The Columbus Landsharks were expected to make some noise in their Saturday night visit to the Blue Cross Arena. They had beaten two straight playoffs contenders. They had won three games in a row. They had jumped from being the last winless team in the league to a .500 record. They were going to give the Rochester Knighthawks a run for their money.

Then the game began.

The Landsharks' Kasey Beirnes opened the scoring for a 1-0 Columbus lead, but Rochester would put up 24 of the other 32 goals in the game, gliding to a 24-9 landslide victory in front of 9,840 fans.

Curt Malawsky got Rochester on the board three-and-a-half minutes into the game with a power play marker. Shawn Williams followed forty-two seconds later. Derek Malawsky was next, only twenty-eight seconds after that. Columbus was able to hold off the Rochester onslaught for a whole 74 seconds, but Mike Hasen, Jeremy Hollenbeck, and Cory Bomberry tallied with one minute of each other for a 6-1 Knighthawk lead.

Kyle Arbuckle and Mark Steenhuis tried to get the Sharks back into it, but John Grant and Duane Jacobs made it 8-3 to close the first quarter. Eight goals for the 'Hawks, eight different goal scorers. That's the depth that makes the Knighthawks nearly impossible to stop.

The second quarter started the way the first did. This time, it was Steenhuis tallying for the 'Sharks, to close to within four. Gewas Schindler moved the Sharks to within three, 8-5, but Jacobs and Marshall Abrams replied quickly for the home side. Columbus made it 10-6, but Grant and Curt Malawsky responded again to end the half with the Knighthawks doubling the Landsharks six-goal output.

After the break, the Landsharks scored first for the third straight quarter, this time by Arbuckle. The goal marked the second time this season that the Knighthawks managed to give up a goal while on a two-man advantage, a feat once rare in the NLL, but the Hawks' power play is making it look common. Bomberry atoned for his mistake, scoring during the remaining five-on-three time, and Derek Malawsky finished off the five-on-four power play with a goal. The Knighthawks didn't stop there. With a 14-7 lead, Shawn Williams lit the lamp. Then Jacobs. Derek Malawsky again. D'Arcy Sweet joined the scoring parade, and Curt Malawsky ended the quarter for a seven-goal Knighthawk run.

At 19-7, the Knighthawks could have taken the foot off the gas. However, much like the NFL's St. Louis Rams a day later, the Knighthawks kept on swooping in for the kill. Sweet, Tim Soudan, and Casey Zaph all tallied in the first sixty seconds of the fourth to balloon the lead to 22-7. Shawn Williams later scored the 23rd Knighthawk goal -- the eleventh straight score by the home side.

Gewas Schindler finally responded with a pair, seventeen minutes after the previous 'Shark goal, and Sweet ended the night on a hat trick goal, giving the Hawks a 24-9 victory.

Game MVP John Grant had two goals and five assists on the night, while Schindler had three goals and two assists to lead Columbus. The Knighthawks, first overall at 7-1, now travel to Toronto for a matinee next Saturday, a town where they have never won. Columbus drops to 3-4, and will host the expansion Vancouver Ravens next Friday night.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Columbus Landsharks (3-4)             3  3  1  2  --   9
Rochester Knighthawks (7-1)           8  4  7  5  --  24

COLUMBUS LANDSHARKS           ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Schindler      3 - 2     5    Williams       3 - 5     8
Steenhuis      2 - 3     5    Sweet          3 - 4     7
Arbuckle       2 - 2     4    Grant          2 - 5     7
Beirnes        1 - 1     2    Co Bomberry    2 - 4     6
N Powless      1 - 0     1    D Malawsky     3 - 2     5
Gloeckner      0 - 1     1    Hollenbeck     1 - 4     5
Rothfuss       0 - 1     1    D Jacobs       3 - 1     4
D Suddons      0 - 1     1    C Malawsky     3 - 1     4
                              Soudan         1 - 2     3
                              Thorpe         0 - 3     3
                              O'Toole        0 - 3     3
                              Abrams         1 - 1     2
                              Zaph           1 - 1     2
                              Hasen          1 - 0     1

Shots on goal           40    Shots on goal           68
Saves made by (GA)      44    Saves made by (GA)      31
   Montour (19)      39          O'Toole (7)       25
   Miron (5)          5          Campbell (2)       6
Penalties                8    Penalties               11
Penalty Minutes         16    Penalty Minutes         22
Power Play Chances      10    Power Play Chances       7
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         6
   Steenhuis          2          C Malawsky         2
   Arbuckle           1          D Malawsky         2
   Beirnes            1          Co Bomberry        1
                                 D Jacobs           1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        0
   Arbuckle           1          (None)
Loose Balls             51    Loose Balls             79
   Greer              7          Abrams            10
   Steenhuis          6          Hollenbeck         8
   Rothfuss           5          Soudan             8
   D Suddons          5
Faceoffs Won            14    Faceoffs Won            24
   Warder       (13-24)          Co Bomberry  (12- 8)
   N Powless    ( 1- 0)          Thorpe       (11- 6)
                                 Zaph         ( 1- 0)

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