It’s
game time and the Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse team may have figured out how
to move forward from the slow beginning to the 2013 season just in time.
The
Rochester Knighthawks are the 2012 National Lacrosse League champions but for the
past few weeks, have faced a slump. Having a 4-5 record and closing out the
first half of the season with a loss at home was not exactly where they would
have pictured themselves. The team played back-to-back games against the
Buffalo Bandits and the Philadelphia Wings in the beginning of February where
they won both games by a landslide and were finally feeling like they were
gelling together and playing like they had when they won the championship.
A
home game against Buffalo followed the winning weekend and the pressure was on.
Unfortunately for the Knighthawks, Buffalo goalie Anthony Cosmo brought his
A-game and was the key to a Buffalo win. Rochester also played Philadelphia
just two weeks after an exhilarating 20-10 win and was looking for another win
after the loss to Buffalo. Having only
won one home game, the Knighthawks were hoping to repeat what they had done
during the previous game the two teams played against each other.
The
game ended with another upsetting loss for the Knighthawks.
“We
knew that it wasn’t going to be the same game as the last time we played them,”
said forward Johnny Powless. “They were going to come out ready to go and we
had to prepare for that.”
As
the team approaches the end of the first half of the season, they look to turn
the heat up and start playing harder in order to keep the championship in
Rochester.
Fans
like Sharon Goethals, who has had season tickets since the team was brought to
Rochester, thinks the reason for the slow beginning might be because “the other
teams are just more competitive when they play Rochester because we have the
title. It makes them want to beat us more and they will try as hard as they can
to get that win from us. It makes them look better. We have a target on our
backs.”
Even though the team has had a rough start to
the season, they are very positive about how they are going to continue on through
the rest of the season.
“Moving
forward, I feel confident in our team,” Powless said. “We just have to have a
better second half of the season. We need to play a full game and be more
consistent. It seems like we are hot one game and then off the next.”
Rochester
played Colorado on Saturday where they were finally able to gain a win. The
team did exactly what Powless said needed to be done and played a steady and
competitive game right to the last second.
Moving
forward, the team knows what they need to do; now it is just a matter of
actually getting the job done and continuing to gain wins. They are confident
that they will push through and prove that they are the team that deserves the
title of defending champions.
With the talent and dedication of every player on the
Rochester Knighthawks, they are sure to put the first half of the season behind
them and play on to make Rochester fans proud.
