Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: James Bennett
The Toronto Rock (4-8) visited the Halifax Thunderbirds (7-5) on Friday night March 7, 2025, just one week after they traded away the main part of their defense. This was the first game they would be without Chris Corbeil, Mitch deSnoo and starting goalie Nick Rose. After falling to a record of 3 – 8, the Rock’s GM Jamie Dawick decided they would start to build for the future by getting some needed draft picks for the next two years. Halifax came into the night, winners of their last five and were sitting in third place in the standings and they were without Randy Staats for this game who was out with an illness. Troy Holowchuk (40 saves, 1A) stepped in between the pipes for the first start of his NLL career and played well. The game went back and forth in the first half as neither team had more than a one-goal lead until late in the second quarter when the Rock took a three-goal lead into the half. Holochuk had a great first start making 40 saves as well as some big saves when Halifax tried to complete a comeback. Toronto’s defense bent but did not break and their offense scored some timely goals in the second half to secure a 15 – 12 win keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.
The first goal of the game came three minutes in. Dan Craig (1G, 2A) beat his defender down low, jumped across the crease and beat Warren Hill (15 saves) to the far side top corner for an early 1 – 0 lead for the Rock. Less than two minutes later while on the power play, Cody Jamieson (4G) fired a high-to-high shot on the glove side to tie the game at one. Twelve seconds later, Jamieson would shoot a twister that Holowchuk got a piece of, but it trickled across the line giving Halifax their first lead at 2 – 1. While shorthanded, the Rock were in transition and Brad Kri would pass to Josh Dawick (3G, 2A) coming off of the bench, and he put a bounce shot through Hill’s legs to tie the game at two. On the same power play Jamieson passed to Jason Knox, got it right back and his quick stick bounce shot went through the legs for his first quarter hat trick goal and it was 3 – 2 for the Thunderbirds. A little less than two minutes later, while on a delayed penalty with the extra attacker in play, Dawick was the recipient of a pass from Tom Schreiber (1G, 4A) and his high-to-high shot pinged the top corner tying the game at three. With just over a minute left in the first, Dawick came out from the boards and fired a high to low shot to the far glove hand side for his first quarter hat trick marker to give the Rock a 4 – 3 lead. But the lead was short lived. Twelve seconds off the ensuing faceoff, Graeme Hossack (1G) came right down the middle of the floor and his bounce shot beat Holowchuk through the legs to tie the game at four. Jake Withers would be nabbed for his third penalty in the quarter and Toronto would capitalize with 48 seconds on the ticker. Dawick passed to Chris Boushy (2G, 2A) behind the net, he dove in front and went near side to restore the Rock lead at 5 – 4. The shots on goal at the end of the first quarter were Halifax 14 and Toronto 11.
Halifax would be the ones to open up the scoring in the second. Clarke Petterson (2G, 4A) took a bounce shot around his defender, went five hole and we were tied again 5-5. Less than a minute later, while in transition, Petterson would score his second in a row. He got the pass from Thomas Hoggarth; tip toed the crease and went low stick side corner to give Halifax a 6 – 5 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. Toronto would tie it up again 40 seconds later. While in transition, Jake Darlison (1G, 1A) passed to Corey Small (4G), and his high-to-high side arm shot went far side corner up top. The Rock would take the lead again and would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the contest. Challen Rogers (1A) ran around the outside of the defense, passed back to Boushy and his low to high sidearm beat Hill to the short side top corner and the Rock once again had the lead 7 – 6. Toronto would get their first two goal lead on the night with 3:22 left in the half. Schreiber made an around the world pass to Nathan Grenon (1G, 1A) and his quick stick shot went near side and it was 8 – 6 for Toronto. The final tally in the frame came on another power play for the Rock. Schreiber passed to Small and his twister high to low bounce host went through Hill’s legs extending the Rock lead to 9 – 6 with just over a minute left in the first half. The shots at the end of the first half were Halifax 25 and Toronto 22.
