Rochester Deals Toronto First Setback
by Christopher Di Matteo | NLL.com
The 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.
