The votes have been tallied, and the winner of the season-opening Knighthawks Play of the Week has been decided. Cory Vitarelli’s finish of behind-the-back passes from Cody Jamieson and Johnny Powless was crowned the Play of the Week by your votes. The goal, seen below, edged the second-place highlight by a mere three votes.

“It’s nice that my play got voted, but realistically it’s me finishing off a nice play from Cody (Jamieson), who went to Johnny (Powless), and Johnny made a good pass to me,” said Vitarelli. “It was a great play by both of those guys.

“I was on the crease just watching ‘Jammer’ on top. He was getting double-teamed and almost faked a shot and threw it behind-the-back to Johnny. When Johnny got the ball, he could see the one guy sliding to him. It was in my stick before I even knew what was happening.”

Powless’ behind-the-back goal, which tied the game at 12 late in the fourth quarter against the Washington Stealth on January 5^th, finished in a close second place.

The winning play from Vitarelli is the first candidate for the Knighthawks’ 2013 Play of the Year, which will be decided in a bracket of each weekly winner at the conclusion of the season. Check back next week to vote for the next installment of the Play of the Week.

The Knighthawks will play their home opener on Saturday, January 19 against the rival Buffalo Bandits at 7:30 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena. The Knighthawks will raise their championship banner before the game. Fans can catch the game on Sportsradio 950 ESPN and online at www.sportsradio950espn.com. The game will also be televised live on the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.

“I’m obviously excited anytime for a home opener,” said Vitarelli.” I think everyone’s up and ready to go. We know we got our work cut out for us. Buffalo’s a good team. We lost our season opener, so we want to make things right, especially in front of our home fans.”