Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photo Credit: Alexis Goeller
The Toronto Rock (2-2) travelled west on Friday night January 9, 2026, to face the San Diego Seals (1-3). Both teams came into the game with identical 1 – 2 records and were looking to get a much-needed win to help them move up the standings. Toronto was coming into this game after not playing for two weeks and were hoping to use the fresh legs to help run past the Seals. In San Diego’s last game their starting goalie Chris Origlieri left near the end of the game due to an injury and Cam Dunkerly (33 saves) would be in net for the Seals. In the contest, the Rock had two four goal runs and scored seven of the last ten goals in the game on their way to a 12 – 7 victory. Even though Trevor Baptiste won all 23 of the faceoffs for the Seals they couldn’t contain rookie sensation CJ Kirst (5G, 1A) who scored five goals on the night to lead the Rock to the win.
San Diego opened the scoring while on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Corey Small (1G, 1A) fired a shot over Nick Rose’s (41 saves) shoulder and into the top corner to give the Seals an early lead. While still short-handed, Kirst would fire a high to low shot from the top to beat Dunkerly through the legs to tie the game at one. With less than five minutes left in the first, Challen Rogers (2G, 2A) was being manhandled by Baptiste but made a quick spin towards the net, dove across the crease and beat Dunkerly over the shoulder giving Toronto their first lead of the game at 2 – 1. The Seals would tie it up less than a minute later. A Brad Kri illegal cross check put San Diego on their second man up opportunity on the night. Just nine seconds into the power play, Wes Berg (2G, 2A) would fire a low shot that beat Rose through the legs, and it was two all with less than three minutes left in the first. The Seals would take the lead with 43 seconds left in the frame. Zach Currier (2G) came from behind the net and with one hand on his stick, jumped over the crease and his low backhand shot went five-hole to make it 3 – 2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Seals would once again open the scoring in the second quarter. Berg received a pass from Pat Kavanaugh (2A), he faked low and beat Rose up high to double the San Diego lead at 4 – 2. After not scoring for almost 20 minutes, Toronto would finally strike. Kirst went towards his defender, made a spin move and as he was falling to the ground, sent a bounce shot towards the net that beat went five-hole cutting the Seals lead to 4 – 3. A minute later the Rock would tie it up. Mark Matthews found a cutting Chris Boushy (1G, 1A) and his high-to-high twister shot went over the shoulder and it was tied at four with just over three minutes left in the first half. With the shot clock running out and less than 10 seconds left in the second, Dan Craig (3A) passed to Kirst on his wrong side and with his offhand and a quick stick, would beat Dunkerly to the short side giving him his hat trick goal. Toronto would regain the lead at 5 – 4 at the end of the second quarter. The shots on goal at the end of the first half were Toronto 23 and San Diego 22.
This time, the Rock would open the scoring to start off the third. Just over two minutes into the frame, Josh Dawick (1G, 2A) took an over hand high to high shot over the short side shoulder to increase the Toronto lead to 6 – 4. At the 5:24 mark, Tre Leclaire (2G, 1A) came from the corner, took a backhand shot that beat Rose through the legs ending Toronto’s four goal run and it was 6 – 5 for the Rock. With 6:25 left in the third, Toronto’s Elijah Gash would get nabbed with a four-minute penalty, but the Rock stood strong and were able to kill off the penalties. But with just over a minute left in the quarter, Leclaire would come from behind the net, dive in front and went short side over the shoulder to tie the game at six. On the ensuing faceoff, and just under a minute left, Hugh Kelleher (1A) would pass to a streaking Sam English (1G, 1A), he went in all alone on Dunkerly and beat him with a shot to the stick side and Toronto would retake the lead at 7 – 6. With less than 10 seconds left in the quarter Toronto would tally another. Owen Hiltz (1G, 4A) would beat his defender down low, dive across the crease and go far top corner to end the quarter with the Rock leading 8 – 6.
Heading into the fourth, and after three shot clock resets, Kirst would beat his tiring defender, cut in on Dunkerly and his twister shot went short side for his fourth goal of the game and it was 9 – 6 for the Rock with less than nine minutes left in the contest. After almost five minutes of scoreless lacrosse and just over four minutes left, Mark Matthews (1G, 3A) took a high to low shot with less than five seconds on the shot clock that went under the arm and bounced just over the line extending the Rock lead by four, and the scoresheet showed 10 – 6. San Diego would stop the second four goal run by Toronto with 3:47 left on the clock. Currier beat his defender underneath, dove across the crease and beat Rose to the far side cutting the Rock lead to 10 – 7. A minute later Kirst came across the top, switched hands and his high to low bounce shot went five hole and the Rock lead was now 11- 7. On the next possession 33 seconds later, while in transition, Rogers got the pass from English, went in all alone, faked low and went high over the shoulder into the top corner for what turned out to be the final goal of the game. The Seals would try to put something together but were unsuccessful. The shots on goal at the end of the game were San Diego 48 and Toronto 45. Final Score: Rock 12—Seals 7.
The Three Stars of the game were:
CJ Kirst – Toronto Rock: 5 goals, 1 assist
Nick Rose – Toronto Rock: 41 saves
Owen Hiltz – Toronto Rock: 1 goal, 4 assists
GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 45; Saves 41; Sv% .854; FO 0-23; PP 0-2; PIM 16
San Diego Seals—SOG 48; Saves 33; Sv% .733; FO 23-23 PP 2-7; PIM 6
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (2-2) will travel to Blue Cross Arena to face the Rochester Knighthawks (3-1)** on Saturday January 17, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+ while fans in Canada can catch the game on TSN+. The game can also be seen on NLL+.
The San Diego Seals (1-3) will head north of the border to Rogers Arena where they will face off against the Vancouver Warriors (3-1) on Friday January 16, 2026, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+ while fans in Canada can catch the game on TSN+. The game can also be seen on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
**Record at the time of the article