Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Jaclyn McKee
The Toronto Rock (7-5) travelled to the West Coast to take on the Vancouver Warriors (9-4) on Friday night March 6, 2026. The Rock were coming off a loss to the Buffalo Bandits while the Warriors had topped both the San Diego Seals and Las Vegas Desert Dogs last week. Vancouver, currently sitting in the 3rd place in the standings, was looking to move closer to the top, while on the other side, the Rock were hoping to solidify their spot in the top eight heading closer to the playoffs. After having missed several weeks due to a lower body injury, Toronto made the decision to place Nick Rose back on the active roster for the contest. Rose’s record speaks for itself as he holds a 5 – 0 lifetime record against the Warriors. Toronto scored early and often and although the Warriors put up a good effort for a comeback, neither Rose nor the Rock offense would allow it. Toronto held on big for the 13 – 10 win.
The Rock wasted no time and opened the scoring just under two minutes in the first. CJ Kirst (5G, 1A) scooped up a rebound off an Owen Hiltz (3A) shot, and with one hand threw a twister bounce shot to beat Christian Del Bianco (37 saves) through the legs for the early 1 – 0 lead. The Warriors would tie it up three minutes later. Jesse King (2G, 3A) took a side arm shot around his defender and beat Rose (37 saves, 1A) stick side with a bounce shot to tie the game at one. Nine seconds later, Toronto would open it up with a four-goal run spanning six minutes. Challen Rogers (3G, 2A) got it started when he spun and took a high-to-high shot over the shoulder for a 2 – 1 Rock lead. After some good ball movement, Mark Matthews (1G, 2A) found a cutting Chris Boushy (1G) and his quick stick shot went short side and it was 3 – 1 lead with six minutes still left in the quarter. After some great defense on both sides, Rogers went one on one with his defender, beat him, took a shot far side over the shoulder and the Rock were up by three 4 – 1. Making his Toronto debut after being traded from the Philadelphia Wings, face off specialist Nick Rowlett (1G) would win the ensuing the draw, head down the floor all alone and fired one far side for his first career NLL goal to make it 5 – 1 Toronto. The Warriors would finally halt the run 23 seconds later. Marcus Klarich (5G, 1A) cut through the middle, got a pass from Keegan Bal (1G, 7A) and his shot beat Rose short side cutting the Rock lead to 5 – 2. With 1:02 left in the frame, while in transition, Latrell Harris (2A) would pass to Kirst, he stepped and fired and his side arm shot went five-hole restoring the four-goal lead for the Rock at 6 – 2. Shots on goal after the first quarter were Toronto 15 and Vancouver 12.
The Warriors would score their first and only goal of the second quarter 3:48 in. Del Bianco who is known for his on-target outlet passes, found Owen Grant (1G) open down the floor and his bounce shot beat Rose through the legs to get the Warriors closer, but Toronto still held the edge 6 – 3. Three minutes later, the Rock struck again with their second four-goal run of the night and they would tally four over the next four and change. Hugh Kelleher (1G) started the run when he picked up a loose ball, went in on Del Bianco who stopped his twister shot, but Kirst found the rebound and ripped a side arm high to high shot far top corner for his hat trick tally and it was 7 – 3 Toronto. A minute later Rogers took a high to low shot from outside of the restraining line, and his shot went five hole for his hat trick marker and Toronto was up by five. Notably, the goal marked the most Rogers has scored in one season at 22. The Rock would add another 90 seconds later. Sam English (1G, 2A) beat his defender to the inside, and he beat Del Bianco to the short side to make it 9 – 3 for Toronto. At that point, Vancouver Bench Boss Curtis Malawsky decided to pull Del Bianco and put in Connor O’Toole for one possession giving him time to regroup. After heading back to the cage, Kirst welcomed Del Bianco back with a side arm shot around his defender that went under his arm increasing the Rock lead to 10 – 3. The shots on goal at the end of the first half were Toronto 29 and Vancouver 22.
Vancouver would turn the tables in the third and open the scoring with a four-goal run of their own. King cut through the middle faked far side, shot near side and beat Rose cutting the lead to 10 – 4. The Warriors added another less than two minutes later. Bal flipped a pass to Curtis Dickson (1G, 1A), he fired a shot over the far shoulder cutting the lead in half 10 – 5. King would tally an assist on their third in a row when he found Klarich right in front of the crease, and he also put one over Roses’ shoulder cutting the lead for the Rock to 10 – 6. Their final tally of the run and the frame came with 8:04 left on the clock. This time it was Dickson with the assist as he passed across the crease to Klarich and his quick stick into the empty side beat Rose for his hat trick goal to make it 10 – 7. After five minutes of scoreless lacrosse, the Rock would erase the last three Warrior goals by putting up three of their own. Kirst started it off when he went right down the middle of the floor on his own and took a shot stick side for his fifth of the night to make it 11 – 7 for the Rock. Off the ensuing faceoff, just 12 seconds later, Kelleher picked up the loose ball on the run, took a high to low shot and beat Del Bianco to the short side and it was 12 – 7 for Toronto. The Rock continued to add to the scoreboard in the closing minutes. Josh Dawick (1A) passed across the floor to Matthews on his wrong side of the floor and without looking at the net, his backhand shot went far side, and they had established their six-goal lead to 13 – 7. Toronto continued to dominate on shots and would have a seven-goal shot advantage over Vancouver 42 to 35.
The Warriors would blank the Rock in the fourth, being the only side to find twine. They opened it up 4:28 in when Bal took a bounce shot from the outside that beat Rose to the far side cutting the lead to 13 – 8. Rose and the Toronto defense held strong for two minutes before Vancouver tallied another. Klarich received a pass from King, fired one stick side and they were within four with a whole lot of lacrosse left. A minute later Klarich would tally his fifth on the night. He beat his defender, dove across the crease, went low and it was 13 – 10 for the Rock. Once again, the fans would see a back-and-forth match with neither side finding twine. However, with less than two minutes left in the contest, Vancouver was called for too many men on the floor which meant a penalty shot for Toronto and they called on Rogers. But the shot he took but missed the net keeping the score at 13 – 10 which would turn out to be enough, and Toronto would hold on for the win.
The Three Stars of the game were:
CJ Kirst – Toronto Rock: 5 goals, 1 assist
Marcus Klarich – Vancouver Warriors: 5 goals, 1 assist
Nick Rose – Toronto Rock: 37 saves, 1 assist
GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 50; Saves 37; Sv% .740; FO 14-28; PP 0-0
Vancouver Warriors—SOG 47; Saves 37; Sv% .787; FO 14-28; PP 0-0
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (7-5) will head east to Nova Scotia to face the Halifax Thunderbirds (4-7)*** on Friday March 13, 2026, game time 6:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+. This is not Friday Night on TSN for fans in Canada, so they’ll have to watch the action on TSN+. The game can also be seen on NLL+.
The Vancouver Warriors (9-4) will head southeast to Gas South Arena and face the Georgia Swarm (8-4) on Saturday March 14, 2026, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+ and fans in Canada can see the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Record at the time of writing