Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Christian Bender
The Toronto Rock (5-0) faced off against the Georgia Swarm (4-3) in Hamilton on Saturday night January 20, 2024, trying to keep their perfect record intact against a team that had only lost twice this season. Toronto was without their top faceoff player as TD Ierlan was injured last week against Halifax and wasn’t able to dress for the game. The game started slow with each team only scoring one goal in the first. Georgia led in the second and third quarters, but Toronto came from behind to pull out a 12 – 9 win. They remain the only undefeated team in the NLL after Albany lost their first game on Saturday night.
The first quarter had a lot of back-and-forth chances with both goalies standing tall and very few whistles until just over seven minutes into the quarter. Toronto would get it started with Brandon Slade (1G) grabbing a loose ball in transition and he went in all alone to beat Brett Dobson (35 saves) over the shoulder into the top corner to give the Rock a 1 – 0 lead. Eighteen seconds later Andrew Kew (2G, 2A) fed to Lyle Thompson (3G, 3A) who beat Nick Rose (1A, 38 saves) low to the stick side to tie it at one and that was all of the scoring in the quarter. The shots on goal were Georgia 13—Toronto 10.
The Rock would start the second shorthanded, but it didn’t stop Phil Mazzuca (1G) from going in all alone on Dobson and he’d beat him stick side giving Toronto a 2 – 1 lead just 40 seconds into the quarter. The Swarm would tie it up two minutes later while in transition when Adam Wiedemann (1A) would pass to Jordan McIntosh (1G), and he fired a low shot to the stick side, and it was two all. The Swarm would put up two more four minutes later giving them their first lead of the game. Seth Oakes (2G, 1A) got the pass from Thompson, fired the shot to the far top corner to make it 3 – 2 Swarm. Forty seconds later Georgia would double their lead. Kew had a give and go with Shayne Jackson (3A) and Kew’s shot beat Rose to the low glove side for a 4 – 2 Georgia lead. Toronto would get that one back just as a power play was ending. Chris Boushy (1G, 2A) fired a side arm shot to the top corner cutting the lead to three making it 4 – 3 Georgia. The Swarm would close out the half with L. Thompson extending the Swarm lead on a nice swim move around his defender, he jumped high over the crease, scoring on Rose with a shot to the short side and the first half ended with Georgia leading 5 – 3. The shots on goal were Georgia 26—Toronto 22.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Toronto was on a power play. Boushy sent a cross floor pass to Corey Small (4G, 2A) and his quick stick shot beat Dobson to the open side, and it was now 5 – 4 Georgia. Georgia would respond 30 seconds later when L. Thompson cut to the net and his low shot went short side and the Swarm lead was back to two at 6 – 4. Two minutes later while on the power play Oakes got the pass from Thompson and his bounce shot went to the short side and Georgia had their largest lead of the night at 7 – 4. Just before the halfway point of the third, the Rock would go on a three-goal run wiping out the Swarm lead. Small came around his defender and fired a shot to the far side past Dobson to cut the lead to two at 7 – 5. He’d come right back to complete his hat trick a few minutes later with a low-to-low shot from way outside that went off of Dobson’s stick and in closing the gap to one at 7 – 6. Less than a minute later Dan Lintner (1A) would pass to Mark Matthews (1G, 2A) who was cutting through the middle and his shot went low to the stick side tying the game a 7’s with less than two minutes left in the frame. Unfortunately, Georgia would regain the lead with 51 seconds on the ticker. Zach Miller (1G, 2A) would take a shot around his defender and went far side giving Georgia an 8 – 7 lead going into the final quarter. The shots on goal were Toronto 36—Georgia 35.
Toronto would hold Georgia to just one tally in the fourth getting it started 24 seconds into the final quarter. Dan Craig (2G, 3A) would beat his defender, dive across the crease and dunked a shot to the far side to tie the game at eight. Two minutes later the Rock would take the lead, the last time being 38 seconds into the second. Craig passed to a wide open Small in front and he beat Dobson over the shoulder to make it 9 – 8 for the Rock. Georgia would tie it up again while on the power play when Kew took a side arm shot to the far low corner to make it 9 – 9 and that was it for the visitors. Toronto put up the final three, with the first coming just 30 seconds later. While in transition Justin Martin (1A) passed to Josh Dawick (1G, 3A) coming off the bench and he beat Dobson with a shot to the short side to make it 10 – 9 for the Rock. With just over two minutes left in the game Craig cut along the top, fired a high to low shot while on the run and went bottom stick side corner extending the Toronto lead to 11 – 9. Georgia would pull their net minder in favor of the extra attacker less than a minute later, but it backfired. Billy Hostrawser (1A) would pass to Challen Rogers (1G) who put it in the open net past a diving Dobson to complete the scoring. All 7,420 Rock fans in attendance went home happy with a 12 – 9 win. The shots on goal at the end of the game were all tied up at 47 apiece.
The three stars of the game were:
Corey Small – Toronto Rock: 4G, 2A
Lyle Thompson – Georgia Swarm: 3G, 3A
Dan Craig – Toronto Rock: 2G, 3A
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (5-0) will host the Buffalo Bandits (3-3) at First Ontario Centre on Saturday January 27, 2024, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the action on TSN+.
The Georgia Swarm (4-3) will head to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to face off against the New York Riptide (2-4) on Saturday January 27, 2024, game time 7:30 p.m. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©