The Rochester Knighthawks avenged one of their losses in Buffalo by winning in overtime, 13-12, in front of 9,815 at the Rochester War Memorial at the Blue Cross Arena.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Bandits, which included a win over Rochester three weeks ago. Buffalo also defeated the Knighthawks in early January.

Rochester opened the scoring with a power play goal from a unlikely scorce, Casey Zaph, then Steve Penny (another defenceman) made it 2-0 less than four minutes in.

John Tavares scored at 5:12 to get Buffalo on the board, and Jason Clark tied the game a minute and forty seconds later, with each team down a man.

The Knighthawks took the lead again on a power play goal by Shawn Williams, but Buffalo scored the final four goals of the period, three from Tavares while a man up and one from Mark Steenhuis, even strength, to give the Bandits a 6-3 lead after one quarter.

After almost eight minutes of defensive lacrosse to begin the second quarter, Mat Giles pulled the Knighthawks within two on a power play goal, but former K'Hawk Jason Crosbie responded a minute and a quarter later.

Derek Malawsky soon cut the lead back to two, at 7-5, but once again, Buffalo scored on the power play (Jonas Derks this time) for a 8-5 lead. Rochester took advantage when Buffalo went two men down later in the period, closing to within one, at 8-7, on goals by Scott Evans and Williams.

Rochester kept the pressure into the third when Giles scored 26 seconds in, tying the game at eight. Steenhuis and Derks kept the Knighthawks at bay, though, scoring 33 seconds apart in the second minute to establish a 10-8 lead.

Evans scored to get Rochester within one at 2:28, then more than ten minutes went by without a goal, with some great saves by Bandits goaltender Derek General and Knighthawks netminder Pat O'Toole along the way.

Steenhuis' third goal of the night ended the third-quarter scoring at 13:06, and gave Buffalo an 11-9 lead after three quarters.

Five and a half minutes went by in the fourth quarter before anyone scored, until Tavares' fifth of the night gave Buffalo a three goal lead.

With less than half the period left, Rochester started its comeback, with the first goal coming from Chris Schiller on a nice pass from Pat O'Toole, but the score stayed at 12-10 until less than ninety seconds remained in the game.

Instead of holding on to the ball and killing time, as the usual lacrosse strategy dictates in this situation, Shannon took a shot on goal, hitting the crossbar. Seconds later, Evans found Ryan O'Connor in the slot and the game was tied at twelve with just 35 seconds left in regulation.

With just under one minute remaining in the first sudden death overtime period, and after plenty of back-and-forth action, Evans found Williams about thirty feet from the net. Williams took the shot with three players screening General. The ball snuck by and the Knighthawks had the 13-12 victory.

Evans was named as the game's MVP, finishing with three goals and four assists. Williams added three goals and five assists for the Knighthawks.

Tavares led Buffalo with five goals and an assist, with Steenhuis adding three goals and two assists.

Buffalo's next game is at home Friday night, against the Toronto Rock. Rochester now goes on the road for a pair next weekend, at Anaheim (Friday) and Arizona (Saturday).

BOX SUMMARY
                                   1  2  3  4 OT     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (7-3)              6  2  3  1  0  --  12
Rochester Knighthawks (5-3)        3  4  2  3  1  --  13

BUFFALO BANDITS               ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Tavares        5 - 1     6    S Williams     3 - 5     8
Derks          2 - 4     6    Sc Evans       3 - 4     7
Steenhuis      3 - 2     5    D Malawsky     1 - 4     5
J Clark        1 - 3     4    Schiller       1 - 2     3
Crosbie        1 - 1     2    Giles          2 - 0     2
Accursi        0 - 1     1    O'Connor       1 - 1     2
McCready       0 - 1     1    Penny          1 - 0     1
                              Zaph           1 - 0     1
                              Hoar           0 - 1     1
                              O'Toole        0 - 1     1
                              K Squire       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           50    Shots on goal           51
Saves made by (GA)      38    Saves made by (GA)      38
   General (13)      38          O'Toole (12)      36
                                 Campbell (0)       2
Penalties               12    Penalties               13
Penalty Minutes         27    Penalty Minutes         26
Power Play Chances       9    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         6    Power Play Goals         5
   Tavares            4          S Williams         2
   Crosbie            1          Sc Evans           1
   Derks              1          Giles              1
                                 Zaph               1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             70    Loose Balls             56
   McCready          11          Zaph              12
   Steenhuis          9          Schiller           9
   Couling            5          D Malawsky         8
Faceoffs Won            17    Faceoffs Won            11
   R Kilgour    (11-17)          Hoar         (11- 7)
                                 Thorpe       ( 6- 4)

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