Back on Feb. 10, when the Rochester Knighthawks lost a sixth consecutive game 12-9 at home against Toronto, they were buried at 2-6 in the NLL East basement, so it was tempting to predict they would miss the playoffs.

No such prediction was heard, however, from anybody respecting the veterans who not so long ago won three straight championships and recognizing the promise of recent draftees injected into the lineup. This was a team that had great potential.

The Knighthawks played in Toronto last Friday and with a 14-11 win, they maintained a share of first place in the division at 9-7. It was their seventh win in their last eight games.

“We didn’t start the season the way we wanted to but that’s the good thing about our team, we have resiliency,” goaltender Matt Vinc said. “There wasn’t any doubt in our minds that we could come back. It was just about getting some momentum going.”

They certainly have momentum as they approach their last games this Saturday at home against New England and April 28 in Buffalo.

“We’ve bonded together,” defenseman Graeme Hossack said. “We had some rough games early on but we grind through it and this is where we’ve ended up.”

“Since that six-game losing streak, it’s been an uphill battle,” said defenseman Scott Campbell. “It’s nice that we’ve been able to chip away and get back into first place.”

.@TorontoRockLax were looking to complete a season series sweep vs @RocKnighthawks, but Rochester had other ideas. pic.twitter.com/evW0vXDJoZ

— NLL (@NLL) April 15, 2018

And, wow, how they pulled out another win Friday was impressive. They were down 8-3 in the second quarter, having allowed Tom Schreiber four goals, when they went on a five-goal run.

With Adam Jones penalized for getting his stick up on Jake Withers, Cory Vitarelli pounced on a turnover in Toronto’s end and shot through goalie Nick Rose’s legs for a power-play goal at 9:58.

Joe Resetarits spotted Quinn Powless dart free of his check in front of the net, laid a perfect pass right into the stick and watched as Powless scored at 12:14 while falling into the crease.

Resetarits again played set-up man when Josh Currier broke away from a Rock defenseman, pulled in a perfectly-placed pass and scored at 12:31.

“Once we get the ball swinging, that’s when we’re successful,” Resetarits said. “Quinn and Josh made great rolls to the net so it was easy to find them.”

Currier dove into the crease to swing the ball into the far side of the net 46 seconds into the third quarter and Resetarits fired in an underhand bouncer for a short-handed goal at 3:24.

All of a sudden, it was 8-8.

“We’ve had highs and lows and battled through it all to get to this point so it was nothing new for us,” Resetarits said of the rally. “Once we get our rhythm, we’re tough to stop.”

Currier was asked if he was worried when his team fell behind 8-3.

“No,” he replied. “I never get worried with this group. We battle back.”

With Hossack off for slashing, Jones scored a power-play goal at 4:06. Vinc stopped Schreiber on a penalty shot. Jones put in a rebound at 10:24 to put Toronto up 10-8.

Breakaway goals by Paul Dawson at 11:37 and Brad Gillies at 13:02 sent the teams to the fourth quarter tied 10-10.

Kyle Jackson dove into the Rock crease for a short-handed goal at 4:14 and Dan Taylor replied replied with his first goal in a Toronto uniform at 5:55.

Resetarits shovelled the ball between Rose’s legs at 7:41 as he was being checked to the floor and got in close again for another five-hole goal on a power play at 11:03 with Kieran McArdle off for an illegal cross-check.

The Rock could not equal the late Rochester push. Cody Jamieson added an empty-netter at 13:56.

Shutting down Schreiber, who had been out since Feb. 10 rehabbing from a knee injury, in the second half was a key to the Knighthawks’ win.

“We were kind of playing tentative on him early on knowing that he’s a great shooter and maybe overthinking it,” Campbell said. “We needed to close the gaps on him in the second half.”

Sitting in first with two games to go validates the players’ faith in the group. But now is not the time to get complacent.

“It feels good but it could easily change,” Resetarits said. “We’ve just got to win out. If we do our jobs and get first place, that would be great. We control our destiny now. We know what we have to do. We go out every night and put that effort on the floor, we know we’re going to come out on top.”

Resetarits Watch

With three goals and four assists, Joe Resetarits increased his points total to 92, moving him to within three of breaking Tom Schreiber’s record of 94 for most in a season by a U.S.-born player.

