Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Jordan Leigh Photography
Prior to the game on March 12, the Toronto Rock (8-4) announced that Dan Dawson would not be playing on Saturday night which meant that he would need to wait at least one more game to take over top spot in games played in the NLL. He is also one assist shy of taking over the lead for career assists and could achieve that feat in the next game as well. With Dawson out Challen Rogers had to take his spot on the offense as well as playing some defense. The Vancouver Warriors (5-6) scored the first goal of the game but then the Toronto Rock’s smothering defense took over and allowed the offense to score 14 of the next 18 goals. The Rock would c0me away with a convincing victory prior to their bye week. Final Score: Toronto 14—Vancouver 5.
The scoring was started by Vancouver when Riley Loewen (1G) received a pass from Martin Dinsdale (2A) right in front of the crease and his shot beat Nick Rose (32 saves, 2A) over the shoulder for the early 1 – 0 lead. That lead held up for the next 10 minutes as the Rock were firing a lot of shots but most were either going wide or being blocked in front. In the last minute of the quarter, Toronto finally got on the board when Zach Manns (1G) picked up a loose ball and fired it towards the net and Steve Fryer (23 saves) who was straightening the net didn’t see the ball coming and it went right by him to tie it up at the end of the first quarter. The shots were Vancouver 11 and Toronto 10. Score at the end of one: Vancouver 1—Toronto 1.
Toronto took their first lead of the game just over a minute into the second quarter when Rob Hellyer (5G, 4A) came off of the bench and his over hand shot beat Fryer to the far side. A minute later Tom Schreiber (3G, 2A) was at the top and his low to high sidearm shot hit short side to extend Toronto’s lead to 3 – 1. The Rock kept the run going as Challen Rogers (1G, 1A) had a nice screen that freed up Hellyer and his side arm shot would also beat Fryer to the short side. At that point, Vancouver decided to pull Fryer and replace him with Alex Buque (17 saves). While on transition Mitch De Snoo (1G, 1A) picked up a loose ball and went in on a two on one and decided to keep the ball and his shot beat Buque over the shoulder to the far top corner to make it 5 – 1 in favor of Toronto. Vancouver would stop the Rock scoring when Kyle Killen (2G, 1A) came off of the bench and his overhand rip beat Rose to the outside post and in to cut the lead to 5 – 2. After three Buque saves Hellyer’s sidearm shot beat Buque off of the post and in for his hat trick goal to give the Rock a four goal lead at the end of the first half. The shots on goal in the first half were Toronto 24 and Vancouver 16. Score at the end of two: Toronto 6—Vancouver 2.
Toronto would come out in the second half just as strong as they ended the first dominate the third scoring all six goals and shutting out the Warriors in the process. In the first minute Hellyer took a sidearm shot around his defender and went far side to make it 7 – 2. Adam Jay (1G), while on transition avoided a big hit at centre and his bounce shot would beat Buque between the legs to increase the Rock lead 8 – 2. Toronto would go 0n the power play and Schreiber got a pass at the top, changed hands and with his wrong hand shot a low to low ball to the corner and the lead was seven, 9 – 2. As Toronto’s next possession was winding down, Dan Craig (1G, 4A) fired a low to high shot over the shoulder and into the top corner to increase the Rock lead to eight. Schreiber would continue the run with a low shot from the outside to beat Buque to the short side for his hat trick goal. Once again, in an effort to spark the offense Warriors Bench Boss Chris Gill would make another change removing Buque and Fryer was back in the net. The scoring ended in the quarter when Schreiber completed a shovel pass to a wide open Hellyer in front and his shovel shot beat Fryer between the legs to make it a 10 goal lead for Toronto. The shots after three quarters were Toronto 42 and Vancouver 24. Score at the end of three: Toronto 12—Vancouver 2.
Shortly after the start of the fourth, while on the power play, Vancouver’s Keegan Bal (1G, 1A) would take an overhand shot from the top to beat Rose over the stick to make it 12 – 3 for Toronto halting the 10 goal run. But it was short lived as Hellyer would pass to Rogers and he would beat Fryer to the short side and once again we were at a 10 goal differential. On the ensuing faceoff, TD Ierlan (1G) would win the draw and took it straight to the net and his bounce shot would beat Fryer between the legs for his first career NLL goal to extend the Toronto lead to 14 -3. Vancouver would notch the final two halting the Rock barrage. While on the power play Reid Bowering (1G) would receive a shovel pass in front from Dinsdale and his shot would beat Rose to the stick side to make it 14 – 4 with less than five minutes to play in the game. The final goal came on a power-play where Killen fired a shot that beat Rose to the short side closing out the scoring for the night. The shots on goal at the end of the game were Toronto 54 and Vancouver 37. Final Score: Toronto 14—Vancouver 5.
The Three stars of the game were:
Rob Hellyer—Toronto Rock: 5G, 4A
Tom Schreiber—Toronto Rock: 3G, 2A
Nick Rose—Toronto Rock: 32 saves, 2A
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (8-4) will play their next game at home on March 26th at 5:00 p.m. EST against the Georgia Swarm (6-6). Every game is still important at this point in the season and with the Rock sitting in 3rd and the Swarm sitting in 4th it’s an important game for both. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see tee action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Vancouver Warriors (5-6) will head to Colorado to face the Mammoth (6-4) on Friday March 18th, game time 9:30 p.m. EST. This game has major playoff implications for both teams and is a must win for each. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see tee action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©