The Vancouver Warriors played a steady game against the Rochester Knighthawks with a 10-7 win.
They handled pressure and trusted the process in a tight game where neither team led by more than two goals until Warriors’ defenceman Jeff Cornwall scored an empty netter in the final 10 seconds.
Warriors’ General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky said the group played to their identity against Rochester and they gained valuable experience.
“That’s our motto, “stay in the fight”. I thought that was just a character win all the way around,” Malawsky said.
“Calm is contagious is [also] something we talk about. We just want to stay in the fight and pump the guys up and stay positive. They worked hard for each other and at the half we just asked for an extra five percent and each guy gave that and then some and we got the result.”
The Knighthawks led 4-2 at halftime but the Warriors continued to plug away in the second half and saw their shots fall. Warriors’ forward Keegan Bal scored both of Vancouver’s goals in the first half, and scored one in the third to finish the evening with a hat trick.
“We’ve been talking all year about sticking to the process. I know that’s a cliché, everyone says that, but I felt like we really embodied that tonight,” Bal said. “We were getting the chances, so we just focused on getting great shots and if we can, we know that they’ll eventually fall.”
After going 0-for-3 on the power play in the first half, the Warriors went three-for-three in the second half and scored six goals in third quarter. The Warriors didn’t allow any goals in the fourth quarter, but scored two of their own.
The Warriors’ tough brand of defence was on display, holding Rochester forward Connor Fields scoreless, going 0-for-15, but he chipped in two assists. Fields finished fourth in the NLL in points last season with 120 (56G, 64A).
The difference for the Warriors was the goaltending and faceoffs won. Warriors’ goaltender Aden Walsh turned aside 42 of 49 shots he faced for a save percentage of .857% which was the best save percentage by a Warriors’ goalie since 2018. Vancouver transition player Alex Stathakis was 15-for-20 from the dot (75%), which was also the best faceoffs won percentage for Vancouver since 2018.
“He [Walsh] made the ones when he needed to, huge saves. They had a power play late and he made some big saves on it. Not very often one of the top goal scorers in the NLL goes 0-for-15, so he did a great job,” Malawsky said.
“Alex Stathakis on the faceoffs, he was 15-for-20 and that’s huge. I’ve always been a possession coach, a possession team, and when a team scores and you get the ball right back it can zap their momentum. Then you score and you can build your momentum, that’s huge.”
Johnathan Peshko got his first NLL goal going five-hole on the power play, and followed that up with another goal on at five-on-five for good measure. He was thrilled to score his first NLL goals on home floor and is feeling more comfortable every time he steps on the floor.
“It’s exciting,” Peshko said. “The team really embraced myself and all the other first-year guys from the second that we stepped into the locker room. It’s been an amazing experience. They’ve been helping me adjust and I can’t thank them enough for that.”
“Pesh played really well. He got that one [the first goal] late in the clock and broke the ice and then his second goal was a big-league goal – he pumped the goalie short side, ran by him and threw it in the empty net which is something we talked about in the pre-scout,” Malawsky said.
“To be able to go to the middle of the floor like that and have the wherewithall to not have to worry about sliding that was big.”
Warriors’ defenceman Jeff Cornwall scored his first goals as a Warrior in the contest, scoring his first goal of the night shorthanded.
“He was cramping up, his hamstrings were sore, but he just kept on going and battling and that was a huge goal shorthanded and then he got the empty netter to ice it. But he played a ton of minutes and he’s a competitor, that’s why we brought him in,” Malawsky said.
The Warriors love their fans and Malawsky was happy to be able to send everyone home with a win on Friday Night at Rogers Arena.
“The home crowd definitely makes a difference, it pumps our guys up,” Malawsky shared. “You see family and friends from all walks of lacrosse and it’s really heartwarming especially at the end when we can spend some time with the families and kids before Christmas, those personal interactions are invaluable, so it was important for us tonight, it was great.”
With the win the Warriors improve to 1-1 and have another bye week before taking on the Calgary Roughnecks at the WestJet Field at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday December 28th, game time is at 6:00pm.
Their next home game is Friday, January 10th and for season tickets, group tickets, premium options, and all ticketing options, please go to vancouverwarriors.com for all the details.
