Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: V. Strobel
The Toronto Rock (11-4) visited the Albany FireWolves (2-11) on Saturday night March 25, 2023 trying to punch their playoff ticket with a victory, while Albany was hoping to win their first game after losing the last eight in a row. Albany wanted to play the spoiler and pushed the Rock right to the end climbing to within one goal in the last minute of the game but fell short. In a game where both teams went through long stretches of goal droughts the Rock were able to find enough goals to propel them to an 11-9 victory.
The first goal of the game was put in by the Rock’s Josh Dawick (2G) who got a pass near the boards from Brandon Slade and his bounce shot beat Doug Jamieson (47 saves) to the short sidefor the early 1 – 0 lead. The FireWolves would answer back with John Piatelli (3g, 1A) firing a high to low bounce shot that beat Nick Rose (33 saves) through the legs to make it 1 – 1 five minutes into the first quarter. Less than 30 seconds later Ethan Walker (3G, 1A) would shoot from the right side and he’d go through the legs again and give the FireWolves a 2 – 1 lead. But Toronto would come right back. Tom Schreiber (1G, 3A) faked a shot and fired around his defender and went low to the stick side to tie the game at two. It would take exactly two minutes for Albany to regain the lead. Tanner Thompson (2G, 1A) would fire a sidearm shot from the top and it went just under the hand of Rose, and they were up 3 – 2. Oddly enough Toronto while on the power play would see Dan Craig (3G, 2A) fire a high to low over hand shot that went just below the glove hand exactly two minutes later to tie it at three. At the end of the first quarter shots favored Toronto 16 and Albany 10.
The Rock would open the scoring in the second; would be the only ones to put up markers on the board; all of which came in the first four minutes. Craig came across the top and shot around his defender and the shot beat Jamieson far side giving the Rock a 4 – 3 lead at the 2:14 mark. The next came while in transition, when Zach Manns(1G, 2A) got the pass from Schreiber and his high to high shot went over the shoulder to increase the Rock lead 5 – 3. The final tally came 51 seconds later when Manns found Corey Small (1G, 2A) cutting though the middle and he went five-hole to make it 6 – 3 for the Rock. Albany went over 22 minutes without scoring as Rose was able to keep them off of the board. Toronto also went 11 minutes without a goal in the second as it was a fast moving quarter with very few stops in play. The shots at the end of the first half were Toronto 29 and Albany 20.
After almost 10 minutes into the third quarter without any goals, Albany’s Walker would finally break the drought when he went around his defender and his bounce shot went through the legs cutting the Rock lead to 6 – 4. This was the first goal for Albany in over 29 minutes. The Rock were also pushing double digits without scoring and had gone 15 minutes as Jamieson had stopped all 10 shots so far in the third quarter. While in transition Brandon Slade (1G, 1A) would break the Rock drought and his over hand high to low shot beat Jamieson through the legs to finally get the Rock on the board in the second half with 2:10 on the clock and they regained the three goal lead 7 – 4. Toronto would score again one minute later with Challen Rogers (1G) going around his own player and shooting over top of the screen five hole to double the lead to 8 – 4. At the end of the third quarter the shots were Toronto 44 and Albany 31.
Albany came out quickly in the fourth quarter with a high to low shot from Thompson from the outside for another goal through the legs in the first 21 seconds to make it 8 – 5 for Toronto. The Rock would score again with a sidearm shot from Dawick that went through the legs and it was 9 – 5. The FireWolves would strike back with a pass from Walker to Piatelli right in front of the net and his quick stick shot went stick side and it was 9 – 6 for the Rock. Albany would score again when Walker beat his defender and shot a twister shot to the glove side and they had closed the gap to two and it was 9 – 7 with just over six minutes left in the fourth. But Craig would answer back for Toronto when he beat his defender, dove across the crease beating Jamieson over the far shoulder for his hat trick goal to make it 10 – 7 for the Rock. Albany would come right back when newly acquired Marshall Powless (1G, 3A) took a low to low shot to the short side and once again the lead was down to a two goal lead for Toronto 10 – 8. With 41 seconds on the clock and the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, Piatelli would take a high to low over hand shot that went through the legs to make it 10 – 9. Albany stuck with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker, but Toronto’s TD Ierlan (1A) would win the faceoff cleanly, he passed to Latrell Harris (1G, 2A) who put it into the empty net with 30 seconds left. The FireWolves couldn’t muster another goal and Toronto would hold on for the 11 – 9 victory and they’d secure the win to clinch their playoff berth.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Dan Craig – Toronto Rock: 3G, 2A
John Piatelli – Albany FireWolves: 3G, 1A
Doug Jamieson – Albany FireWolves: 47 saves
STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 58; Saves 33; Sv% .786%; FO 14-24; PP 1-2
Albany FireWolves—SOG 42; Saves 47; Sv% .810%; FO 10-24; PP 0-1
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (11-4) will host the Buffalo Bandits (10-3) at First Ontario Centre on Saturday April 1, 2023, game time 7:00 p.m. EST for a battle of the two best teams in the East. This is the Game of the Week for fans in the USA and they can see the game for free on ESPNU. This is also the Game of the Week for fans in Canada can see the action for free on TSN or the TSN app.
The Albany FireWolves (2-11) will head to Ft. Worth, TX to face the Panther City Lacrosse Club (8-6) at Dickies Arena on Saturday April 1, 2023, game time 8:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©