNIGHTHAWKS GIVE ROCK FIRST LOSS, 16-8
Grant finishes with eight points to get Rochester back on track
01/30/2010
By Christopher Di Matteo for NLL.comThe Toronto Rock are undefeated no longer. The Rochester Knighthawks (3-2) beat the previously undefeated Toronto Rock (3-1) 16-8 on Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena. The Knighthawks are now an amazing 15-0 all-time against Toronto at home in the regular season.
Knighthawks forward John Grant led all scorer with three goals to go along with his five helpers. Aaron Bold got the start in net for the Knighthawks and made the most of it, stopping 39 of 47 shots in 59:04 of action. The win snaps a two-game losing streak for Rochester, both of which came on the road.
Avenging a 17-3 loss to Toronto last weekend, the Knighthawks ended a two-game slide and looked more like the team that started the season with back-to-back wins.
Rochester jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Gary Gait put in one of those goals after he picked up a loose ball at the top of the box and ran through the defense. Gait sat out last night's game in Orlando, but came into this game excited and got four points.
"I felt pretty good coming in, the legs were fresh. I just tried to move my feet and make some things happen out there setting a lot of picks, trying to keep the ball hot and moving it across the floor," said Gait.
The Knighthawks led 10-4 at halftime.
Gait also felt the team's morale was important in the victory, but he believed coming out ready also helped.
"[It was because of] early success... our shots went in, we got good clean shots, we buried them early. We made the guys believe in what we were doing and keep it going," said Gait.
"I think we were just sick of losing and we knew we are better than that, so we all came together and said enough is enough in front of the home fans. We couldn't handle another loss, so we pulled it together and played a fantastic game with both offense and defense," said Knighthawks goaltender Aaron Bold, who got the start while Pat O'Toole rested.
Next Saturday, Rochester will be back on the road, playing the Boston Blazers at 7:30pm ET at TD Garden. The Rock will be taking on the Philadelphia Wings at 7:30pm ET at Air Canada Centre in Toronto next Friday.
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