Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Christian Bender
The Saskatchewan Rush (11-4) travelled east on Friday night March 20, 2026, to face the Toronto Rock (9-6). After their victory in San Diego last weekend, Saskatchewan was the only team to have clinched a playoff spot as the regular season is winding down. Meanwhile, the Rock were coming into this game with spirits high after winning their last two, most recently, their come from behind OT win over the Halifax Thunderbirds (5-9) last weekend and are hoping to move up the standings and possibly secure a home playoff game. It was Marvel Super Hero night in Toronto, the Rock were wearing their Spider Man jerseys, and when the Rock scored their first goal in the second quarter the fans threw teddy bears onto the floor. Toronto fell behind early in the game, had the lead by half time and never relinquished it the rest of the game winning 13 – 9. The Rock have now won three in a row, and Toronto’s Head coach Matt Sawyer’s has his 100th win of his career.
Saskatchewan opened the scoring a little over 90 seconds in. Zach Manns (5A) passed to Robert Church (4G, 2A) and his high-to-high shot would beat Nick Rose (41 saves) over the shoulder for an early 1 – 0 lead. Two minutes later Rose made a save on a low shot from Church, Brock Haley (2G) picked up the rebound and deposited the ball over Rose’s shoulder to extend the Rush lead to 2 – 0. Toronto would get their first man up opportunity four minutes in on a holding stick call and would answer back as the penalty was winding down. Owen Hiltz (2G, 2A) made a flip pass to Mark Matthews (1G, 3A), he took a side arm shot and beat Frank Scigliano (32 saves) to the short top corner cutting the Rush lead in half at 2 – 1. Three minutes would tick off the timer before anyone found twine and it would be the Rush to strike. Ryan Keenan (2G, 4A) came across the top, took a sidearm shot around his defender, went short side and it was 3 – 1 for the Rush with just over five minutes left in the first frame. With just over two minutes remaining, Toronto would close out the scoring in the first fifteen. Challen Rogers(7A) made a one-handed pass to Hiltz, he took a low-to-low side arm shot and beat Scigliano to the far side to make it 3 – 2 Rush. At the end of the first quarter the shots on goal were Saskatchewan 18 and Toronto 11.
Less than 30 seconds into the second quarter, the Rock would notch back-to-back tallies from CJ Kirst (3G, 3A). The first came off a pass from Josh Dawick (1G, 2A) and his twister shot went five-hole to tie the game at three, which set off the teddy bear toss as stuffed animals rained down onto the field that will go to local charities. His second tally came a little over two minutes later when he beat his defender, threw a backhand twister shot that Scigliano got a piece of, but it squeaked through his legs and over the line giving the Rock their first lead of the game at 4 – 3 with just over 12 minutes left in the second quarter. The second penalty of the game went against Toronto, giving the Rush their first of two man ups on the night. They tied it up when Church fired a high to low shot from the top that went stick side low and the score sheet read 4-4. Things slowed for the next four minutes, then Kirst faked a couple of passes to give him more room in the middle of the floor and he put a low-to-low shot for his natural hat trick goal to regain the Rock lead at 5 – 4. Toronto would close it out with 16 seconds on the clock. Matthews passed to an open Chris Boushy (3G) in front of the net; he jumped to the far side, beat Scigliano to the short side and the Rock headed to the locker room with the lead 6 – 4. The shots at the end of the first half were Saskatchewan 30 and Toronto 23.
The Rush quickly opened the scoring in the third quarter, just 54 seconds in. Haley took a high-to-low shot from the top that went glove side cutting the Rock lead to 6 – 5. The Rush would get the tying goal a few minutes later and that was as close as they could get. Keenan found Church open in the middle and his high to low shot went short side to tie it at six. Over the next three and a half, Toronto would tally three. After Scigliano made a save on Hiltz, Boushy picked up the rebound, watched as Scigliano fell to the ground and he put it in the open top of the net to give the Rock back the one goal lead at 7 – 6 with just over a half of the quarter left to play. The next tally was a fluke. Kirst took a shot that hit a defender’s stick and went right to Isiah Moran-Weekes (1G) who put it in the short side on Scigliano who had already moved to the far side on the Kirst shot and it was 8 – 6 Toronto. A minute later Sam English (1A) in transition, passed to a cutting Hiltz off the bench and he went stick side and all of a sudden, the Rock had a three-goal lead at 9 – 6. With less than two minutes left in the third, the Rush would get one back. Church picked up his own rebound and fired a shot short side cutting the Rock lead to 9 – 7. The shots on goal at the end of the third quarter were the Rush 38 and the Rock 33.
Toronto would outscore Saskatchewan 4-2 in the fourth and would open it up 40 seconds in. Dawick was behind the net, passed to a cutting Boushy and his quick stick beat Scigliano to the glove side for his hat trick goal and the three-goal lead was re-established, 10 – 7. With just over a half of a quarter left Austin Shanks (1G) was the recipient of a pass from Zach Manns (5A) and he took a low-to-low bounce shot that beat Rose to the far side to make it 10 – 8 for the Rock. On the ensuing faceoff Nick Rowlett (1A) dove on the floor to save the ball from going over the center line, pushed it to Latrell Harris (1G) who went in on Scigliano, and his shot beat him to the short side and once again, they led 11 – 8. A little over 30 seconds later, Dawick took a high-to-low shot from the restraining line that went under the stick and Toronto had their biggest lead of the night at 12 – 8. Both netminders held strong as four minutes ticked off the clock, and in a last-ditch effort to tally another, the Rush would pull Scigliano for the extra attacker. Church passed across the floor to Keenan and his quick stick beat Rose to the short side to cut the Rock lead to 12 – 9. They’d continued to pull their goalie in the last three minutes, but the Rock were able to block all of their shots from the outside and they were stopped by Rose. With less than 20 seconds left, and the net still empty, Elijah Gash (1G) picked up a loose ball in the corner, came out in front and deposited the ball into the empty net for the final tally on the night. Final Score: Rock 13—Rush 9.
The three stars of the game were:
CJ Kirst – Toronto Rock: 3 goals and 4 assists
Challen Rogers – Toronto Rock: 7 assists
Robert Church – Saskatchewan Rush: 4 goals and 2 assists
GAME STATS:
Saskatchewan Rush—SOG 50; Saves 33; Sv% .717; FO 15-26; PP 1-2; PIM 2; LB 72; TO 26
Toronto Rock—SOG 46; Saves 41; Sv% .820; FO 11-26; PP 1-1; PIM 4; LB 72; TO 30
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (9-5) will head south to go up against the Philadelphia Wings (3-11) on Sunday March 29th, 2026, game 1:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Saskatchewan Rush (11-4) will play host to the Buffalo Bandits (7-6)*** on Saturday March 28th, 2026, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on 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 article