Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Alexis Goeller
The No. 6 Seed Toronto Rock and the No. 7 Seed San Diego Seals faced off in the second of their three-game semifinal series on the West Coast Sunday night. Toronto was hoping for the win which would send them to their first NLL Championship Finals since 2015. During Game 1 on Friday night in Toronto, when the Rock defeated the Seals 14 – 12, San Diego’s starting goalie Chris Origlieri was forced to leave the game after taking a couple of shots to the head so Cameron Dunkerley would get the nod in Game 2. Toronto needed the win to get that extra week off, while the other semifinals between Georgia and Halifax could finish their series next weekend. On the other side, San Diego was hoping to send the series back to Toronto next Saturday for Game Three. The Rock scored first in the game but were shut out for the next 38 minutes while the Seals went on a seven-goal run. They also went 0-5 on the power play which highlighted their low offensive output. San Diego would dominate on both sides of the floor throughout the contest and would not allow the Rock to get any momentum going from the very beginning forcing Game Three. Final Score: Seals 11—Rock 6.
Toronto opened the scoring just over a minute into the first quarter. Challen Rogers (1G, 1A) beat his defender down low, and his high-to-high shot would go over the shoulder of Cam Dunkerley (36 saves) for the early 1 – 0 lead. San Diego would tie it six minutes later on a delayed penalty against Toronto. The Seals completed a beautiful three-way pass when Ben McIntosh (2A) passed to Zach Currier (1G, 2A) who fed Dylan Watson (4G) in front, and his quick stick shot beat Nick Rose (34 saves) to the glove side low to tie the game at one. The Seals would take their first lead of the game with four minutes left in the frame. Watson beat his defender, took a high to low shot that went far bottom corner to make it 2 – 1 San Diego. The shots on goal at the end of the first were San Diego 10 and Toronto 9.
The second was a defensive battle with San Diego putting up the only two tallies. They’d open the scoring 3:39 in while on the power play. Connor Robinson (2G, 1A) fired a high to low shot from the top that hit the post and went in behind Rose increasing the Seals lead to 3 – 1. After the Rock failed to score on three straight power plays, the Seals would tally the final in the second with 1:45 on the ticker. Tre LeClaire (1G, 4A) would fire a low-to-low shot from just inside the restraining line that went stick side and the lead was three. Toronto was shut out for over 28 minutes in the first half. The shots at the end of the first half were San Diego 22 and Toronto 16. Score at the end of two: Seals 4—Rock 1.
The Seals would keep the run going in the third quarter. While in transition, Wes Berg (1G, 5A) would shoot around his defender and put it short side to make it 5 – 1. Two minutes later Currier got the pick, shot around it and his shot also went short side, and it was now 6 – 1. Three minutes later, after making a save with the knob of his stick, Dunkerley fired an outlet pass the length of the floor to James Barclay (1G), he jumped at the beginning of the crease and his bounce shot went five hole and the Seals had increased their lead by six, and the board showed 7 – 1. Off the ensuing faceoff, Chris Boushy (2g, 1a), would finally stop the run with a side arm shot around his defender that beat Dunkerley to the far side to cut the Seals lead to 7 – 2. That was the first Rock goal in over 38 minutes. But San Diego would respond quickly. LeClaire saw Watson cutting through the middle, passed and Watson’s quick stick shot went glove side giving him a hat trick goal to reestablish the six-goal lead at 8 – 2. The shots on goal after the third quarter were San Diego 37 and Toronto 26.
The fourth would see the two teams battle back and forth with the Rock outscoring the Seals 4-3. They’d open the scoring in the frame while shorthanded. CJ Kirst (1G, 2A) fired a side arm shot between two defenders that went short side to make it 8 – 3 for the Seals. Less than a minute later, the Seals would tally another. Robinson received a pass from Currier right in front and his twister shot went glove side to regain the six-goal lead at 9 – 3. But Toronto would answer quickly with one of their own. Twenty-five seconds later, Mark Matthews (1G) came across the top, shot high to high back to the short side over Dunkerley’s shoulder to make it 9 – 4 for the Seals. At this point, Toronto’s Bench Boss Matt Sawyer, made the decision to replace Rose with Troy Holowchuk (7 saves) so he could run back and forth to the bench to get an extra attacker on the floor, but that didn’t stop the Seals. Berg would fake a shot, pass to Watson behind the net and he dove in front to beat Holowchuk to the short side to make it 10 – 4 for the Seals with just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. It started to get chippy with just under six minutes left in the frame, and after the dust settled, Brad Kri (1A), Elijah Gash and Billy Hostrawser for Toronto and Wes Berg for San Diego were all sent to the dressing room. With Holowchuk pulled for an extra attacker, Owen Hiltz (1G, 1A) scooped the loosie, and his floater shot would beat Dunkerly over the shoulder for the second shorthanded tally for Toronto cutting the lead in half 10 – 5 for the Seals. With the Toronto goalie on the bench, Trent DiCicco (3A) picked off a pass, ran the floor, passed to Eli Gobrecht (1G) who put it in the empty net to make it 11 – 5 for the Seals. With less than a minute left in the fourth, the Rock would tally their final on the night. Josh Dawick (2A) passed to Boushy behind the net, he dove in front and beat Dunkerley to the short side and the final score was Seals 11—Rock 6.
The Three stars of the game were:
Cam Dunkerley – San Diego Seals: 36 saves
Dylan Watson – San Diego Seals: 4 goals
Wes Berg – San Diego Seals: 1 goal, 5 assists
GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 42; Combined Saves 41; Combined Sv% .788; FO 12-21; PP 0-5; PIM 52; LB 59; TO 28
San Diego Seals—SOG 52; Saves 36; Sv% .875; FO 9-21; PP 2-7; PIM 28; LB 71; TO 21
NEXT UP:
Game 3 heads back to TD Coliseum on Saturday May 9, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST, where the Toronto Rock (1-1) will host the San Diego Seals (1-1) and the winner moving onto the NLL Championship Series to will face either the Georgia Swarm (0-1)** or the Halifax Thunderbirds (1-0). The game will be televised on ESPN+, TSN, TSN+ and NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
**Record at the time of the article