The 2018-19 NLL season, salvaged when the league and players reached a collective bargaining agreement, starts Dec. 15 with a revamped schedule. Check back to uslaxmagazine.com as we roll out our season preview — including Jack Goods’ projections, team-by-team capsules and additional features.
KeyBank Center was a fitting place for Joe Resetarits to make National Lacrosse League history.
The downtown Buffalo arena is about 13 miles away from his childhood home in Hamburg. He spent plenty of time there as a kid, growing up with Bandits season tickets.
But, perhaps more personally, it also was one of two home arenas he played in before finally finding a landing spot in Rochester.
“There’s a lot of emotions going, playing in Buffalo,” Resetarits said. “If you can’t get up for playing in that arena, you shouldn’t be playing. It’s a fun arena to play in. It’s loud. The fans are crazy. That’s the game I always mark down, going to Buffalo.”
Resetarits had a breakout year in 2018, his sixth in the NLL. He finished with 37 goals and 63 assists for 100 points, good for fourth in the league in scoring. All three totals were a mile away from his previous career highs of 27 goals, 39 assists and 66 points, all set the year prior.
“I owe a lot to [Knighthawks assistant] Mike Accursi,” Resetarits said. “He’s a guy who worked for me a lot. He always put me in the spots where not just myself, but everyone could succeed.”
Resetarits’ performance in KeyBank Center in Rochester’s regular season finale is the most memorable. Resetarits scored six points against a desperate Bandits team clawing for a playoff spot. He eclipsed Tom Schreiber’s single-season scoring record for an American player.
“That record speaks for itself,” Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen said after the game.
It’s safe to call Resetarits a late bloomer. The 2012 Albany graduate started his career with the Calgary Roughnecks, playing one season before being shipped to his hometown Bandits. He spent two years in Buffalo, following up a strong 42-point season in 2014 with a disappointing 21-point showing the next year. The Bandits traded Resetarits to Rochester prior to the 2016 season for Jamie Batson and a pair of second-round picks.
“That first year, that was a big learning year,” Resetarits said. “Going to Buffalo, obviously that didn’t work out the way I planned. But it all worked out in the long run. Rochester brought me in with open arms, right away gave me the confidence.”
Resetarits’ numbers improved every year in Rochester, and by the end of 2018, he was the ringleader of a frenetic K-Hawks offense injected with youth with the additions of Austin Shanks and Eric Fannell and the development of Kyle Jackson and Josh Currier.
But to get to that point, Rochester needed to part with a mainstay. The season didn’t start well for the Knighthawks, who were looking to return to the glory days of the start of the decade. Rochester, which won three straight NLL championships from 2012-2014, hadn’t made the playoffs since 2015. A 2-6 start to 2018 did not bode well.
When Dan Dawson had to miss a game against the Georgia Swarm due to a wedding, Rochester tinkered with its lineup and won 17-10. Resetarits doled out seven assists.
Hasen stuck with that lineup, and that unit responded with two more wins. Suddenly, Dawson, a future Hall of Famer, became expendable. The Knighthawks designated him a healthy scratch as they ran with their youthful offensive lineup. Then in late February, they traded Dawson to the Saskatchewan Rush, signaling an official handing of the baton.
“It was tough,” Resetarits said. “He’s such a loved guy everywhere he goes. You can talk to everyone in the world, and they can’t say a bad thing about Dan. We were rolling. It’s tough to switch something that’s working.”
The Knighthawks went 8-2 to end the season, and then marched to the NLL finals before falling to Dawson and the Rush in two games.
“We easily could have packed it in and looked forward to next year,” Resetarits said. “But we got that one win to get us back, and that’s all we needed.”
Of course, even with the heroic run, the Knighthawks season didn’t end the way they hoped. But there’s certainly reason for optimism, especially considering what Shanks and faceoff extraordinaire Jake Withers were able to do as rookies. Unlike last year, this young squad has playoff experience from which to draw.
The Knighthawks, and Resetarits for that matter, won’t be sneaking up on anyone anymore.
“We know we’ve set a high standard now,” Resetarits said. “We’ve got to bring it every night.”