Vancouver Warriors hang on to win after late pursuit by the Rochester Knighthawks

JEN FIELD/GATG

It was a Saturday night rematch between the Vancouver Warriors and Rochester Knighthawks at Rogers Arena. The two teams battled to the end and the Warriors came out victorious, hanging on to win 16-15.

The two teams met exactly one week prior in Rochester and the tension caused by a controversial hit in that game carried over to this game.

During the pregame warmups, a fight broke out at centre between Warriors player Jackson Suboch and Knighthawks player Tyler Biles. Both were assessed game misconduct’s and did not suit up to play.

It was the visiting team who opened the scoring 14 seconds into the game, but the Warriors quickly responded to tie it. 

The Knighthawks got 3 quick ones to take a 4-1 lead.

They then exchanged goals to put the score 5-2 with over 8 minutes still remaining in the first quarter.

The Warriors were assessed 2 penalties on a play giving the Knighthawks a 5-on-3.

After a successful kill by the Warriors, the momentum shifted and it was now all Warriors.

Right after Brett Mydske and Ryan Dilks exited the box, the Warriors got a 2-on-1 that they scored on. It was a five-hole goal by Jesse King assisted by Shane Simpson and Christian Del Bianco.

King scored the next 2 to get a natural hat trick and tied the game 5-5.

With roughly 1:30 left in the quarter, the Warriors drew 2 penalties. Before the whistle, the Warriors pulled Del Bianco to extend their time with the extra man.

Dickson scored his second of the night, and the Warriors took their first lead of the game. This led to one of the penalties being negated, giving the Warriors a 5-on-4 man advantage.

On the power play, Dickson scored his third of the night, the second hat trick of the game, and his twentieth goal of the season.

All in the first quarter, the Warriors went down 4-1 and fought their way back for a 7-5 lead.

The Warriors kept the energy up in the second quarter, scoring 2 more goals, for a total of 7 unanswered.

More roughhousing broke out, this time during game play, fitting into the theme night: wrestling night.

Owen Grant hit the Knighthawks goalie, who was out of his net, and Knighthawks player, Matt Gilray, immediately jumped in to defend him. Both players received 2 minutes for roughing.

There had been an unrelated penalty on the play giving the Knighthawks a man-advantage that they capitalized on. 

They quickly exchanged goals again to put the Warriors up 10-7.

The game reached another level of intensity when Knighthawks, Jeremy Thompson, roughly hit King. Thompson was given a 5 minute major and King was on the field for the start of the powerplay.

The Warriors scored 2 goals on this powerplay. The first of the two came from Dickson, his sixth of the night, and the second from King, his fourth of the night.

On the faceoff after King’s goal, there was more roughing. New Warrior Max Adler was on the floor when Knighthawks, Chad Tutton, appeared to trip over his head.

Both were assessed 5 minute majors, Adler for illegal cross-checking and Tutton for kicking, therefore, play remained at 5-on-5.

Dickson scored one more, his fourth of the quarter and seventh of the game, to give the Warriors a 13-7 lead at halftime.

The Knighthawks came out strong in the third quarter, scoring 2 goals not even a minute in. They scored once more in the quarter and the Warriors scored twice. It was 15-10 heading into the last 15 minutes of play.

Like the previous quarter, the Knighthawks scored twice, one of which was a powerplay goal, not even a minute into the quarter, cutting the Warriors lead down to three.

The Warriors scored the next goal, there only of the quarter, to extend their lead back to four.

The Knighthawks started to close in on the Warriors, scoring one, then two, then three goals.

Despite this late pursuit by the Knighthawks, the Warriors held on to win 16-15.

Next up, the Warriors head to Saskatchewan to take on the Saskatchewan Rush. They then return home on February 20 when they take on the three-time defending National Lacrosse League Champions, the Buffalo Bandits.