Moving Forward Just in Time

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.