What looked to be a promising season for the Knighthawks in the offseason has been anything but. The Knighthawks coming into tonight’s game were 2-8 and sitting at almost the basement of the East Division.
On Friday, the Knighthawks once again saw themselves in an early hole. Within the first six minutes of the game the Knighthawks were down 5-0. However, goals from Chris Boushy & Ryan Benesch made it 6-2 in favor of the Swarm after the first quarter.
In many games this season after a slow first quarter, the Knighthawks have answered with multiple goals to get the score close. After a Georgia goal to make it 7-2, the Knighthawks were able to go on an offensive run. Mike Triolo would start the scoring for the Knighthawks in the second quarter. Chris Boushy would add three goals in the second quarter to give himself a hat trick in the second quarter alone and four goals in the first half. Cody Jamieson would add a goal to mark his 20th goal of season and to close the Swarm lead to 9-7. However, Georgia would score three unanswered goals to make it 12-7 and that score would remain the same going into halftime.
The Swarm would open the scoring in the second half and after that it would be all Knighthawks in the third quarter, with goals coming from a pair from Chris Boushy and individual goals coming from Mike Burke, Dawson Theede, and Graeme Hossack to make it 13-12 Swarm going into the 4th Quarter.
After a Georgia goal, Chris Boushy would add his seventh goal of the game to tie things up at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Knighthawks would then tie it again at 14-14 after another Georgia goal. However, Georgia would take a 15-14 lead late in the fourth. The Knighthawks would have a couple of good looks on goal in the final seconds but would fall to the Swarm by the final of 15-14.
Rochester now falls to 2-9 while Georgia improves to 10-4 and clinches a playoff berth.
Even in a lost season, the Knighthawks can see Chris Boushy’s performance as a positive late in their season. Coming from Calgary in exchange for fourth round pick, it looks like a pretty good deal after one game and he could be a key player in the Knighthawks future. Boushy would finish with nine pts (7G, 2A) in his Knighthawks debut. The Knighthawks now will travel north of the border to Canada to face the Toronto Rock this Saturday, March 16th. Toronto can now clinch a playoff berth in the East Division with a win against the Knighthawks after Rochester’s loss tonight. Faceoff at Scotiabank Center is set for 7:00pm ET.
Three Stars of the Game:
