The Syracuse Silver Knights (6-9) fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Norfolk SharX (3-11) 12-11 on Sunday.
In front of 2,421 fans at The War Memorial at The Oncenter, the SharX opened the scoring midway through the first quarter with a goal by Matt Clare. They scored three more times before Syracuse's Jeff Hughes put the Silver Knights on the board with 32 seconds remaining in the half, heading into halftime trailing 10-2.
The Silver Knights rode the momentum into the second half. Nelson Santana opened the third-quarter scoring frenzy on a cross from Jeff Hughes (42 points). J.D. Gruenwald added a three-pointer just over a minute afterward, and he was followed thirty seconds later by Ryan Hall to cut the SharX lead to one point. Hughes, who is tied for team's leading scorer with Slavisa Ubiparipovic, put points on the scoreboard a second time with six minutes remaining in the quarter, giving the Silver Knights an 11-10 lead.
Syracuse held the lead through most of the fourth quarter until Clare found the net to complete a hat trick with three minutes remaining. The Silver Knights substituted defender Nelson Santana in for goalkeeper Bryan O'Quinn to bolster the attack in the final minutes. Despite a flurry of chances in the closing seconds, the Silver Knights could not find the game-winning goal.
The Silver Knights will complete the three-game home stand this Saturday, January 21, at 7:00 PM when they take on local rival Rochester at the War Memorial at the Oncenter.
**Courtesy Syracuse Silver Knights**