Rookie Record

Jake Withers won 22 of the 28 faceoffs he took, upping his season’s total of wins to a league-best 243, which eclipses the NLL rookie record of 239 by Stephen Peyser in 2009 for the New York Titans.

The Ohio State grad from Peterborough, Ontario, has diligently refined his technique.

“I went to college as kind of a two-way guy and there was a spot they were kind of weak at,” he explained rather matter-of-factly when asked how he began specializing in faceoffs. “I got thrown into taking them, worked on my craft, and now I’m here.”

“It’s awesome having the best draw guy in the league on your team,” said fellow Peterborough product and Virginia Wesleyan grad Josh Currier. “You know you’re getting the ball back every time you score.”

Billy Dee Hurting

Rochester defenseman Billy Dee Smith was used sparingly in the second half after straining a groin muscle.

“I only had one shift in the third quarter,” he said. “We were a man down the rest of the way and it was a tough game but the boys stayed with it, trusted the process, and came out on top. It was a phenomenal team win.”

The five-goal deficit didn’t mean a thing.

“Even though we were down by five, we were still outshooting them,” he said. “We knew it was a matter of time before the ball started dropping in our favor. It was just a matter of our defense tightening up when the offense started rolling.”

“It was a quick-paced game,” added Hossack. “With us being down [a man] on the back end in the second half, it certainly felt that way. We really had to grind it out. We all bought in and put everything out there on the floor. I don’t think anyone could go out and run any more. We gave it our all and came out with the W.”

Paul Dawson on being down a man on the back end: “It was definitely tiring out there but as a team we put the work on off the floor to prepare for things like that. We were definitely gassed but as a unit we still had some legs left in the second half.”

Down to Wire

Billy Dee Smith is in season 16 and says he’s “never seen the division like this.”

“We’ve been fighting for our lives since Game 4,” he said. “It’s absolutely insane. It’s good for the league though. Nobody’s a mathematical genius so nobody knows what’s going on. It’s win and you’re in, I guess. You don’t want to have to have help from other people.”

“The East is just crazy,” Dawson said. “This game was huge. The last two games, both against East opponents, were huge. Taking this game gives us a bit of breathing room but by no means are we safe. We’ve known that since we went 0-6 in the middle of the season we had to pull up our pants and get going.”

Added Hossack: “We know what we have to do to make the playoffs and that is continuing to work hard.”

7,000 Saves

Rochester goalie Matt Vinc made 41 saves to go over 7,000. He now has 7,034. Anthony Cosmo, with 7,222 before retiring last year, is the only goalie ahead of Vinc.

“We played well in the second and third quarters to get back into that game,” he said after the win in Toronto. “Coming off a bye week, we took a little longer to find our legs. Once we did that, we did a great job delivering on second chances. We competed well for loose balls not only in the defensive end by our offense guys did a great job getting second or third opportunities.”

Stopping Tom Schreiber’s penalty shot had him bouncing on his toes.

“For a goaltender, that’s not the situation you want to be in but I was fortunate enough to just stay big,” Vinc said. “He already had four goals in the game. You just want to kind of turn the tide. It was a big momentum boost for myself.”

Default Move

Paul Dawson on his breakaway goal: “I had a chance earlier in the game and went far side so I kind of just went right down the middle that time and faked high a couple of times. I got to a point where I had to do something so I made it look like I was going far side and then went short side. I’ve done it a couple of times on goalies. It’s kind of a default move.”

Coach of the Year

Rochester’s second-half surge puts Mike Hasen in the coach-of-the-year conversation. He’s won it once before. That was way back in 2011 before he guided the Knighthawks to three consecutive championships.

Nobody in the ‘Hawks’ camp was more pleased than Hasen with the win in Toronto.

“We knew coming in that (the Rock) would be strong,” he said. “We both had to win this one. It’s a long way from over. There’s nobody locked in and there’s nobody out of the playoffs yet. We’ll get back to work tomorrow and watch some film and make sure we’re good against New England.”

Hasen’s rookie year as a player was 1996 so he’s been a part of the NLL for well over 20 years. Has he ever seen the standings this tight?

“Never,” he said. “You always had that little bit of separation where a team has a two- or three-game lead on everybody and the middle teams battle it out. Nothing like this, ever.”