Toronto Scores Early and Often to Rout Ottawa 1/31/26

Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Featured Image Photo Credit: Kevin Sousa

The Ottawa Black Bears (4-5) travelled to face the Toronto Rock (4-3) in the battle of Ontario. Ottawa was undefeated at 3 – 0 against both of the Ontario teams since coming into the league, and both teams were .500 on the season and looking to move up in the standings to stay within reach of the last two playoff spots. On the back of Mark Matthews (2G, 9A) the Rock came out firing, going on two four goal runs and scoring their most goals of the season in a 17 – 10 victory. Both teams combined for seven goals on the power play with Ottawa scoring three and Toronto going 100% on man up opportunities with four.

The Rock opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first quarter. Chris Boushy (5G) received a hard pass from CJ Kirst (2G, 4A) and his quick stick shot beat Zack Higgins (33 saves) to the short side for the early 1 – 0 lead. Three minutes later Ottawa would tie it up. Reilly O’Connor (1G, 3A) was behind the net for a few seconds looking for a teammate when Larson Sundown (3G, 1A) cut through the middle and his twister shot beat Troy Holowchuk (36 saves) through the legs to make it one all. The Rock would respond 30 seconds later to reestablish the lead which they did not relinquish. Josh Dawick (2G, 2A) found himself all alone as both defenders went to the top guy, he came right in front, reached around Higgins and put it in the far side to make it 2 – 1 for the Rock. With less than four minutes left in the frame, Challen Rogers (3G, 4A) would beat his defender, go in on Higgins and beat him with a shot under his glove arm to make it 3 – 1 Toronto. The first penalty on the night was an illegal substitution against Toronto with 2:42 left in the first. The Black Bears were able to take advantage while shorthanded to get within one. Rob Hellyer (3G, 3A) passed to a cutting O’Connor, he put one over the shoulder and it was 3 – 2 for Toronto. On the same power play, Toronto would tally a man up marker. Rogers passed to Dawick who was behind the net, he dove forward and went short side restoring the two-goal lead at 4 – 2 for the Rock. With 40 seconds left in the first, off the ensuing faceoff, Dan Craig (4A) found Kirst on the run, he beat his defender to the middle and took a sidearm shot stick side to make it 5 – 2 for the Rock. The shots on goal at the end of the first quarter were Toronto 11 and Ottawa 9.

Toronto would strike first in the second quarter. Owen Hiltz (2G, 3A) made a quick pass to Boushy on the crease and his quick stick beat Higgins to the short side and the Rock were up by four 6-2. The Rock were the recipients of a “delay of game” call and would tally their own shorthanded marker just 15 seconds into the man down. Latrell Harris (1A) and Justin Martin (1G) went in transition, Harris made a flip pass to Martin whose bounce shot went stick side and it was 7 – 2. It was then that Ottawa pulled Higgins, and Tyler Carlson (2 saves) got the nod. On the same power play Ottawa would halt the Rock four-goal run. Connor Kearnan (1G, 2A) passed to Hellyer, and his side arm went under the arm, and it was 7 – 3 for the Rock. Having just come off a man down, Toronto would be called for an illegal cross check, and Ottawa made them pay for the second time. Jeff Teat (2G, 5A) fired a low-to-low shot stick side cutting the Rock lead to 7 – 4. On the next possession with Higgins back in the game, Mark Matthews (2G, 9A) would fire a high to low shot five-hole, and they had doubled up Ottawa 8 – 4. For the third time in the second, yet another penalty was assessed to the Rock, this time a “holding stick” call and the Black Bears notched another. Hellyer passed to Sundown behind the net, he dove in front and beat Holowchuk short side cutting the Rock lead to 8 – 5. Less than a minute later, the Rock would tally their fourth in the frame. Hiltz fired a laser from outside that Higgins got a piece of, but it bounced just over the line to regain the four-goal lead at 9 – 5. The Rock would close out the scoring in the half with less than three minutes on the ticker. Matthews passed to Rogers at the top and his side arm shot went glove side giving them a six-goal lead once again sending Higgins to the bench. Score at the end of two: Toronto 10—Ottawa 5. The shots at the end of the first half were Toronto 24 and Ottawa 20.

Higgins headed back to the net for the Black Bears in the second half, and for the third quarter in a row the Rock would open the scoring. Matthews passed to Boushy in the middle and his high to low shot went low stick side for his hat trick goal to make it 11 – 5. Less than a minute later, Boushy would tally his second in a row. Craig found Boushy to the side of the crease and his quick stick beat Higgins short side and it was 12 – 5 for the Rock. Ottawa finally stopped the four-goal Rock run halfway through the quarter. Teat passed to Sundown who went in and beat Holowchuk to the glove side for his hat trick goal to make it 12 – 6. Toronto would get that one back right away with another from Boushy when he threw a pick on Dawick’s defender, received a pass right away, deposited the ball over the shoulder and into the top corner for his fifth goal of the game and the Rock were up 13 – 6. With less than two minutes left in the third, Hellyer came down the left side, took a high to low bounce shot that squeezed through Holowchuk’s legs and just over the line to with the Rock still leading 13 – 7. Toronto would respond less than a minute later with another from Matthews coming off the bench, he got the pass from Phil Mazzuca (1A), on his wrong side and his high to low shot went short side to make it 14 – 7. Ottawa was able to get a little closer with a buzzer beater from Hellyer when he took a high to low shot that went five hole cutting into Toronto’s lead. Score at the end of three: Toronto 14—Ottawa 8. The shots on goal at the end of the third quarter were Toronto 40 and Ottawa 31.

Ottawa was finally able to open the scoring in the fourth quarter while playing four on four. Teat fired a sidearm shot that beat Holowchuk to the far side to cut the Rock lead to 14 – 9. After a five-minute major on the Black Bears, the Rock were able to tally two. The first from Hiltz when he came to the top, took a high-to-high shot over the shoulder to make it 15 – 9 for the Rock. On the Hiltz marker, Matthews received an assist vaulting him into 10^th place overall in the NLL All Time assist leaders with 709. On the same power play, a minute and a half later, Kirst got a pass from Rogers, stepped around his defender and his bounce shot went far side to increase the Rock lead to 16 – 9. Ottawa would get one back a minute later with 7:25 to go. Hellyer made a nice behind the back pass to Kearnan and his shot beat Holowchuk over the shoulder to cut into the Rock lead, and it was 16 – 10. With 4:30 left on the clock, both sides were called for roughing, and Ottawa still had a man in the box giving Toronto the upper hand for which they’d capitalize. Matthews found Rogers and his shot went far side which would also turn out to be the final tally on the night. Final Score: Toronto 17—Ottawa 10.

The Three stars of the game were:
Mark Matthews – Toronto Rock: 2G, 9A
Chris Boushy – Toronto Rock: 5G
Challen Rogers – Toronto Rock: 3G, 4A

GAME STATS:
Ottawa Black Bears—SOG 47; Saves 35; Sv% .673; FO 17-30; PP 3-4; PIM 11
Toronto Rock—SOG 52; Saves 37; Sv% .787; FO 13-30; PP 4-4; PIM 12

NEXT UP:

The Toronto Rock (4-3) will play host to the Oshawa FireWolves (2-7) at TD Coliseum on Saturday February 7, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. This will be the NLL Game of the Week for fans in Canada, and they can catch the action on TSN and TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.

The Ottawa Black Bears (4-5) will play host to the Calgary Roughnecks (1-6) at Canadian Tire Centre, also on Saturday February 7, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.