The Saints closed the indoor lacrosse season in honorable fashion.

Unfortunately for them, they couldn't do it with a win.

On a night when they remembered Ryan Caulfield, one of Long Island's finest scholastic athletes, the Saints allowed a four-goal lead to slip away and fell to the Rochester Knighthawks, 12-10, in a National Lacrosse League game before 4,659 fans at Nassau Coliseum.

Saints attackman Roy Colsey III finished the season the same way he started it -- with torrid scoring. Colsey had four goals and an assist to finish the season with a team-leading 37 goals and 67 points. "He's been a scoring threat all season," Saints coach Scott Huff said. "No team has really been able to contain him. But we just didn't have enough to finish."

The Saints (3-9) used last night's season finale to honor Caulfield, an All-County baseball and football player from Bethpage High School. Caulfield died at the age of 23 in February after a five-year bout with lupus. The Saints gave the Ryan T. Caulfield Foundation a donation of four dollars from every ticket sold at last night's game.

"Our family would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Saints and everyone involved who made this night possible in memory of my brother," said Mike Caulfield, who watched a halftime video presentation in honor of his brother from the Cablevision luxury box. "It was a night our family will never forget."

On a special night when the Saints were spreading the love, Colsey was spreading the net. He picked the upper corner of the net on two occasions for unassisted goals and trickled one past Pat O'Toole into the lower left of the cage as the Saints built a 6-3 first-quarter lead. He ticketed goal number four at 1:18 of the second quarter but Rochester (6-4) outscored the Saints 4-2 in that stanza to draw within 8-7 at the half.

Mark Frye smoked a lefthanded rocket past O'Toole at 2:08 of the third quarter for a 9-7 lead. It would be the only score of the quarter as Saints keeper Gee Nash turned away nine shots.

The hard-nosed checking style of defenseman Steve Huff was unyielding. He kept rookie of the year candidate John Grant, the Knighthawks' leading scorer, off the scoreboard for three quarters while fellow defensemen Jarred Testa, Pat McCabe and Andy Towers held last year's rookie of the year, Casey Powell, scoreless.

Powell scored his only goal with 5:35 left to tie the score at ten. Grant then scored twice to give the Knighthawks the win.

It was like that all year for the Saints.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Rochester Knighthawks (6-4)       3  4  0  5  --  12
New York Saints (3-9)             6  2  1  1  --  10

ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS         NEW YORK SAINTS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Co Bomberry    1 - 5     6    Colsey         4 - 2     6
Grant          2 - 3     5    D Lowe         0 - 3     3
C Malawsky     2 - 2     4    Sombrotto      2 - 0     2
Soudan         2 - 0     2    Wulder         1 - 1     2
McCready       1 - 1     2    Frye           1 - 0     1
Teat           1 - 1     2    Panetta        1 - 0     1
D Jacobs       1 - 0     1    Towers         1 - 0     1
Mearns         1 - 0     1    Huff           0 - 1     1
Powell         1 - 0     1    McCabe         0 - 1     1
Turner         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           45    Shots on goal           55
Saves made by           45    Saves made by           33
   O'Toole           45          Nash              33
Penalties               12    Penalties               16
Penalty Minutes         30    Penalty Minutes         34
Power Play Chances       7    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         2
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        1
Faceoffs Won            21    Faceoffs Won             4
   Co Bomberry  (18- 2)          Towers       ( 4-18)
   Thorpe       ( 3- 2)          Derks        ( 0- 3)
Loose Balls             61    Loose Balls             51
   Co Bomberry        9          McCabe             9
   Hollenbeck         8          Sombrotto          6
   Mearns             6          Colsey             5
                                 Derks              5

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NEW YORK SAINTS ***