Led by four goals from Dan Teat, the Albany Attack rode a decisive 11-5 halftime lead to a 14-10 victory Saturday evening over the Rochester Knighthawks in front of 5,047 fans at Pepsi Arena in downtown Albany.

The Attack coasted into the title game in its first playoff appearance, becoming only the fifth team in league history to reach the championship game in its first postseason campaign and the third to host it.

The scoring tonight started quickly, when Jeremy Hollenbeck scored just twenty-six seconds into the game to give the Knighthawks an early 1-0 lead. Albany quickly settled into its style of play, a suffocating defense and am opportunistic offense. Teat scored just short of the five-minute mark, but Duane Jacobs gave the lead back to the K'Hawks just one minute later. Teat and Brian Beisel scored two quick goals to close out the first quarter scoring, erasing what was to be the last Knighthawk lead of the season and giving the Attack a 3-2 advantage.

John Grant evened the line at three, but Cam Woods and Josh Sanderson scored late to give the Attack a 5-3 advantage after fifteen minutes. Rochester starting goaltender Pat O'Toole, who has a spotty history in postseason games, was pulled in favor of Pat Campbell with around two minutes to play, after allowing five goals on fourteen shots.

The Albany run continued into the second quarter, when Teat, Gary Rosyski, and Cam Woods broke the game open in the first six minutes of the period, giving Albany a five-goal cushion that would prove too large for Rochester to overcome. Curt Malawsky broke Albany's string with a lucky break -- an Albany player scooped the rebound of Malawsky's initial shot into his own net. Jamie Grimoldby, though, took the goal back just seventy-five seconds later. Grant again tried to spark a Knighthawk rally, but Teat and Nick Trudeau scored the last two goals of the quarter for a 11-5 Albany lead at the break. After Trudeau's goal, back came O'Toole. Campbell made eleven saves on fifteen shots in his twelve minutes, sixteen seconds of action.

Josh Sanderson extended the lead to 12-5 on the first possession of the third stanza, but Rochester made one more push to get back into the match. Curt Malawsky tallied his second of the game, this one in a more traditional fashion, then Derek Malawsky and D'Arcy Sweet scored one minute apart to close the game back to 12-8. Bryan Kazarian ended the run with a goal with about two minutes to go in the third, but John Grant tallied right back to end the third quarter, and Rochester had cut the Attack advantage to 13-9 with fifteen minutes to play.

Mike Hasen scored four minutes into the fourth to cut the lead to 13-10, the closest the Knighthawks had been since 6-3 back early in the second quarter. However, stellar defensive play and key goaltending by both O'Toole and Albany netminder Rob Blasdell kept both teams off the board until Trudeau put the final nail in the Knighthawks' coffin with a goal at 14:13 of the quarter, resulting in the 14-10 final score.

Overall, O'Toole played in 47:29 of the game, allowing ten goals on 37 shots. Blasdell made 36 saves on 46 shots, but was not often tested, thanks to the dominant Attack defense in front of him. The Knighthawks finish the season with an impressive 14-4 record, the most wins in franchise history. The Attack move to 15-2, which sets the league record for victories in a season.

Albany has now won eleven straight games since falling to Rochester at home in early January, and will host the 12-5 Toronto Rock, which is appearing in its fourth consecutive championship game, one short of the league record. The title game is scheduled for Saturday, 13 April at 7:30 PM.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Rochester Knighthawks (14-4, 1-1)     3  2  4  1  --  10
Albany Attack (15-2, 1-0)             5  6  2  1  --  14

ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS         ALBANY ATTACK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Grant          3 - 4     7    J Sanderson    2 - 5     7
D Malawsky     1 - 3     4    Rosyski        2 - 3     5
Hasen          1 - 2     3    Trudeau        2 - 3     5
S Williams     0 - 3     3    Teat           4 - 0     4
C Malawsky     2 - 0     2    Beisel         1 - 1     2
Sweet          1 - 1     2    Woods          1 - 1     2
Hollenbeck     1 - 0     1    Blasdell       0 - 2     2
D Jacobs       1 - 0     1    Regan          0 - 2     2
Abrams         0 - 1     1    Grimoldby      1 - 0     1
Co Bomberry    0 - 1     1    Kazarian       1 - 0     1
O'Toole        0 - 1     1    Moss           0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           46    Shots on goal           52
Saves made by (GA)      38    Saves made by (GA)      36
   O'Toole (10)      27          Blasdell (10)     36
   Campbell (4)      11
Penalties                6    Penalties                7
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes         14
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       6
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         3
   C Malawsky         2          J Sanderson        1
   Grant              1          Teat               1
   D Jacobs           1          Trudeau            1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        1
   (None)                        Teat               1
Loose Balls             67    Loose Balls             77
   D Malawsky        10          Blasdell          10
   Abrams             8          Woods              9
   Hasen              8          J Sanderson        8
   Sweet              8          Trudeau            8
Faceoffs Won            13    Faceoffs Won            15
   Co Bomberry  ( 8- 7)          Fannell      (15-13)
   Soudan       ( 3- 3)
   Thorpe       ( 2- 5)

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH ALBANY ATTACK ***