Blaze Riorden

Blaze Riorden joined the Knighthawks at the trade deadline in the 2025-26 season. The 32-year-old left-handed forward has been waiting for the moment to become a Knighthawk since he was a young season-ticket holder sitting in the stands with his father Mike. In five games he scored six goals and notched six assists while also creating more space Connor Fields and Thomas McConvey. He made his Knighthawks debut on the road in Las Vegas before spending the last two games of the season on IR.

He came to Rochester after seven seasons in Philadelphia, where he made himself an NLL regular. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, he was announced as the team’s captain and wore the C through the 2024-25 campaign. Coming into the 2025-26 season, he averaged just under 50 points a year.

He entered the NLL as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bandits in 2017. Following a season there and a year not playing in 2018, he was signed by the Wings at the start of their new expansion era in 2019.

Riorden has a long list of lacrosse accomplishments as a goalie in the field game; he’s a five-time goaltender of the year, but takes his talents to the offensive end of the floor in the box. He’s been selected by Team USA three times for the World Lacrosse Box Championship, in 2015, 2019, and most recently in 2024, when he captained the squad to a silver medal finish.

Most lacrosse fans will remember his time attending the University at Albany, where he started all four years. He backstopped the Great Danes through the Thompson era and left a highlight every lacrosse fan will remember. In the first round of the 2015 NCAA playoffs, Riorden scooped up a loose ball in front of his own crease and drove the length of the field. He split two defenders, threw a fake, and then ripped a shot into the top corner with his goalie stick in a dominant Albany win over the Cornell Big Red.