Photo Credit: VancouverWarriors.com
Wrestling Night certainly lived up to its name Saturday at Rogers Arena as the Vancouver Warriors took on the Rochester Knighthawks in the second game of a home-and-home series. The Warriors defeated the Knighthawks 16–15 in a game that had just about everything you could want in a lacrosse game.
Not only was it a rematch of last year’s NLL quarterfinal, but the last game these two teams played a week prior had its share of fireworks and controversy. In the first quarter of last week’s game, Knighthawks goaltender Rylan Hartley charged out of the crease and hit Warriors defenceman Steph Charbonneau. Thankfully Charbonneau was OK, and Hartley was ejected from the game and suspended for one game. However, he appealed the suspension, meaning he was able to play in Saturday’s game and was slated to start.
I was definitely expecting a physical and fiery game between both teams because of that, but I didn’t expect it to start in warmups. Rochester defenceman Tyler Biles was chirping at some of the Warriors players, and Warriors defenceman Jackson Subach obliged. Both players dropped the gloves and started throwing haymakers before the game had even started. Both players received game misconducts for the pregame brouhaha.
Head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky said he was proud that Subach stuck up for his teammate from a week earlier.
“I love what (Subach) did. I’ll be honest with you, he got the game ball. He stood up for his team and I love that passion, I love that heart and that’s why he’s here… I’m proud of what he did, I’m not upset, I loved it.”
The game didn’t start out how the Warriors would have liked. The Knighthawks scored 14 seconds into the game and took a 5–2 lead under seven minutes in. Malawsky uncharacteristically pulled star goaltender Christian Del Bianco to give him a quick breather. For the brief moment Del Bianco was on the bench, Malawsky said he told him to just relax and enjoy the game.
“He’s been so good for us all year, you can’t expect him to be ten out of ten every night, and he struggled a bit. He just needed a breath, a regroup and reset, and to get a little bit of confidence.”
It clearly worked, as the Knighthawks received a five-on-three and Del Bianco made some huge saves to keep the Warriors in the game.
It was an eventful first quarter, as there were 12 total goals. The Warriors tied a season high with seven first-quarter goals. Curtis Dickson recorded a first-quarter hat trick on a seven-goal night, as did Jesse King, who recorded a natural hat trick and finished the game with four goals and six assists for a 10-point night. Dickson recorded his 600th career goal, becoming the fourth player in NLL history to do so.
Dickson spoke on what it meant to hit this milestone.
“The teammates I’ve had over my career have been a big part of that. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a lot of really good players that have got me open and got me the ball to score those goals. So, it’s just been a lot of fun, and if you play long enough, you’re going to score a lot of goals; I’ve been around for a long time. It’s a cool milestone, and I’ll be able to look back at it after I’m done and be proud of it.”
The story of the offseason was the Warriors adding Dickson and King to their offense. Since preseason, Malawsky has said that the offense was going to be the last thing to come together. Saturday was the Warriors’ third straight game scoring at least 12 goals, and their power play went 5-for-7. Dickson said the offense is starting to gel a lot better, and we are definitely starting to see that.
“We knew it was going to take time. We didn’t want it to take as much time as it did. Obviously, (we got) some new pieces, myself included, (on) the offensive end. It’s not going to click instantly, but (we have) a lot of really talented lacrosse players up front. We’ve managed to figure it out and start putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Vancouver put up 13 goals in the first half but just three in the second, so there’s definitely room to improve and play a complete game offensively. Jesse King said he likes that they are trending in the right direction but aren’t satisfied.
“I think we had a really great first half, but I think in our second half we struggled immensely. Whether it’s not getting enough possessions or the ball getting a little too stagnant, we talk about those five-minute segments… but being able to complete those five-minute segments into a full 60 (minutes) is super important, and if we would have done that I don’t think it would have been as close as it was.”
It looked like the Knighthawks had tied the game with 1:50 left, but after review it was deemed no goal.
Vancouver improves to 6–2 on the season, their best start in the Malawsky era. They have a tough matchup against the Saskatchewan Rush, who have the best record in the NLL at 8–1, on Saturday. The Warriors then return home on February 20th to face the three-time defending champion and the team that took them out in the semifinals, the Buffalo Bandits.
