The Rochester Knighthawks, notorious for slow starts most seasons, did anything but start slow Saturday night, beating the defending champion Philadelphia Wings, 15-10, in front of 7864 fans at Blue Cross Arena.

Rochester’s Curt Malawsky opened the scoring just under three minutes into the game. Kevin Finneran tied the game at one, and Keith Cromwell gave the Wings their only lead of the night with five and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Knighthawks answered with a pair of goals from Tim Soudan and one from Duane Jacobs to end the first quarter with a 4-2 lead.

Shawn Williams and Rodney Tapp brought Rochester’s lead to 6-2, before Finneran scored Philadelphia’s lone goal of the quarter. The Knighthawks finished the first half with two more goals, to take an 8-3 lead to the locker room at half time.

The third quarter scoring was a little more balanced. D’Arcy Sweet netted his first of the night at 3:13, giving the Knighthawks a 9-3 lead. The Wings answered with two goals of their own, and the two teams traded goals for the last six minutes of the quarter. Williams lit the lamp for the second time, then Jake Bergey scored his first for the Wings, and Sweet finished up for the Knighthawks with ten seconds remaining on the clock to give Rochester a 12-6 lead going into the final fifteen minutes.

Curt Malawsky scored the first goal of the final stanza for Rochester to open the lead up to 13-6. Philadelphia answered with three consecutive goals, and cut the lead to 13-9, but only were able to find the back of the net one more time before the end of the game. The Knighthawks came out on top, 15-10, when the final horn sounded.

The loss wasted a four-goal effort from Jeff Ratcliffe, who entered the game with just six tallies on the season. Finneran added three goals and three assists for the Wings, while Tom Marechek tacked on a goal and four helpers. John Grant paced the Rochester attack, with three goals and three assists. Four other Knighthawks had multiple goals on the evening.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Philadelphia Wings (1-2)              2  1  3  4  --  10
Rochester Knighthawks (2-1)           4  4  4  3  --  15

PHILADELPHIA WINGS            TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Finneran       3 - 3     6    Grant          3 - 3     6
Marechek       1 - 4     5    Williams       2 - 3     5
Ratcliffe      4 - 0     4    C Malawsky     2 - 2     4
Bergey         1 - 1     2    Soudan         2 - 1     3
Cromwell       1 - 1     2    Sweet          2 - 1     3
Ryan           0 - 2     2    Co Bomberry    1 - 2     3
J Clark        0 - 1     1    D Jacobs       1 - 2     3
Slate          0 - 1     1    D Malawsky     1 - 1     2
                              Tapp           1 - 1     2
                              Hasen          0 - 2     2
                              Turner         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           59    Shots on goal           57
Saves made by           42    Saves made by           49
   C Sanderson       42          O'Toole           49
Penalties                8    Penalties               10
Penalty Minutes         19    Penalty Minutes         26
Power Play Chances      10    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         6    Power Play Goals         4
   Finneran           2          Grant              2
   Ratcliffe          2          C Malawsky         1
   Bergey             1          Sweet              1
   Marechek           1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        1
   (None)                        C Malawsky         1
Loose Balls             83    Loose Balls             79
   C Sanderson       19          Soudan             8
   Ratcliffe          9          Turner             8
   Slate              7          Several tied with  7
Faceoffs Won            17    Faceoffs Won            12
   Phair        (14- 4)          Tapp         (12-15)
   Bergey       ( 3- 7)          Co Bomberry  ( 0- 1)
   Stilley      ( 0- 1)          Zaph         ( 0- 1)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH ROCHESTER K'HAWKS ***