The Ottawa Black Bears were unable to comeback against the Rochester Knighthawks as they fell by a score of 18-8. Larson Sundown recorded a hat trick while Jeff Teat had six points.
Game breakdown
The Knighthawks opened the scoring at 1:49 into the first quarter when Matt Gilray scored his sixth goal of the season to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Black Bears to respond as captain Jeff Teat buried his team-leading 27th goal of the season just 38 seconds later to tie the game. Picking up the lone assist on Teat’s goal was Reilly O’Connor.
Up next it was Travis Longboat making an immediate impact on the team. Scoring his first goal as a Black Bear and sixth of the season, Longboat gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead at 3:41 into the opening quarter. Jeff Teat picked up his second point of the day with the lone assist on Longboat’s goal. The goal marked not only Longboat’s first with Ottawa, but the 100th point of his career.
The Knighthawks tied things back up exactly a minute later, as Connor Fields scored his 34th goal of the season to make it 2-2.
Just 24 seconds later, the Knighthawks struck again to restore their lead at 3-2 with Kyle Waters’ 10th goal of the season.
Doubling the Knighthawks’ lead to 4-2 was Connor Fields with his second goal of the game at 5:32 into the quarter.
Kyle Waters’ got his second of the day with 8:53 to play in the first quarter to make it 5-2 for Rochester.
A power play opportunity saw the Knighthawks score with 15 seconds remaining in the man advantage. It was Thomas McConvey scoring his 25th goal of the season to give Rochester a 6-2 lead with 1:43 to play in the first.
Scoring his third goal of the game with 1:28 to play in the opening quarter was Connor Fields to complete the hat trick. Following the goal, goaltender Cameron Dunkerley entered the game in relief of Zach Higgins.
It didn’t take long for the Black Bears to convert on a power play of their own, as Connor Kearnan scored his 12th goal of the season with just four seconds to play in the first quarter. Picking up the lone assist on the goal was Reilly O’Connor for his second of the game.
After the opening 15 minutes, the Black Bears trailed the Knighthawks by a score of 7-3. Returning to the net for the start of the second quarter was Zach Higgins.
The Knighthawks opened the second quarter scoring less than a minute in when Ryan Smith scored his team-leading 37th goal of the season just 53 seconds into the quarter.
Doubling down was Chad Tutton with his third goal of the season coming shorthanded for the Knighthawks to make it 9-3.
Ryan Smith scored his second of the game with 9:20 to play in the second quarter to make it 10-3.
With 8:41 to play in the second, Chad Tutton scored his second of the game. Following the goal, Cameron Dunkerley returned to the net for the Black Bears.
Graydon Hogg scored his 12th goal of the season with 5:35 to play in the second half to make it 12-3 for the Knighthawks.
With 3:08 remaining in the second half, Connor Fields made it 13-3 with his fourth goal of the game.
Jeff Teat got one back for the Black Bears with his second goal of the game coming with 2:14 to play in the half. Picking up the lone assist on the goal was Jacob Dunbar, his first of the game.
Following the completion of the first half, the Black Bears trailed by a score of 14-4. To start off the third quarter, Zach Higgins returned to the net for Ottawa.
Graydon Hogg scored his second goal of the game at 5:11 into the third quarter to make it 15-4.
At 7:34 into the quarter, Larson Sundown got one for the Black Bears with his 16th goal of the season to make it 15-5. Connor Kearnan picked up an assist on the goal alongside Jeff Teat, who picked up his second assist of the game.
With exactly four minutes to play in the third quarter, Larson Sundown picked up his second goal of the game off of a nice passing play by the Black Bears. Assisting the goal were Travis Longboat and Jeff Teat to make it 15-6.
The Knighthawks answered back with 1:06 to go in the third as Josh Medeiros scored his fourth goal of the season to put Rochester up 16-6.
After the completion of the third quarter, the Black Bears headed into the final 15 down by a score of 16-6.
Opening the fourth quarter and completing the hat trick was Larson Sundown just 1:31 into the fourth for his third goal of the game to make it 16-7. Assisting the goal were Jeff Teat and Jay Thorimbert.
A two-man advantage saw the Knighthawks convert with 11:17 remaining in regulation. Scoring the goal was Ryan Lanchbury with his 24th goal of the season.
With 7:09 to play, the Knighthawks made it 18-7 on the power play with Connor Fields’ fifth goal of the game.
With 3:31 left in regulation, Ryan Smith scored his third goal of the game, but the Black Bears challenged the play for a crease violation. After review, it was determined there was in fact a crease violation and the goal was disallowed.
The Black Bears got one back with 1:55 to play as Jake Stevens scored his first career NLL goal to make it 18-8. The lone assist on Stevens’ goal went to Connor Kearnan, his second of the game.
The Black Bears will return to play at home next week on Sunday, March 23 when the Colorado Mammoth come to town at 6:00 p.m. ET. The game will mark the team’s first Sunday home game of the season, so don’t miss out! Tickets to the game are available HERE for purchase.
