Casey Powell led the way with three goals, including two in the closing minutes, as the Rochester Knighthawks pulled away late to down the Toronto Rock 14-9 in front of the largest, loudest crowd in franchise history.

The win gave the Knighthawks a measure of revenge for their narrow loss to Toronto in last year's NLL championship game, and shut down the Rock's winning streak at ten games.

It was a tight, hard-hitting game featuring plenty of great defence and more than a few scuffles.

Duane Jacobs and Curt Malawsky fired the home side into a 2-0 lead, before Dan Stroup and Colin Doyle equalized for Toronto.

Dan Teat put the Knighthawks back into the lead two minutes into the second quarter, and Tim Soudan made it 4-2 on a good outside rip. Ryan O'Connor of the Rock got one back on an outside softie, one of the few blips of the night for Knighthawk goalie Pat O'Toole, who was named player of the game. Rochester struck back on an electrifying play. Playing two men short, Pat McCready snagged the ball and lofted a perfect outlet pass to a streaking Brad MacArthur, who beat Bob Watson in the Toronto goal to restore the two-goal lead. Bouyed by that superb play, the Knighthawks flew to a 7-4 lead at halftime.

Colin Doyle opened the second half with his second goal, part of a two-goal, five-assist night. Casey Powell then restored the three-goal lead with a tasty outside screen shot. But the Rock poured on the pressure late, getting goals from Chris Gill and Glenn Clark in the final minute of the third quarter to cut the margin to 8-7.

With 10,181 excited fans cheering, Cory Bomberry put the Knighthawks up 9-7. Ryan O'Connor got that back, but took a nasty slash in the head from Rochester's Casey Zaph just as he released the shot. He was down for a couple of minutes while players on both sides jawed at each other. Shortly thereafter, Rock coach Les Bartley exploded at a referee, and was issued an instantaneous bench penalty. Rochester kept scoring, but Dan Stroup kept the Rock in the contest with a surging leap at the 12:00 mark. 11-9 Rochester.

That was as close as the defending champs would get. Casey Powell bagged markers at 12:21 and 13:49, and Pat McCready sealed the deal with an insurance marker at 13:57.

The jubilant Knighthawks now move to the top of the standings, in a three-way tie with the Rock and the Philadelphia Wings.

Rochester and Toronto get it on again this Friday at Maple Leaf Gardens. It should be great!

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Toronto Rock (3-1)                2  2  3  2  --   9
Rochester Knighthawks (3-1)       2  5  1  6  --  14

TORONTO ROCK                  ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Doyle          2 - 5     7    Powell         3 - 1     4
Gill           2 - 2     4    Co Bomberry    2 - 2     4
O'Connor       2 - 1     3    Soudan         2 - 2     4
Stroup         2 - 1     3    C Malawsky     0 - 4     4
Clark          1 - 0     1    Grant          0 - 4     4
Bullen         0 - 1     1    D Jacobs       2 - 1     3
Ladouceur      0 - 1     1    McCready       2 - 1     3
Langdale       0 - 1     1    Mearns         0 - 3     3
Toth           0 - 1     1    Kruger         0 - 2     2
Veltman        0 - 1     1    MacArthur      1 - 0     1
Watson         0 - 1     1    Teat           1 - 0     1
                              Hasen          0 - 1     1
                              Hollenbeck     0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           45    Shots on goal           49
Saves made by           34    Saves made by           36
   Watson            34          O'Toole
Penalties               14    Penalties               14
Penalty Minutes         28    Penalty Minutes         31
Power Play Chances      12    Power Play Chances      10
Power Play Goals         5    Power Play Goals         4
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        3
Faceoffs Won            11    Faceoffs Won            16
   Graham       (11-14)          Thorpe       (14- 6)
   Langdale     ( 0- 1)          Co Bomberry  ( 2- 5)
   Clark        ( 0- 1)
Loose Balls             75    Loose Balls             92
   Veltman           16          Grant             12
   Clark              9          Mearns            12
   Watson             9          O'Toole           11

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS ***