Knighthawks Fell Swarm 11-10 to Keep Postseason Hopes Alive One More Night
Photo Credit: Asher Green/Georgia Swarm
The Rochester Knighthawks (7-10) kept their postseason window ajar for one more night, felling the Georgia Swarm (10-8) at Gas South Arena on Friday, 11-10.
Connor Fields’ 8-point (4G, 4A) led the way for the Knighthawks, helping snap their four-game skid and even the all-time series against the Swarm at 4-4.
Entering week 21 of the National Lacrosse League season, the Knighthawks playoff hopes depended on them winning both games of their doubleheader weekend and counting on three teams with eight wins losing later in the weekend. Friday, head coach Mike Hasen’s team accomplished the first step with the win, seeing their odds to make the postseason double.
“We gave ourselves a shot,” Knighthawks team captain Dan Coates said. “We still believe we can make it. We know we need some outside help, but we’re going to control what we can control. I think tonight, it was a little sloppy at times, but we stuck with it.”
The Swarm got in plenty of penalty trouble in the last third of the first quarter after evening the game at two apiece. It resulted in a pair of penalty shots for the visiting team, who deferred to the magmatic stick of Fields to reclaim the lead, 4-2.
That lead vanished early in the second quarter. Lyle Thompson stung shortside on the power play before Shayne Jackson evened up the score on the very next shift with a farside bouncer.
Fields kicked off a three-goal run in response, netting his fourth goal of the game. A transition goal from Mitch Ogilvie and Kyle Waters cashing in all alone on the doorstep put the Knighthawks up 7-4 at halftime.
“We’re at our best when our feet are moving and the ball is moving,” Hasen said about the early offensive success. “It doesn’t just get stuck in one guy’s stick, where the goalie and D can sort of zone up and just focus on him. We were doing that well.
“Third quarter, we got into a bit of a rut, and fourth quarter, we kind of got back to what we were doing here. That’s probably been the most struggle that we’ve had all year, staying in control of what we can do. Tonight, we were able to refocus and get back to it.”
Rylan Hartley, playing in his first start since December, hunkered down for the rest of the second frame. He made plenty of quality saves, with the defense in front of him using their physicality to keep the Swarm perimeter.
Outside of the third quarter, it was a recipe for success, evidenced by Rochester holding Georgia to just five goals in those three quarters.
“For us, it was just less is more,” Coates said about what was working for the Knighthawks defense Friday night. “Let’s just steer them in the right direction, put them down the lanes where we know that (Hartley) wants to see the shots.”
The Swarm controlled the third quarter by adjusting early to the Knighthawks defensive plan. They got where they wanted to be inside, kicking the scoring off with an even strength marker from Bryan Cole before a natural hat trick from Andrew Kew put the home team up 8-7.
Their first lead of the game lasted a few minutes before Turner Evans’ extra attacker tally tied things up. Seth Oakes reclaimed the lead by scoring a behind-the-back goal on the wrong side of the floor, the Swarm up 9-8 heading into the last 15 minutes of regulation.
After killing a penalty to start the final frame, the Knighthawks jumped back into the lead thanks to Ryan Smith’s first goal of the game and Ogilvie’s second in transition. Jordan MacIntosh evened the score at ten apiece with his hammer in transition, and a defensive battle ensued the rest of the way.
“What I liked was how we responded,” Coates said of his team’s performance in the fourth quarter. “We didn’t go sideways there. We stuck with it. Our O buried some big chances there, had a great penalty kill to start us off in the fourth.”
That defensive logjam finally broke with under three minutes to play. Ryan Smith slipped past his defender downhill for the game-winner. Hartley and the defense weathered the Swarm’s final 6-on-5 attempts and emerged victorious, 11-10.
It was Hartley’s first win of the 2023-24 NLL season. His 36 saves meant a .783 Sv%, as he stuffed numerous high-danger transition chances and came up with key saves down the stretch.
Hartley missed most of the season after suffering an upper body injury early in the Knighthawks campaign. He was medically cleared a few weeks back, but given the nature of his injury and history with concussions, the team elected to play it safe with the 25-year-old.
With their playoff lives on the line, Hasen trusted in his young netminder to get the job done against the Swarm, and Hartley delivered.
“We’re just so proud of him,” Coates said. “We knew how tough it was for him to go through what he did in the season. We love him; he’s a brother to us. To see the performance he did, it kind of gives you goosebumps. He’s kind of our rock. I know this one means a lot to him; it’s been a long battle.”
Over the last 91:37 min. in the past two Knighthawks games, Hartley has allowed only 13 goals against, making 59 saves. It adds up to an 8.51 GAA and .819 Sv%, a marked improvement from his December stats pre-injury — an 18.47 GAA and .660 Sv%.
“His competitive spirit and his drive are back,” Hasen said, “and he’s ready to play. He showed us in that second half where he had a great half against Toronto (in week 20), and tonight just continued it through.”
The adversities Hartley went through this season were a parallel of the adversities the Knighthawks experienced all season long. Coates, who recently opened up about his battle with long COVID this the season, was able to put that into perspective for the young Rochester team.
“When you go through these hard times, it toughens you up,” Coates said. “I think like anything in life, it may seem real tough at the time, but I think you become stronger because of it. Individually, there were a couple of guys that went down throughout the year.
“There’s not one guy in that locker room — what I love — that hasn’t quit. The record, we’re not sitting in a playoff spot right now, but every single one of those guys in that locker room cares for each other. That means more than anything. It’s been a tough year. You look at our record, it’s kind of three wins, six losses, a couple wins, four losses. It is what it is, and we’ll be better cause of it.”
Sunday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Wings (6-11) at Blue Cross Arena will be the last NLL regular season game. The Knighthawks season could very well be over before they step foot on the turf depending on the results of two games. They need the New York Riptide (8-9) and Saskatchewan Rush (8-9) to lose on Saturday; the other team Rochester needed to lose in week 21, the Vancouver Warriors (8-10), dropped their regular season finale against the San Diego Seals (13-5) last night, 16-9.
Week 21 is a five-step plan for the Knighthawks, and before the results of the Warriors game were solidified, Hasen’s crew did what they needed to do to help shape their destiny.
“At the end of the day, the guys rose to the occasion,” Hasen said. “We were able to control what we could control. We’ll sit and watch and become a fan of three teams, I guess, see what happens next.”