Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough
The Battle of Ontario resumed for the first time since 2003 as the Toronto Rock (0-1) travelled to face the Ottawa Black Bears (1-0) on Friday night November 29, 2024. The New York Riptide moved north of the border after last season and have become the natural rival for Toronto. The last time there was a team in Ottawa they were called the Rebels and in 2003 the Rock went 2 – 0 against them. The Rock have one main addition starting this season as Latrell Harris (1G) is back after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. On the injury side the Rock were missing Brad Kri, Challen Rogers and TD Ierlan for the first game and the Black Bears came into the game without any injuries. The Black Bears came out with more energy and won most of the loose ball battles as they didn’t allow the Rock to score a goal in the first half of the game. Zach Higgins (37 saves) who had only won one game against Toronto in his career made 37 saves while only giving up five goals on the way to a decisive inaugural win for Ottawa in front of 6,985 fans. Final Score: Black Bears 11—Rock 5.
Jake Dunbar (3G, 3A) opened the scoring after a slow start and recorded the first ever Black Bear goal off a pass from Jeff Teat (1G, 4A) who had fallen prior to passing. Dunbar’s shot squeezed through Nick Rose’s (38 saves) legs and just over the line for the one goal lead. It was another long gap before the final tally would find net in the first. Larson Sundown (1A) came down the right side and passed to a cutting Kiel Matisz (1G, 2A) whose bounce shot beat Rose through the legs to give the Black Bears a two-goal lead. In what was a bit of a sloppy first quarter with many players slipping on the new turf the Blackbears led the Toronto Rock 2 – 0 even though Toronto leads 10 – 8 in shots on goal.
Halfway through the second period Mitch DeSnoo (1G) went to the net and dove right into Zach Higgins’ knees causing the Black Bears to come to their goalie’s assistance. De Snoo ended up with a five-minute major for goaltender interference and the Black Bears would capitalize twice. A little over a minute into the power play Connor Kearnan (3G, 2A) received a pass from Dunbar on the crease, came in front and beat Rose to the far side to make it 3 – 0 for Ottawa. While still on the power play Dunbar shot on Rose, he made the save but the rebound was picked up and put in short side by Dunbar for his second of the game giving them a four goal lead. At the end of the first half the Black Bears led the Rock 4 – 0. The shots at the end of the first half favored Ottawa 27 over Toronto 20.
Fans would see a scoring barrage in the third with the teams combining for eight. It started off on a give and go with Dunbar feeding to Taggart Clark (1G, 2A), he cut to the net and beat Rose to the far side to giving the Black Bears a 5 – 0 lead less than five minutes into the third quarter. Toronto would finally get on the board 36 minutes into the game. Harris picked up a loose ball, went the distance in on Higgins and his high-to-high twister pinged the top corner to make it 5 – 1 for Ottawa. Four minutes later Brian Cameron (1G, 1A) would cut through the middle and his high to low bounce shot beat Higgins through the legs for his first ever NLL goal cutting the Ottawa lead to 5 – 2. But that was all that Toronto could muster in the third as Ottawa would go on their third power play opportunity. Teat passed to Kearnan, dove in front and beat Rose between the legs increasing their lead to 6 – 2 and started their five-goal run. In transition Reilly O’Connor (2G, 1A) came off the bench, got a pass from Dunbar and his overhand shot beat Rose to the short side and it was 7 – 2. After tallying five assists, Teat would finally find the back of the net. He was crossing in front, fell, got back up, beat three defenders and his shovel shot beat Rose through the five-hole extending the lead by six, 8 – 2 for Ottawa. With 24 seconds on the ticker, on a delayed penalty with the goalie pulled, Dunbar fired a side arm shot from the top, it went short side for his hat trick goal and sixth point of the game to make it 9 – 2. The final tally in the third, came with less than 15 seconds left. Ottawa took the faceoff, went into the Rock end, O’Connor who had possession, looked like he was going to take a shot but instead he passed to Kearnan who was wide open on the side of the crease and his shot went in the open side past Rose with 0.3 seconds left in the third quarter making it an eight goal lead 10 – 2. At the end of the third quarter Ottawa had a commanding lead in shots on goal with 41 and Toronto 29.
The Rock would open the scoring in the fourth quarter and hold Ottawa to only one. Tom Schreiber (1A) made an around the world pass to Chris Boushy (1G, 1A) and he beat Higgins to the glove side to make it 10 – 3 for Ottawa. Four minutes later in transition, De Snoo picked up the loose ball, went up the floor, he called for a pick to be thrown on his defender, went around him and his shot beat Higgins to the far side and it was 10 – 4. In an effort to close the gap, Toronto would pull the goalie in favor of the extra attacker, but the call failed. In transition O’Connor went in on the Rock net with Schreiber in net trying to save the shot but after 3 or 4 fakes he was able to put the ball into the top corner for his second goal of the game and three minutes left in the game and it was 11 – 4 for Ottawa. Toronto would get their final tally, with less than a minute left in the fourth. Josh Dawick (1G) fired a side arm low to low bounce shot that beat Higgins to the far side and the final score was Ottawa 11—Toronto 5. Shots at the end of the game were Ottawa 49 and Toronto 42.
The Three Stars of the game were:
- Zach Higgins, Ottawa Black Bears – 37 saves
- Jake Dunbar, Ottawa Black Bears – 3 Goals and 3 Assists
- Connor Kearnan, Ottawa Black Bears – 3 goals and 2 Assists
GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 42, Saves 38, Sv% .760; FO 8-20; FO% .40; PP 0-3
Ottawa Black Bears—SOG 50, Saves 38, Sv% .905; FO 12-20; FO% .60; PP 3-5
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (0-1) have their home opener on Saturday December 7, 2024 and will host the Albany FireWolves (0-0)** at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN and ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the action on TSN+.
The Ottawa Black Bears (1-0) have a bye-week and will be back in action on Friday December 13, 2024, when they will host the Buffalo Bandits (0-0) at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Game time 7:00 p.m. EST. This is the Game of the Week for fans in Canada and the game will be telecast on both TSN and TSN+. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN and ESPN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
**Record at the time of writing.