Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough
The Toronto Rock (1-0) hosted the Philadelphia Wings (1-1) on Saturday night for their season opener in front of 7,217 fans. Toronto played without last year’s leading scorer Tom Schreiber, but they added another proven scorer in the off season with Mark Matthews who for the first time in his NLL career was playing for a team other than the Saskatchewan Rush. The Rock started off slow but once they started going Philadelphia couldn’t slow them down. Matthews led the scoring with 4 goals on the way to an 11 – 7 win.
Philadelphia opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first quarter when Blaze Riorden (1G) scored on a twister shot to the short side beating Nick Rose (38 saves) to make it 1 – 0. After a missed shot by Mitch Jones (1G, 3A) hit the back boards, Joe Resetarits (2G, 1A) picked it up and his quick stick beat Rose to the open side just over a minute later to make it 2 – 0 for the Wings. Five minutes later the Rock found the back of the net for the first time while in transition as Rose passed to a streaking Jay Jubenville (1G) who beat Zack Higgins (40 saves) to the stick side low to cut the Wings lead to 2 – 1. Less than 10 seconds later off the faceoff, Brad Kri (1G, 1A) received a pass from Mitch de Snoo (3A) and his shot also beat Higgins low to the stick side to tie the game at two at the end of the first quarter. The shots at the end of one quarter were Toronto 15—Philadelphia 9.
The second quarter was a scoring barrage. Just over two minutes in, Sam LeClair (1G, 1A) picked up a loose ball in front of the net, threw three fakes on the crease and went over the shoulder to regain the lead for the Wings 3 – 2. It took a little over a minute when Mark Matthews (4G, 1A) cut across the top and his sidearm shot went low stick side for his first goal as a Rock player to tie it at three. Forty seconds later Matthews would score his second in a row as his hard shot beat Higgins under the arm and it fell into the back of the net giving the Rock their first lead of the night at 4 – 3. It was just over five minutes into the quarter, Challen Rogers (1A) passed to Dan Craig (2G) behind the net and his shot hit Higgins in the back and went in to increase the lead to 5 – 3 for the Rock. About halfway through the second quarter off a missed Rock shot that went down the floor, Mitchell Armstrong (1G) would pick it up, went in all alone on Rose and beat him glove side to make it 5 – 4 for the Rock. Toronto would get that one back while short-handed. Matthews made a one-handed grab on a pass from Dan Lintner (2A) and his shot went to the top corner and the lead was back to two, 6 – 4 Toronto. The Wings would have some nice ball movement while on the power play, and Resetarits passed to Jones and his quick stick beat Rose to the open side, and it was 6 – 5 for Toronto. In the last two minutes, the Rock would close it out. The first while in transition Justin Martin (1G) got a flip pass from de Snoo and his bounce shot went through the legs for his first NLL goal restoring the two-goal lead at 7 – 5. It took only 45 seconds and Craig came along the top and his high shot went under the arm to give the Rock had their first three goal lead at 8 – 5 at the end of the first half. The shots were Toronto 33—Philadelphia 21.
The second half was all defense with Toronto opening the scoring early in the third. Josh Dawick (3A) passed to Tyler Hendricks (1G), he reached across and beat Higgins to the far side for his first NLL goal to make it 9 – 5 Rock. Toronto’s run would continue on the power play with a low to low shot from Matthews that went low glove side for his fourth tally of the game to make it 10 – 5 Rock. The Wings were able to get one back before the quarter ended. While on their third power play opportunity, Resetarits took a high to low shot from the top and went through the legs cutting the Rock lead to 10 – 6. Shots at the end of the third quarter were Toronto 44—Philadelphia 31.
The Rock were happy to use up most of the shot clock in the fourth prior to taking a shot to reduce the chances of a Philadelphia comeback. Almost halfway through the final quarter while in transition Phil Mazzuca (1G) went in on his own and his low shot to the stick side beat Higgins increasing the Rock lead to five 11 – 6. With less than two minutes left in the game while shorthanded Taggart Clark (1G) would score with a high to low shot that beat Rose between the legs for his first NLL goal but that was all that the Wings could do as the Rock win 11 – 7. The final shots on goal were Toronto 57—Philadelphia 43.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Mark Matthews, Toronto Rock – 4G, 1A
Joe Resetarits, Philadelphia Wings – 2G, 1A
Mitch De Snoo, Toronto Rock – 3A
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (1-0) have a bye week and will return to action on Friday December 22, 2023 when they travel to Texas to take on Panther City (1-0) at Dickies Arena. Game time 8:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada will catch the action on TSN+.
The Philadelphia Wings (1-1) will have their home opener at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday December 16, 2023 and will host the Albany FireWolves (2-0). Game time 1:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada will catch the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©