The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Buffalo Bandits, 12-7, Saturday evening at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, keeping pace with Albany in the high-stakes Central Division race.

A crowd of 9,724 -- with fans from both cities in attendance -- came out to watch the battle of the Thruway rivals.

Buffalo's John Tavares scored just seventeen seconds into the game, giving the Bandits their only lead of the night. The Knighthawks answered with three straight goals, one each from Curt Malawsky, Shawn Williams and Derek Malawsky, to end the first quarter with a 3-1 lead.

Jonas Derks tied the game at three for Buffalo with a pair of goals in the first half of the second quarter. Rochester's Tim Soudan quickly took the lead back for the Knighthawks and John Grant increased it to 5-3 with less than a minute to play before halftime.

Curt Malawsky nabbed the first goal of the third quarter, giving Rochester a 6-3 lead. In the next two minutes, Derks scored another pair of goals to bring the Bandits within a goal, at 6-5. Duane Jacobs put the Knighthawks up by two again just thirty seconds later, but Pat Maddalena and Tavares each found the back of the net to knot the game at seven. Grant finished the third quarter scoring with two goals, and the Knighthawks took a 9-7 lead into the final stanza.

The fourth quarter was all Rochester. The Knighthawks' defense didn't allow the Bandits a single goal and the offense scored three of its own. Williams had a pair within the first four minutes and Jeremy Hollenbeck scored the last goal of the game at the twelve-minute mark to give the Knighthawks a 12-7 victory over the Bandits.

John Grant was awarded Player of the Game for his eight-point effort. Jonas Derks led the Bandits scoring with four goals. Bandits goalie Steve Dietrich stopped forty-eight shots, while Pat O'Toole stopped forty-two for the Knighthawks.

Rochester advances to 11-3, a game behind the Albany Attack for the Central Division crown, an almost-certain first-round bye, and likely home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs. Buffalo falls to 7-8, with one game remaining, a 23 March tilt at Washington.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (7-8)                 1  2  4  0  --   7
Rochester Knighthawks (11-3)          3  2  4  3  --  12

BUFFALO BANDITS               ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Derks          4 - 0     4    Grant          3 - 5     8
Maddelena      1 - 2     3    Soudan         1 - 3     4
J Tavares      2 - 0     2    S Williams     3 - 0     3
Mearns         0 - 2     2    C Malawsky     2 - 1     3
Accursi        0 - 1     1    Co Bomberry    0 - 3     3
Colsey         0 - 1     1    D Jacobs       1 - 1     2
Dietrich       0 - 1     1    Abrams         0 - 2     2
R Kilgour      0 - 1     1    Hollenbeck     1 - 0     1
                              D Malawsky     1 - 0     1
                              Hasen          0 - 1     1
                              O'Toole        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           49    Shots on goal           60
Saves made by (GA)      48    Saves made by (GA)      42
   Dietrich (12)     48          O'Toole (7)       42
   Montour (0)        0
Penalties               12    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         24    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       2    Power Play Chances       7
Power Play Goals         1    Power Play Goals         1
   J Tavares         1           C Malawsky         1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        0
   J Tavares         1           (None)
Loose Balls             95    Loose Balls             98
   J Tavares        11           Hasen             14
   Couling          10           O'Toole           13
   McCready         10           D Malawsky         9
Faceoffs Won            16    Faceoffs Won             7
   Accursi     (15- 6)           Soudan       ( 3- 4)
   Fraser      ( 1- 1)           Hollenbeck   ( 2- 2)
                                 Thorpe       ( 2- 2)
                                 Co Bomberry  ( 0- 7)

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