The third got off to a quick start just 25 seconds in as Toronto would add to their lead. Small picked up a rebound off the boards and his side arm low to low shot went short side for his hat trick goal and it was 10 – 6 for Toronto. Halifax would finally end the Toronto run two minutes later. Hoggarth shot a high-to-high shot that beat Holowchuk to the far side top corner and it was 10 – 7. It took two minutes for the Rock to get the lead back to four. While shorthanded, Craig passed from behind the net to Chris Weier (1G) and his quick shot went low stick side corner and it was 11 – 7. Halifax would put up two in a row just five seconds apart. The first came a minute after the Weier tally. Jamieson fired a low-to-low shot far bottom corner for his fourth on the night and the lead was back to three at 11 – 8. Immediately off the ensuing faceoff, Jake Withers (1G, 1A) took the ball right to the rack, and his high twister shot went over the shoulder of Holowchuk and it was 11 – 9 still in favor of the Rock. But Toronto wasn’t about to give up the fight or the lead. Two minutes later Craig made a great pick on Small’s defender, came down the middle and his low-to-low bounce shot beat Hill through the legs for a 12 – 9 Toronto lead. At that point, Halifax Bench Boss Mike Accursi had seen enough and pulled Hill in favor of Drew Hutchison (13 saves). He held tough for about 90 seconds before Schreiber picked up a loose ball in front of the net and completed an around the world bounce shot that beat Hutchison stick side to make it 13 – 9 for the Rock with seven minutes left in the third quarter, and the final goal in the frame. This was the second SportsCenter play by Schreiber with over a quarter still left in the game. The shots on goal at the end of the third quarter were Halifax 40 and Toronto 33.
This time Halifax would open the scoring in the fourth almost as quickly as Toronto did in the third and would put up three in a row. Hoggarth got it started when he picked up a loose ball and his twister bounce shot went short side cutting the Toronto lead to 13 – 10. Twenty seconds later Mike Robinson (1G, 1A) shot a far bounce shot that beat Holowchuk over the shoulder and it was 13 – 11 with more than 14 minutes left in the fourth. Toronto fans were starting to get nervous as the contest was getting tight. Then, 30 seconds later, Petterson found Hoggarth in front, flipped him the pass and he beat Holowchuk stick side for his hat trick goal, and it was back to a one goal game at 13 – 12 for the Rock. Fortunately for Rock fans, the defense and offense came together. With 9:26 left in the contest, while in transition, Zach Kearney (5A) would pass to Brad Kri (1G, 2A) and his behind the back shot beat Hutchison over the shoulder, off of the cross bar and in extending their lead to 14 – 12. For the next nine minutes, neither offense could find twine and the fans got to see the net minders stave off shot after shot. Halifax would pull their goalie in favor of the extra attacker leaving the net open and Toronto jumped on the opportunity. Jake Darlison (1G, 1A) saw an opportunity, picked up a loose ball, ran the floor and put his shot into the empty net with 52 seconds left on the ticker. They were able to keep Halifax out of the net to close it out. The shots at the end of the game were Halifax 52 and Toronto 43. Final Score: Toronto 15—Halifax 12.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Troy Holowchuk – Toronto Rock: 40 saves and 1 assist
Cody Jamieson – Halifax Thunderbirds: 4 goals
Zach Kearney – Toronto Rock: 5 assists
GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 43; Saves 40; Sv% .769; FO 13-31; PP 2-5; PIM 12
Halifax Thunderbirds—SOG 52; Saves 28; Sv% .651; FO 18-31; PP 2-4; PIM 14
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (4-8) will travel to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC and will go head-to-head against the Vancouver Warriors (5-6)*** on Friday March 14, 2025, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. For fans in Canada, this is the NLL Friday Night on TSN game, and they can catch the game on TSN4, TSN1 and TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Halifax Thunderbirds (7-5) will play host to the Saskatchewan Rush (9-3)***, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia also on Friday March 14, 2025, game time 6:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game o ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Record at time of publication