The Rock Win the Battle Over the Warriors 2/25/24

Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Featured Image Photo Credit: Christian Bender

The Toronto Rock (8-2) hosted the Vancouver Warriors (2-8) on Saturday night February 25, 2024. The Rock were celebrating Indigenous Night and were auctioning off the player worn jerseys, helmets and shorts after the game. The home team were without a number of their starters due to injury. Dan Craig, Josh Jubenville, Mitch deSnoo and their captain Challen Rogers were out for the game, which put some pressure on the defence since three out of the four were players coming out the back door. This allowed Zach Kearney and Marley Angus to get into the lineup and show what they could do. The first half was a defensive battle as neither team’s offense could get on track with a total of only four goals scored and 2 – 2 showing on the scoreboard at the break. Toronto’s offense picked it up in the second half outscoring Vancouver 7 – 3 to come away with the win 9 – 5.

The Vancouver Warriors opened the scoring while shorthanded just under five minutes into the first quarter. Kevin Crowley (1G, 2A) got the pass from Adam Charalambides (2A) while cutting through the middle and his shot beat Nick Rose (45 saves) to the stick side and the Warriors were up by one. While on their second power play, the Rock’s Tom Schreiber (2G, 4A) made a behind the back pass to Chris Boushy (2G, 1A) whose sidearm bounce shot would beat Aden Walsh (37 saves) through the legs tying the game at one. With a little over a minute left in the frame, Toronto would take their first lead of the game on a broken play in the offensive zone. Chris Corbeil (1G) picked up a loose ball behind the Vancouver net, dove forward and beat Walsh to the short side to make it 2 – 1 for the Rock at the end of the first. The shots at the end of the quarter were Toronto 12—Vancouver 8.

The second quarter had quite a few shots on both goalies, but they were up to the task as only one goal was scored on the 27 shots taken in the quarter. Just over six minutes into the frame, Kyle Killen (2G) was on the outside and fired a low-to-low bounce shot that beat Rose through the legs and we were tied at two. Vancouver’s big defenders were keeping the Toronto players to the outside with their shots and Walsh was able to keep them out and on the other side Rose was standing tall in the Toronto net turning away 16 of the 17 shots fired his way in the quarter. The shots at the end of the first half were Vancouver 25—Toronto 22.

Toronto would open the scoring in the third quarter less than two minutes in. Josh Dawick (1G) took a shot over his defender and beat Walsh with a high to low bounce shot that went through his legs to give the Rock a 3 – 2 lead. Thirty seconds later while on a delayed penalty the Rock threw two skip passes and the second one was from Schreiber to Marley Angus (1G) whose quick stick went short side for his first NLL Career goal, and it was 4 – 2 in favor of the Rock. Halfway through the third while on their second man up opportunity, Ryan Martel (1G, 3A) fired a high to low twister from the top stick side with one second left in the penalty and the Rock lead was cut to 4 – 3. After almost seven minutes of scoreless lacrosse ticked off the timer, Toronto would notch another with just over a minute left in the third. Schreiber fired a laser side arm shot from the restraining line that beat Walsh to the top corner for his 500^th career point and the Rock had their two-goal lead back 5 – 3. The shots on goal at the end of the third were Vancouver 38—Toronto 32.

Less than 30 seconds into the fourth, the Warriors would open the scoring. Killen came around the top and fired a shot over the shoulder to get Vancouver within one at 5 – 4. Vancouver would tie the game 30 seconds later with their final tally on the night. Riley Loewen (1G, 2A) while cutting to the net, received a pass from Crowley and he went stick side. Toronto regained the lead shortly afterwards as Schreiber, while on the run at the top took a sidearm shot that beat Walsh to the stick side, and it was 6 – 5 for the Rock which started their final four-goal run. Mark Matthews (1G, 4A) took the ball across the top and his shot beat Walsh glove side and it was 7 – 5. A minute and a half later Schreiber would pass to Boushy, and his low-to-low shot went under the glove extending the Rock lead to three 8 – 5. With 6:52 left in the contest, while in transition Phil Mazzuca (1A) passed to Brandon Slade (1G) who beat Walsh with a shot through the legs. Rose and the Toronto defense shut the door on the Warriors the rest of the way to give Toronto a 9 – 5 win and send the 7,611 fans home happy. The shots on goal at the end of the game were Vancouver 50—Toronto 46.

The three stars of the game were:
Nick Rose – Toronto Rock: 45 saves
Tom Schreiber – Toronto Rock: 2G, 4A
Mark Matthews – Toronto Rock: 1G, 4A

NEXT UP:

The Toronto Rock (8-2) have a busy doubleheader weekend ahead for themselves. They will head west to face the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-6) at Michelob Ultra Arena on Friday March 1, 2024, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. This is the Game of the Week for fans in the USA and they can see the game on ESPNU and ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.

Then on Saturday March 2, 2024, they will head to the West Coast to face the San Diego Seals (7-3) at Pechanga Arena, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to catch the game on TSN+.

The Vancouver Warriors (2-8) will host the Buffalo Bandits (5-5) at Rogers Arena in Vancouver BC on Friday March 1, 2024, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. This is the second Game of the Week for fans in Canada and they get to see the game on TSN and TSN+.