Bantam Jr. Rock Win Bronze
Oakville, ON – The Midget Jr. Rock are back-to-back Jr. NLL Cup Champions after defeating the Jr. Roughnecks by a score of 12-6 to claim the crown on Sunday afternoon at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, ON. It’s also the third title in four years for the Jr. Rock Midget squad.
The Jr. Rock Midget squad, coached by Rock Captain Challen Rogers, took care of the Jr. Swarm in their semi-final, putting together a convincing 10-2 win to advance to the final against the Jr. Roughnecks. The two teams had met during the round robin portion of the tournament with the Jr. Rock edging their opponents from Calgary, 5-4 in OT.
In the final, the Jr. Roughnecks jumped out to a 3-2 lead just before the midway point of the first half, but that was last time the Jr. Rock trailed in the game. The defending champs reeled off four straight goals to build a 6-3 lead at the half and never looked back, en route to their second straight title.
Bowie Horseman was named the Jr. NLL Midget division MVP, winning the Tucker Williams Award. Horseman led the Jr. Rock with 8 goals in the tournament, which included the OT winner against the Jr. Roughnecks in the earlier matchup.
The day got started with the Jr. Rock Bantams, coached by Rock goaltender Nick Rose, facing the Jr. Seals in the semi-finals. Up 3-1, the Jr. Rock had a pair of goals called back and the Jr. Seals took advantage of a second lease on life, scoring three straight goals to take a 4-3. The Jr. Rock were able to tie the game to force overtime, but just 16 seconds into OT, the Jr. Seals scored the winner and were off to the finals with a 5-4 win, ending the Bantam Jr. Rock’s run of three consecutive Jr. NLL Cups.
The Bantam Jr. Rock then knocked off the Jr. Knighthawks 9-5 to capture the Bronze.
Players on the Toronto Rock teams are selected from players that competed in the Rock Elite League in 2018-19. The new season for the Rock Elite League is just around the corner and registration is now open at torontorockac.com.
The Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush and Toronto Rock competed with over 500 players participating across Peewee, Bantam & Midget age levels. The teams followed modified NLL playing rules in a safe and competitive environment. NLL players, coaches and staff were on-hand all weekend, with some serving as Jr. NLL coaches.
For full tournament stats and standings, please click here.
Peewee
2013 – Jr. Mammoth
2014 – Jr. Rock
2015 – Jr. Knighthawks
2016 – Jr. Rock
2017 – Jr. Rock
2018 – Jr. Rock
2019 – Jr. Black Wolves
Bantam
2013 – Jr. Rock
2014 – Jr. Knighthawks
2015 – Jr. Knighthawks
2016 – Jr. Rock
2017 – Jr. Rock
2018 – Jr. Rock
2019 – Jr. Mammoth
Midget
2014 – Jr. Knighthawks
2015 – Jr. Knighthawks
2016 – Jr. Rock
2017 – Jr. Roughnecks
2018 – Jr. Rock
2019 – Jr. Rock