Shawn Palmer, Correspondent Toronto Rock
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough
The Toronto Rock hosted the Saskatchewan Rush at the Scotiabank Arena on Friday February 1 in front of 8,071 fans who were hoping to see the home team continue their winning ways. The Rock did just that defeating the Rush by the score of 16-13.
After last week’s come from behind win against Philadelphia, the Rock came out of the gates firing and got on the board first 35 seconds into the frame as Kieran McArdle (2G, 2A) fired a nice cross crease pass to Dan Lintner (2G, 2A) who beat Evan Kirk (36 saves) to the open side. Just over two minutes later Rob Hellyer (2G, 5A) beat Kirk with a great low outside shot that went through his legs to extend the lead to 2 – 0. The Rush didn’t wait long to answer back as they scored three goals in less than a minute, Mark Matthews (2G, 4A) made a cross crease no look pass to Ben McIntosh (3G, 2A) for an easy goal behind Nick Rose (1A, 33 saves) who was in the Rock net. Matthews came right back down the floor after the faceoff and beat Rose with a bounce shot from the outside. The run continued as McIntosh also beat Rose with an outside bounce shot to the short side to give the Rush their first lead of the game at 3 – 2 just over five minutes into the first quarter. The Rock went on a run of their own as they scored three goals in two minutes, the first one came on the power play as they moved the ball around the top and Johnny Powless (1G, 3A) scored up high on Kirk to tie the score at three. Less than a minute later a long shot from the outside by Adam Jones (4G, 4A) caught the top corner on the stick side to give the lead back to the Rock. Jones finished off the run with another outside shot over a defender that beat Kirk through the legs to extend the lead to 5 – 3 nine minutes into the frame. After a flurry of goals the teams settled down on defense for a couple of minutes until Nick Finlay (1G) scored his first goal of the season for the Rush as he cut around a pick and beat Rose stick side, cutting the lead to one at 5 – 4. With less than a minute left in the quarter McArdle scored his first of the game as he spun and shot around his defender to beat Kirk low stick side low. The Rush completed the quarter’s scoring with Matthews shooting from near the restraining line and beating Rose low to the stick side. The quarter ended with the Rock leading the Rush 6 – 5.
The second quarter started off with a quick goal right from the faceoff as Jay Thorimbert (1A) found Brandon Slade (1G) cutting to the net and put it through Kirk’s legs to increase the lead to 7 -5 for the Rock eight seconds into the quarter. Two minutes later Jones scored his second of the game on a feed from Brad Kri (2A) making it 8 – 5. Curtis Knight (1G, 2A) cut the lead to two again as he faked a pass and was able to get the defender to move and fired a shot beating Rose stick side. The Rock came right back as Rose fed Kri with a break out pass and as he cut across in front of the Rush net he shoveled the ball back to a trailing Creighton Reid (1G) who deposited the ball behind Kirk to make it 9 – 6 for the Rock. The scoring run continued for the Rock as Lintner picked up a rebound from a Hellyer shot and put a great crease dive shot over Kirk’s shoulder to increase the Rock lead to four. The Rush finally halted the run with a goal with two and a half minutes left in the half as Matthew Dinsdale (1G) faked around his defender to drive low and dove across the crease to beat Rose far side making the score 10 – 7 for the Rock. The quarter ended with Dan Craig (1G) receiving a nice pass from Lintner as he cut across the crease and beat Kirk to the near side to increase the lead to 11 – 7. The shots at the end of the half were Toronto 33 – Saskatchewan 22.
For the third quarter in a row the Toronto Rock scored early as Challen Rogers (1G, 9LB) picked up a loose ball on transition, went down the floor and shot low beating Kirk to the bottom corner of the net making it 12 – 7 for the Rock. Now it was time for the Rush to go on their own run of goals which started with Robert Church (1G, 3A) cutting through the middle well defended but he was still able to spin and shoot low to beat Rose; a minute later Jeff Shattler (1G, 2A) received a nice pass from Matthews as he cut through the middle of the floor and beat Rose low to cut the lead to 12 – 9. The last goal of the run happened as McIntosh went around the middle of the floor, took a shot and beat Rose up high making it 12 – 10 for the Rock. Less than 10 minutes into the third, McArdle took a shot from the outside that beat Kirk to the far side and extended the lead to three. The quarter ended with Jones scoring his hat trick goal on the power play with an outside shot that beat Kirk through the legs making it 14 -10 for the Rock after three quarters.
The fourth quarter had the play going back and forth with no goals in the first four minutes until Hellyer scored on a delayed penalty as he cut to the net and was grabbed around the neck by Jeremy Thompson (1G) but was still able to beat Kirk up high from right in front of the crease bringing the score 15 -10 Rock. Thompson actually was assessed two penalties on the play and the Rock started on their power play. Fifteen seconds into the man advantage Kyle Rubisch (1G) scored a short-handed goal as he cut around a pick and beat Rose with a bounce shot through the legs cutting the lead to four. Ryan Keenan (1G, 3A) scored his first of the game as he cut through the middle and beat Rose stick side bringing the Rush to within three, 15 – 12. With less than four minutes left in the game Tom Schreiber (1G, 4A) was cutting behind the net and turned around to come back when he was hit with a high elbow from Mike Messenger (8 LB) which resulted in a five minute major penalty giving the Rock a power play which would last the remainder of the game. Twenty Six seconds into the major penalty Schreiber scored his first goal of the game as he took an over hand shot beating Kirk between the legs with a bounce shot to increase the lead to four once more. The Rush ended the scoring with a short-handed goal from J. Thompson as he got the breakaway and beat Rose to the far side. The final shots were Toronto 52, Saskatchewan 46. Final Score: Toronto 16—Saskatchewan 13.
The Rock now sit on top of the Eastern Division with a record of 6 – 1; and the Rush find themselves in second place in the Western division at 3 – 3.
The Three Stars of the game were:
- Adam Jones – 4G, 4A
- Rob Hellyer – 2G, 5A
- Mark Matthews – 2G, 4A
UP NEXT:
Toronto (6-1) has a bye next week and their next game is a battle of first place teams as they host the San Diego Seals (4-2) on February 15, game time 7:30 p.m. EST.
Saskatchewan (3-3) will host the Calgary Roughnecks (3-4) on February 9, game time 8:30 p.m. EST.
Shawn Palmer, Correspondent Toronto Rock
Lacrosse is Awesome©