If the Rochester Knighthawks had their way, the National Lacrosse League playoffs would start today.

As soon as possible.

Hey, how about this morning before Palm Sunday mass?

This team is hot and it can't wait to get the postseason tournament underway because right now you could make a very convincing argument that it is playing better than at any time during its six-year history, including the championship season of 1997.

Last night in front of a boisterous and indoor lacrosse record crowd of 10,627 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, the Knighthawks needed a victory to assure themselves a playoff berth.

Not only did they win, 20-14 over the Philadelphia Wings, they dominated in such a way that it is very difficult -- with apologies to defending league champion Toronto -- not to rate them as the favorite to win the Campion's Cup.

"Going into the playoffs, we know we have a great shot to win it," said Fairport native Tim Soudan who capped his best season as a pro with two goals and two assists.

"I think the personnel we have right now is probably better than the personnel we had in '97. And I liken this season to that one because we had a lapse in the middle of the season. But now we've created some momentum for ourselves peaking like this going into the playoffs and that's going to help us no matter who we play."

Who they will play is arch-rival Buffalo (8-4 and second-place finishers after defeating Albany last night). The game, tentatively scheduled for Friday night, will be contested at HSBC Arena.

"We play very well on the road (3-3 this year), and we play very well in that building in Buffalo (5-3 all-time in HSBC and the old Aud)," said Soudan.

In the other semifinal, fourth-place Philadelphia (7-5) will travel to first-place Toronto (9-3). The winners will meet for the league title either the weekend of April 28 or May 5.

Now on a five-game winning streak as they head into their rubber match with the Bandits -- the teams exchanged homefield victories this season -- things are going so well for Rochester that defensive ace Regy Thorpe scored his second career goal against the Wings.

"We're ready to go," said coach Paul Day. "We're healthy which is good, and we've been playing this brand of lacrosse for the last five games."

What a brand it is.

In winning five in a row, the Knighthawks have outscored the opposition 88-59, and for the first time in team history they have scored at least 20 goals in back-to-back games.

Defensively they're stout, and goaltender Pat O'Toole has been a goliath between the pipes. Playing against sharpshooters like Tom Marechek, Jake Bergey, Mark Millon and Kevin Finneran, O'Toole was superb until the Knighthawks got sloppy on defense after opening a gaping 20-10 lead and allowed the Wings to score four garbage goals in the final few minutes.

"I think any 15 guys we put out there, whether it's offense, defense, goaltending, everything, we're pretty strong," said Day. "But the league has improved along with us. Look at that team (the Wings), that's a very deep team and so is Buffalo and Toronto, so the league has improved that much since 1997, too."

The Knighthawks were at their best in the first half when they raced to a 9-3 lead.

They dazzled the Wings with four goals in the first half of the first quarter, and they made it look easy. Jeremy Hollenbeck, Pat McCready (3 goals, 3 assists, 9 ground balls to earn game MVP honors), John Grant Jr. (5 goals, 5 assists) and Casey Powell all beat perennial All-Pro goalie Dallas Eliuk and Philadelphia never recovered.

"Dallas is probably the best goalie in the league, but the guys were shooting good shots," said O'Toole. "He made some big saves, but our guys kept going and we pretty much buried them. It's fun to watch."

After Powell scored shorthanded, Marechek (4 goals, 5 assists) answered on the same Philadelphia power play, and then Millon fired a laser past O'Toole, but that was as close as the Wings would get the rest of the night.

Grant and Soudan scored 37 seconds apart early in the second quarter, and after Marechek fired in another power-play goal, the Knighthawks blanked Philadelphia the final 9:26 of the half, killing off a four-minute Wings power play in the process.

Meanwhile, Grant, McCready and Rusty Kruger scored within a 46-second span to blow it open.

When the Knighthawks scored four of the first six goals in the second half to open a 13-5 bulge, the Wings were hopelessly out of it.

As it turned out, Buffalo's victory over Albany last night meant Rochester was in the playoffs regardless, but the Knighthawks were hellbent on winning and it showed.

"A win tonight keeps the momentum going for the playoffs," said Day. "We don't mind playing in Buffalo, and as a matter of fact we kind of owe them after a poor performance there earlier this year."

Added Soudan: "Hopefully good things can happen from this point forward."

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Philadelphia Wings (7-5)          2  1  4  7  --  14
Rochester Knighthawks (8-4)       4  5  5  6  --  20

PHILADELPHIA WINGS            ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Marechek       4 - 5     9    Grant          5 - 5    10
M Millon       4 - 4     8    McCready       3 - 3     6
Finneran       1 - 2     3    C Malawsky     2 - 2     4
McEvoy         1 - 2     3    Powell         2 - 2     4
Bergey         0 - 3     3    Soudan         2 - 2     4
J Clark        2 - 0     2    Hasen          2 - 1     3
Oglesby        0 - 2     2    Hollenbeck     1 - 2     3
O'Grady        0 - 2     2    Mearns         1 - 2     3
P Jacobs       1 - 0     1    Teat           0 - 3     3
Slate          1 - 0     1    Thorpe         1 - 1     2
Phair          0 - 1     1    Co Bomberry    0 - 2     2
                              D Jacobs       0 - 2     2
                              Kruger         1 - 0     1
                              MacArthur      0 - 1     1
                              O'Toole        0 - 1     1
                              Zaph           0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           52    Shots on goal           59
Saves made by           39    Saves made by           38
   Eliuk                         O'Toole
Loose Balls             67    Loose Balls             83
   Marechek           7          Hollenbeck         9
   Oglesby            7          MacCready          9
   Jacobs             6          Thorpe             9
   Eliuk              6
   Stilley            6

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH KNIGHTHAWKS WEB SITE ***