Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome
Featured Image Photo Credit: Rueben Polansky
The New York Riptide (5-5) hosted the Toronto Rock (7-2) at La Place Bell in Montreal on Friday February 16, 2024, for the first NLL Unboxed Series. The last time there was a professional lacrosse game in Montreal was in 2002 when the Montreal Express were part of the league. The local fans were hoping that this game could show the NLL that they deserve a team back in the province of Quebec, and to prove it they packed the arena. New York came into the game on a four-game win streak while the Rock have struggled, losing two of their last three. New York started quickly going up 5 – 2 in the first quarter but their offense dried out in the second half as Toronto went on a seven-goal run to win 16 – 10 and take the first ever unboxed series game in NLL history.
The home team opened the scoring just over a minute and a half in. Connor Kearnan (1G, 3A) cut in front of the net and unloaded a behind the back shot that beat Nick Rose (35 saves) low to the stick side for an early 1- 0 lead for New York. Thirty seconds later off the faceoff Stephen Keough (2G, 2A) passed to Jeff Teat (3G, 5A) and his low-to-low sidearm beat Rose through the legs to extend the lead to two. Teat would continue the roll for New York. Kearnan found a wide-open Teat right on the crease and he went over the shoulder to make it 3 – 0 Riptide. Toronto would stop the ‘Tide about 30 seconds later. Mark Matthews (4G, 7A) missed on his shot, it bounced off the back boards right to Josh Dawick (2G, 4A) and he deposited it into the empty side cutting the Riptide lead to 3 – 1. New York would respond right back while in transition. Callum Jones (1G) got the pass from Cam Dunkerly (39 saves), went in all alone and his twister shot beat Rose to the stick side for the first NLL goal of his career, and it was 4 – 1 New York. The Rock would go on a man up off a cross-checking penalty, they passed the ball around, Corey Small (4G, 1A) got a skip pass from Tom Schreiber (1G, 8A) and his high to high shot hit the cross bar and went straight into the back of the net to make it 4 – 2 for the Riptide. After almost five minutes of scoreless lacrosse, New York would add to their lead. Larson Sundown (3G, 1A) got the pass from Austin Madronic (3A) and as he was being pushed to the ground his twister shot beat Rose to the glove side low and it was 5 – 2 in favor of New York. The shots at the end of the first quarter were Toronto 15—New York 13.
Toronto would be the first to score in the second. While shorthanded they went on transition, Justin Martin (1G, 1A) passed to Matthews and then back to Martin who beat Dunkerly to the glove side to make it 5 – 3 for New York. On the same power play Reilly O’Connor (3A) passed to Sundown behind the net, he dove forward and beat Rose to the short side for a short-handed tally and the lead was back to three 6 – 3 Riptide. On another power play for Toronto, Matthews was at the top, he moved closer to the net and threw a low bounce shot that beat Dunkerly to the glove side and it was 6 – 4 New York. They’d put up back-to-back markers after Rose made a great save on a two on none breakaway to Challen Rogers (1A), he took the ball up the floor, beat two players, passed to a wide-open Matthews who beat Dunkerly high to the short side to get the Rock within one 6 – 5. The Riptide would put up their final in the second. Teat would score this third goal on the night as he fought off a defender, muscled his way across the front of the net and his side arm shot went stick side off the post and in and the lead was back to two, 7 – 5 Riptide. With three minutes left in the first half, Toronto would respond back again. Dan Craig (3G, 3A) held onto the ball for over 10 seconds as he was looking for someone to pass to, then decided to go himself and beat Dunkerly to the far top corner and it was 7 – 6 New York. The Rock would tie it up with a hat-trick from Matthews. He drove to the net past his defender and the quick shot went far top corner to tie it up with less than two minutes left in the first half. Score at the end of two: Toronto 7—New York 7. At the end of the first half the shots on goal were Toronto 29—New York 25.
Toronto would receive some bad news to start the third quarter when their captain Challen Rogers did not return to the field after getting a big hit in the second quarter and was ruled out with an upper body injury. But that sparked the team, and they would go on to shut out the Riptide in the third. The Rock took less than a minute into the frame to take their first lead of the game. Craig beat his defender, dove across the crease and went short side to give the Rock an 8 – 7 lead. They extended their lead with another Craig-Small match up. The time Craig passed to Small whose sidearm shot from the top beat Dunkerly to the short side high to make it 9 – 7 Rock. Just as the Toronto power play ended, Matthews took an overhand shot from the top that beat Dunkerly short side hip high for his fourth on the night to make it 10 – 7 in favor of Toronto. After three quarters the shots on goal were Toronto 42 and New York 34.
The fourth quarter was high scoring which excited the fans. Toronto was on a two-man advantage and used the opportunity to put up two more. Matthews passed to the far crease where Dan Lintner’s (1G, 1A) quick stick beat Dunkerly to the short side and the Rock lead was extended to four at 11 – 7. While still on the powerplay from a five-minute high sticking against New York, Schreiber passed to Craig on the crease and his quick stick went glove side for their seventh tally in a row and it was 12 – 7. New York would stop the run while shorthanded when Teat passed to a cutting Keough, and his shot beat Rose to the glove side, and it was 12 – 8 for the Rock. Keough would notch his second in a row and another shorthanded marker when his overhand high to high shot went over the shoulder and it was 12 – 9 for the Rock. While Toronto was still on their extended power play, Schreiber would get a pass from Matthews and his low-to-low shot went just under his leg re-establishing the four-goal lead 13 – 9. With just over three minutes left in the contest, Dawick would take a high-to-high shot from the outside that went over the shoulder top corner increasing the Rock lead 14 – 9. The final two tallies for Toronto would come from Small. It started with a one-handed pass from Matthews to Small in front of the net and his shot beat Dunkerly to the glove side and it was 15 – 9 for the Rock. There was 1:21 left in the game and while Toronto was on their third power play of the frame; they passed the ball around until there was only 10 seconds left on the shot clock and Small shot around his defender and went far side to make it 16 – 9. With less than a minute left in the contest, the Riptide would put up the final goal of the game. Sundown received a pass from Keough, and his twister shot beat Rose to the far side with 33 seconds left on the ticker. The shots at the end of the game were Toronto 55—New York 45. Final Score: Toronto 16—Riptide 10.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Mark Matthews – Toronto Rock: 4G, 7A
Tom Schreiber – Toronto Rock: 1G, 8A
Jeff Teat – New York Riptide: 3G, 5A
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (7-2) will host the Vancouver Warriors (2-7) at FirstOntario Centre on Saturday February 24, 2024, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada will be able to see the action on TSN+.
The New York Riptide (5-5) will head to Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth (3-6)*** at Ball Arena on Friday February 23, 2024, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada will be able to see the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Record at the time of the article.