Williams' seven leads K'Hawks to 21-16 win
Rochester surges in third quarter, finishes home-and-home sweep
Joe Fee (Outsider's Guide Game Correspondent)

Shawn Williams scored seven goals as the Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Montreal Express, 21-16, Sunday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 8,101 at Molson Centre.

Williams was chosen as the first star of the game for his performance, which dealt Montreal's playoff hopes yet another blow.

Terry Sanderson was reportedly fuming after the first leg of the home-and-home series in Rochester. I wonder how he feels now after losing one of his better goal-scoring threats (Joe Hiltz) for the season with a knee injury, trading away a guy (Brian Bendig) who scored ten points in helping the worst team in the league beat two of the best, and getting finished off by the Knighthawks for the sweep. I would say I feel sorry for the poor guy but pity might make him madder. He's a little intense, eh?

Tim Soudan opened the scoring at 3:05, from the point. Mat Giles and Curt Malawsky got tagged for roughing in the aftermath. John Grant began filming his own personal highlight reel during the four-on-four with a goal rivaled only by Paul Gait and Tracey Kelusky this year. Grant was coming down the right side in transition, closely checked, so he went one-handed with his right to protect his stick. As Grant approached the net, he dropped his stick down into shovel position and reached around his waist for a one-handed, underhanded, behind-the-back shot on the run. He was only halfway in from the wing when he picked the far side on the surprised Curtis Palidwor.

Are you kiddin' me?!?!

Regy Thorpe went off for holding at 4:58 and then just as the four-on-three was becoming a five-on-four, Rochester goaltender Pat O'Toole absolutely stole one from Ted Dowling by diving across an open goal and stopping the shot with his stick. Down the other end, Williams scored shorthanded at 5:49. Dean Harrison got the power play even a minute later with a bouncer from the wing off a beautiful backhand pass from the point by Kelusky. Aime Caines scored at 7:24 after pouncing on a loose ball in front of goal but Williams answered just 31 seconds later off a cross crease pass from Casey Zaph.

D'Arcy Sweet was credited with a goal at 8:24 when Bruce Codd scored on his own net while trying to flip a loose ball back to the keeper with a man draped over him. Codd atoned for his earlier mistake by floating one long side on O'Toole off an unsettled transition at 11:19. This was right before the end of a two-man advantage that started at 9:50. Andy Turner had earned two for unsportsmanlike conduct on the heels of Derek Malawsky's roughing minor at 9:28.

Williams scored another shorthanded goal at 11:41 and it was a beauty. He was going across the top of the crease from his right to his left when he went against the grain with a backhand bounce shot that picked the top corner. Codd answered with some tremendous playmaking. He sparked a two on one break and fed Eric Pacey for a goal at 12:28. Then he fought for a loose ball in his own end with two Knighthawks all over him and made a long diagonal pass to Brad MacArthur. MacArthur's touch pass across the front of the goal was converted by Shawn Parnell to finish off the tic-tac-toe play at 13:45.

O'Toole was making some super reaction saves and his next looked a lot like the earlier one on Dowling. He came diving across the goal to rob Kelusky in the last minute of the quarter! He should have been charged for what he was doing. Kelusky got some revenge with a feed that allowed Travis Kilgour to push one home long side at 14:55.

Derek Malawsky opened the second quarter with an underhand job from the slot. Hasen was credited with the goal at 0:51. (Eighteen and ten look similar on the back of a jersey, don't ya know?).

Grant continued his personal highlight reel with a great goal at 1:33. He kept creeping in on an open lane, threatening one of his big bombs with fake windups. No one wanted to get in front of it and his last dummy windup dropped Palidwor to his knees. He came straight out of the sidearm whip into an over the top backhand that he floated in the top of the net before the 'keeper could recover. It left me gasping for air!

Palidwor made some big saves to keep his team in it. Marshall Abrams was stoned on a clean breakaway. Williams got in all alone on a "Dash" right off the bench and was stopped cold. Then Curt Malawsky got free on a power play chance and was denied.

Williams converted on the next power play chance by quick sticking home a cross-crease pass from Curt Malawsky at 9:16.

The Knighthawk defense was pounding Kelusky but they couldn't stop him. At one point, two defenders gave him a rough ride and refused to let him get inside so he stepped back and scored on a bomb from the outside at 12:46. He then turned to some more playmaking by drawing a second defender and hitting Caines in stride with a pretty backhand feed for a goal in the final minute of the half.

John Grant continued the filming of his own personal highlight reel at 0:56. He plagiarized an earlier Williams goal by going across the top of the crease and firing a backhand against the grain that found the short side.

D'Arcy Berthiaume got the Express back to within one at 3:19 but they gave up a couple of power play chances and Williams converted them both. The first came at 4:32 and the second came right at the eight-minute mark. Codd got another loose ball and sprang Pacey for the score at 8:57. Bruce is sure looking like the next Jim Veltman, the way he gobbles up the loose balls and makes plays out of them. The kid is the real deal.

Dewey Jacobs scored at 11:17 off a Curt Malawsky pass and got decked from behind by Shawn Parnell after the play was over. Malawsky not only assisted on the goal, he also assisted on the foul by immediately coming to the defense of his teammate. Parnell tossed him all over the place but no real blows were struck so they each went for four minutes. The referees had the original call, but Malawsky evened it up by jumping in.

Grant continued the filming of his own personal highlight reel at 12:39. He was coming hard toward the goal on the right side and one of the Express defenders got up a head of steam and delivered a huge hit. The heavy impact straightened up Grant but the defender bounced off. That gave just a little space and Grant fired an absolute bullet in the long side while he was totally flatfooted. That one left me swearing in amazement.

Giles got a fluke goal 20 seconds later. A feed from Dowling hit him in front of the net and deflected in. D'Arcy Sweet answered off the next draw in just six seconds, and Williams tallied his seventh in the last minute of the quarter.

Dowling got one at 2:18 that dribbled past O'Toole. Soudan tried to get in on the highlight reel a half-minute later. He went diving across the top of the crease reaching for the far side but suddenly changed to a behind the back shot in mid flight for the score.

The game lost its intensity as the goals started to pile up. Kelusky got one at 3:34. Codd converted a long pass from Peter Lough at 5:36. Jeremy Hollenbeck got one at 6:11 and then Lough got one of his own at 6:55. Turner got his first of the year ten seconds later right off the faceoff. Jacobs got his second of the night at 8:06. Eight goals in eight minutes really took away from all the truly special ones because they didn't count any differently.

Rochester lead 20-15 midway through the fourth and the game was dead. Turner got another at 11:04 and Kelusky finished his hat trick in the last minute. This game cried out for the smaller nets.

Williams, first star of the game, had seven goals in all, including three on the power play and one shorthanded. John Grant was named the second star for his four highlight reel goals, and Tracey Kelusky was the third star for his hat trick and three assists. I agreed one hundred percent with those picks.

Game Report reprinted with permission from The Outsider's Guide to the NLL. (Original text is here.)