Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Micheline V.
The Toronto Rock (11-5) made the trip to Rochester for a game against the Knighthawks (3-12) on a night when Dan Dawson would enter the record books for the second game in a row. The last game he played (he missed both games last weekend) Dan passed John Tavares for the most games played in the NLL. Tonight he needed only one assist to surpass Tavares for the most assists ever in the NLL. It happened in the last minute of the first quarter when he notched his 935th career assist. The Rock started off slow but picked it up in the second half to overtake the Knighthawks for the victory. Final Score: Rock 11—Knighthawks 9
Rochester came out running at the start of the game as Ryan Smith (3G, 1A) ran over Jamison Dilks on his way to the net and his over hand shot beat Nick Rose (41 saves, 1A) over the shoulder to give the Knighthawks a 1 – 0 lead less than 30 seconds into the game. Toronto responded 40 seconds later when Dan Dawson (1G, 1A) from behind the net jumped up and dunked the ball over Joel Watson’s (42 saves) shoulder to tie it up at one. Rochester would regain the lead when Charlie Bertrand (2A) made a beautiful BTB pass to Smith to the short side. They would double their lead five minutes later when Dan Coates (1G, 1A) went in all alone on transition and picked the top corner to make it 3 – 1. After 11 minutes of no goals for Toronto, Tom Schreiber (2G, 2A) broke the drought and took a high to low shot and beat Watson between the legs to get the Rock within one. On the ensuing face-off 10 seconds later Ryland Reese (2G) headed straight to the cage and with a nice twister shot went five-hole restoring the two-goal lead for the Knighthawks. In the last minute of the first quarter Challen Rogers (2G, 1A) from in front got the dish from Schreiber and his shot beat Watson to the short side. Dawson with the second assist set the NLL record for career assists at 935. The shots on goal were Rochester 18—Toronto 9. Score at the end of one: Knighthawks 4—Rock 3.
Rochester would once again get on the board first in the second. Jeff Wittig (1G, 1A) got the pass in front, turned and took a bounce shot through the legs to make it 5 – 3. They’d notch another 45 seconds later off Curtis Knight (1G) who got the pick from Smith, he came around the top and his high to low shot beat Rose through the legs making it 6 – 3. It took almost three minutes before the Rock responded. Schreiber picked up the loosie, passed it to Dan Craig (2G) who beat Watson over the shoulder to make it 6 – 4 for Rochester. While shorthanded, Sheldon Burns (1G, 1A) on transition beat Watson with a side arm shot to the far side closing the gap to one 6 – 5. On the same power play, Rochester’s Holden Cattoni (1G, 1A) from the top went stick side with a high to low shot increasing the Knighthawks lead back to two at the half. The shots in the first half still favored the home team with Rochester 29—Toronto 22. Score at the end of two: Knighthawks 7—Rock 5.
For the third time in the game Rochester opened the scoring in the quarter when on transition Reese went all of the way on his own and his high to low shot beat Rose to the short side giving the Knighthawks an 8 – 5 lead. Less than six minutes into the third, Latrell Harris (2G, 3A) passed to Schreiber who went in all alone on Watson and beat him over the shoulder to make it 8 – 6. This started a three-goal run for the Rock. Two minutes later Harris pushed his offensive player down, picked up the loose ball, went in on a breakaway and beat Watson through the legs to get the Rock back within one at 8 – 7. During the next sequence Rose made a save that moved him into 8th overall in the NLL, over taking his mentor Brandon Miller. The Rock would tie the game up when Mitch de Snoo (1G, 2A) in transition picked up his own rebound off Watson, dove over the crease and put the ball in the open side to end the quarter with the teams all tied up. The shots after three quarters were also tied at 38. Score at the end of three: Rock 8—Knighthawks 8.
Rochester continued their trend of scoring the first goal of each quarter when in transition John Wagner (2A) on a two-on-one passed to Smith who went short side for his hat-trick goal restoring the Rochester lead 9 – 8. Six minutes later while in transition Rose passed to Harris who went in on a breakaway and beat Watson over the shoulder for his second of the game and tying it up at nines. The Rock took their first lead of the game three minutes later when Rogers took a sidearm shot through the legs, and it trickled over the line to make it 10 – 9 with less than three minutes left in the game. Rochester put the pressure on the Rock in the last couple of minutes and pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, but Rose made the save, Toronto picked up the rebound, went down the floor, Craig received a pass from Harris, and he deposited the ball into the empty net. Rochester couldn’t get any closer and Toronto went on to win their 11th game of the season and moved two wins ahead of Halifax for second place in the Eastern conference. The shots at the end of the game were Toronto 53 and Rochester 50. Final Score: Rock 11—Knighthawks 9.
The Three stars of the game were:
Latrell Harris—Toronto Rock: 2 goals, 3 assists
Ryan Smith—Rochester Knighthawks: 3 goals, 1 assist
Nick Rose—Toronto Rock: 41 saves, 1 assist
STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 53; Face-offs 16-24; Saves 41; Assists 12; LB 63; PP 0-1
Rochester Knighthawks—SOG 50; Face-offs 8-24; Saves 42; Assists 10; LB 83; PP 1-3
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (11-5) will play host to the Halifax Thunderbirds (9-6) on Saturday April 16th, at First Ontario Centre, game time 7:00 p.m. EST in a battle for second place in the East. Fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. This is the “Game of the Week” for fans in Canada, and they can catch the action for free on TSN.ca.
The Rochester Knighthawks (3-12) will head to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to face the New York Riptide (5-10) on Saturday April 16th, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©