Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photo Credit: Nick Iwanyshyn
The Toronto Rock (3-3) hosted the Georgia Swarm (4-3) on Saturday night January 24, 2026, in front of 6,774 faithful Rock fans. Both teams were coming into the contest looking for their fourth win of the season. Georgia won their last game against Calgary 19 – 9, while the Rock upset Rochester 10 – 9. The Swarm currently boasts the best goals against average in the league and have one of the best goaltenders in the NLL in Brett Dobson (48 saves). On the other side, Toronto’s normal starting goaltender, Nick Rose, was hurt in last week’s game and Troy Holowchuk (39 saves) is filling in until Rose can play again. Toronto’s offense was clicking in the first half as they had a 6 – 4 lead and extended it to 8 – 5 early in the third, but Georgia kept chipping away even taking the lead late in the fourth. Toronto would tie it up in the last minute sending them into OT but on the first possession, Lyle Thompson (2G, 1A) would end the Rocks night sending the Swarm home with the 10 – 9 win.
Toronto opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first quarter on a delayed penalty. Josh Dawick (1G, 3A) passed across the crease to CJ Kirst (3G, 1A) for a one timer to the short side behind Dobson for the early 1 – 0 lead. Three minutes later Georgia’s Jacob Hickey (2G, 1A) picked up the ball in transition, went all the way down the floor and his overhand shot beat Holowchuk to the stick side to tie the game at one. Georgia’s Jordan MacIntosh would be nailed with a holding call putting Toronto on a man up situation which started a three-goal run. Challen Rogers (1G, 4A) passed to Owen Hiltz (3G) behind the net, he dove in front and went short side to regain the lead at 2 – 1. A minute and a half later Chris Boushy (1G) put a spin move on his defender, dove across the crease putting his shot far top corner extending the Rock lead to 3 – 1. In the last minute of the first after a turnover at centre, Chris Weier (1A) found Dawick and his low-to-low shot went five-hole to give the Rock a 4 – 1 lead at the end of the first. The shots on goal were Toronto 10 and Georgia 8.
It took over six minutes for the ball to find twine in the second. Hickey ran the full floor in transition, and his overhand shot beat Holowchuk to the stick side for the second time in a row and it was 4 – 2 for the Rock. Less than two minutes later Kean Moon (3A) sent a pass to Ben Trumble (1G), he took a high to low shot that went low to the stick side cutting the Rock lead to 4 – 3. Toronto would answer back a minute later on their second man up opportunity. After some good ball movement, Rogers found a cutting Hiltz, his shot went glove side, and it was 5 – 3 for the Rock. The Swarm would find themselves in their second man down situation in less than three minutes and once again, Toronto would capitalize. Hiltz picked up a loose ball in the corner, came out in front of the net and he shot around Dobson into the top far corner for his hat trick goal to make it 6 – 3 for the Rock. Georgia would respond 20 seconds later. Shayne Jackson (2G, 2A) fired a shot from way out that beat Holowchuk over the arm just beating the shot clock and they’d cut the lead to two with the Rock still holding a 6-4 lead at the end of the first half. The shots on goal in the first half were Toronto 32 and Georgia 19.
The third got off to a quick start, with Toronto scoring less than a minute in. Kirst picked up a loose ball in front of the net and as he was falling to the ground, he took a sidearm shot that went through the legs extending the Rock lead to 7 – 4. Two minutes later, the Swarm would get that one back. Nolan Byrne (1G) came right down the middle of the floor, and he took a shot that went over the shoulder cutting the Rock lead to two 7 – 5. Once again, Georgia would find themselves in the sin bin and Toronto would connect. Kirst cut through the middle, took a high-to-high shot that beat Dobson over the glove hand shoulder into the top corner for his hat trick goal and it was 8 – 5. With two minutes left in the third and Georgia in transition, Holowchuk made one save on a shot from Hickey, but Jeff Henrick (1G) picked up the rebound to beat Holowchuk stick side and it was now 8 – 6 for the Rock. The Swarm would end the scoring in the third on a buzzer beater. Jordan Macintosh (1G, 1A) came from behind the net, got the feed from Thompson and his side arm shot went stick side getting the Swarm within one at 8 – 7. The shots on goal at the end of the third quarter were Toronto 44 and Georgia 28.
Georgia would tie the game less than two minutes into the fourth. After Toronto got nabbed with a goalie interference call, they moved the ball around, Thompson got possession and fired a high to low shot stick side and it was eight all. They would take their first lead of the night just over four minutes in. Jackson came off the boards, took a high to low bounce shot from a sharp angle that went five-hole and it was 9 – 8 for the Swarm. Scoring came to a halt as both netminders blocked shots. The Rock continued to try and tie the game during the frame, but Dobson stood his ground turning away many shots. In the final minute, Rogers cut to the net, got the feed from Dawick and took a sidearm shot that beat Dobson to the stick side to tie the game at nine and send it to bonus lacrosse. The shots on goal at the end of regulation still favored Toronto 60 and Georgia 44.
Heading into the extra frame, it took no time at all for the contest to end. In the first possession of OT, Thompson came across the restraining line and caught Holowchuk off guard as it didn’t look like he was expecting a shot that early into the shot clock. Thompson’s high to low shot went short side ending the night for Toronto. Final Score OT: Georgia 10—Toronto 9.
GAME STATS:
Georgia Swarm—SOG 49; Saves 48; Sv% .842; FO 13-23; PP 1-3; PIM 10
Toronto Rock—SOG 57; Saves 39; Sv% .796; FO 10-23; PP 4-5; PIM 6
The three starts of the game were:
Lyle Thompson – Georgia Swarm: 2 Goals (including OT winner), 1 Assist
CJ Kirst – Toronto Rock: 3 Goals, 1 Assist
Brett Dobson – Georgia Swarm: 48 Saves
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (3-3) will play host to the Ottawa Black Bears (4-4) at TD Coliseum on Saturday January 31, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the game on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Georgia Swarm (4-3) will head to Nova Scotia where they will face the Halifax Thunderbirds (3-4) at Scotiabank Centre on Saturday January 31, 2026, game time 6:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the game on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©