Rochester Lancers News Release -- www.rochesterlancers.com
Saturday, November 19, 2011
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – On Lancers Wall of Fame Induction evening, the current day Rochester Lancers took their first win in franchise history, earning a 22-13 victory against the Syracuse Silver Knights in front of 5,928 fans. Balanced scoring and solid play from goalkeeper Patrick Hannigan led the Lancers to victory.
The Lancers were able to take an early 2-0 lead when Rey Martinez fed Lancers forward Andrew Hoxie who beat Silver Knights goalkeeper Eric Reed just inside his left post. The Lancers extended the lead when Hoxie set Lubo Kocic up for a 3-point goal and Grady Renfrow tallied off of a Mauricio Salles assist. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, the Silver Knights got a power play goal from Nelson Santana to pull within five points at 7-2. The newly-signed Hannigan made six saves in his first quarter of action for the Lancers.
Early in the second quarter, Kocic misses on a 3-pointer but Jeremy Ortiz was there to nod home the rebound to extend the Lancers lead to 9-2. Hoxie then calmly finished from just inside the box off an assist by Gary Boughton to put the Lancers up 11-2 with just under six minutes to go in the first half. Two minutes later, Martinez was able to head home the rebound after Will Kletzien shot just above the cross bar to give the Lancers a double-digit lead at 13-2. Tempers started to flare a bit as both Rochester’s Kletzien and Syracuse’s Danny Hall each earned five minute misconduct penalties with less than three minutes remaining in the first half.
The Lancers extended their lead soon after the break, cashing in on a power play after Syracuse forward Andriy Budnyy went to the box for two minutes for elbowing Lancers defender Kyle Manscuk. Reed saved a Jermey Ortiz shot, but Doug Miller was able to score on the rebound to put the Lancers up 15-2.
The Silver Knights were able to convert on their own power play when Manscuk was in the box for charging Serna as Alex Megson scored on an assist from Andre Berenzon after Hannigan was caught out of the net trying to clear the ball out of the Lancers end. Syracuse converted for the third time of the night with the man advantage as Berenzon scored a 3-point goal as Martinez was serving the second too many men on the field penalty of the night on the Lancers. The Silver Knights then continued to climb back into the match as Slavisa Ubiparapovic scored off a Berenzon free kick assist to make it 15-9 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lancers stopped the Silver Knights' run with a power play goal of their own early in the fourth quarter. With Megson in the box for boarding, Ortiz set Salles up for a tough angle goal from Reed’s left. The goal put the Lancers back up by eight with the score 17-9. But the Silver Knights scored two quick goals through Megson and Budnyy to pull within four points with a little more than nine minutes remaining.
Salles was able to net his second goal of the game to dim the Silver Knights' hopes after Reed put the rebound of an Elliot Fauske attempt into the middle of the penalty area. Syracuse pulled Reed in favor of the extra attacker with 96 seconds remaining in the match and the Silver Knights trailing by six. Brayton Knapp was able to take advantage of Nelson Santana in goal instead of Reed as he scored a 3-point goal off an assist from Gary Boughton to close out the scoring.
The win brings Rochester to 1-2 on the 2011-12 MISL season. The Lancers return to action on Wednesday, as they travel to Syracuse to face the Silver Knights for the third time this season. The Lancers return home next Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. as they welcome the Baltimore Blast to the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial.