(Knighthawks Communications)-Despite scoring the early go-ahead goal, the Rochester Knighthawks couldn’t contain the explosive Toronto Rock, dropping a 12-9 decision in their 2011 home opener tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. With the loss, Rochester breaks its 15-0 all-time regulation home win streak versus Toronto and drops to 1-1 on the season. Toronto improves to 2-0 and remains on top of the East division.
In his first game in Rochester, Cody Jamieson, the first-overall pick in the 2010 NLL Entry Draft, recorded his first-career hat trick in front of 6,025 fans and tallied three assists on the night.
Garrett Billings led the way for Toronto with eight points (2+6), while Blaine Manning tallied a six-point game (2+4) and had support with five-point performances from teammates Stephan Leblanc (3+2) and Colin Doyle (2+3).
The night also included a couple milestones, as K-Hawk captain Shawn Williams scored his 900th career point with a goal in the second, and Rock netminder Bob Watson recorded his 6,000th career save. The veteran goalie finished with 53 saves, while Rochester’s Matt Vinc stopped 41.
In the first quarter, Jamieson opened the scoring for Rochester, bouncing a shot past Watson for a 1-0 lead.
Toronto quickly responded, adding goals from Billings and Doyle just 23 seconds apart. The Rock then extended their lead to 3-1 at the 6:37 mark when Manning took a shot that touched all three goalposts before finding mesh.
Two minutes later, Rochester’s Mike Accursi cut the lead to 3-2 when he rocketed a shot between the legs of Watson. However, Toronto countered with another three-goal run with goals from Manning, Kasey Beirnes and Doyle, respectively, to take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
In that quarter, it didn’t take long for Toronto to add another goal, with Billings adding his second of the night, just 13 seconds in, off feeds from Leblanc and former K-Hawk Stephen Hoar.
But Rochester went on a scoring streak of its own, netting three-consecutive goals in a 10-minute span. Williams scored his first goal of the game at the 3:09 mark, firing a quick shot through the Toronto defense. On the goal, Shawn Evans was credited with his second assist of the night and finished with four total.
Rochester rookie Jarrett Davis then added another, which was followed by an impressive behind-the-back goal by Craig Point.
The Rock closed out the first-half scoring when Leblanc made the lead 8-5 at the 11:14 mark.
Eight minutes into the second half, Aaron Pascas recorded back-to-back goals for Toronto, who held the home team scoreless in the third.
In the final period, Leblanc and Jamieson traded goals twice in-a-row at 4:07 and 5:48, and again at 10:11 and 11:10. Point and Accursi added goals in the final two minutes, but the early deficit proved too much for Rochester and the Rock held on for a 12-9 victory.
