Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough
The Toronto Rock (11-2) hosted the Colorado Mammoth (4-9) for an early evening Kids’ Day game on Saturday March 9, 2024. The Rock welcomed back Dan Craig after missing the last three games with an injury. After sweeping their two game West Coast Road trip last weekend, people wondered if there would be any fatigue in this game as it was their first back-to-back games of the season. The game featured the battle of two of the best goaltenders in the NLL who both happen to come from the same town of Orangeville, Ontario. Even though Dillon Ward had more saves in the game, Nick Rose came away with the 12 – 7 win after a big fourth quarter from the Rock offense. This is the first time that the Toronto Rock have been 11 – 2 in their history.
Less than two minutes into the game, the Rock opened the scoring and would keep Colorado out the net for the full fifteen. Mark Matthews (1G, 6A) passed to Dan Lintner (3G) in front and even with a defender draped all over him, his bounce shot beat Dillon Ward (46 saves) to the glove side for the 1 – 0 lead. It took 10 minutes before Toronto would find twine again. With just over three minutes left in the first, Lintner came from the boards and fired a high to low shot over his defender and went glove side for a two-goal lead. Twenty seconds later Tom Schreiber (2G, 4A) came around the top and fired a sidearm shot that Ward got a piece of, but it rolled behind him and into the net to make it 3 – 0 for the Rock. The Rock would close out the frame when Dan Craig (1G, 2A) passed to the top to Josh Dawick (1G, 1A) and his side arm shot went five-hole. Score at the end of one: Toronto 4 – Mammoth -0-. The shots at the end of the first quarter were Toronto 13—Colorado 10.
The Rock started the second quarter with two transition breakaways that Ward was able to turn away and keep the Toronto lead at four. This sparked the Mammoth who would control the second. While on the power play Ben McDonald (1A) who was just signed by Colorado, passed to Eli McLaughlin (2G) who was cutting to the net and his high to low shot beat Rose to the short side. Twenty-three seconds later, while in transition Tyler Garrison (1G) took the ball, went in on Rose with Craig in pursuit, Garrison stopped, turned and fired around Craig and beat Rose to the stick side cutting the Rock lead to 4 – 2. Colorado would score their third in a row within 58 seconds and second in transition. Jordan Gilles (1G) came in on Rose and beat him over the shoulder to make it 4 – 3 Rock. The Mammoth would tally their fourth in a row while shorthanded because of a five-minute major for boarding to Jalen Chaster (1A). Joey Cupido (1G) got the pass from Ward, went in all alone on Rose and went over the shoulder tying the game at four. On the same power play Matthews sent a skip pass to Chris Boushy (1G, 3A) and his quick stick went through Ward’s legs again giving the Rock a 5 – 4 lead. This also led to the fans at the game throwing teddy bears onto the floor all of which were collected and being donated to the Hamilton United Way. The teams traded chances throughout the rest of the quarter but could not add to their score as the defense and goaltending stood tall. The shots at the end of the first half were Toronto 28—Colorado 22.
Colorado would open the scoring in the second half three minutes in. McLaughlin received a pass from Chris Wardle (1A) in front of the crease, he turned and fired one over the shoulder to tie the game at five just four minutes into the third. The Mammoth would take their first lead of the game while on the power play. Zed Williams (2A) flipped a pass to Tyson Gibson (2G) at the side of the net and his low-to-low shot went through the legs and Colorado moved ahead 6 – 5. Toronto would respond four minutes later with Craig firing a side arm shot from the top that Ward got a piece of, but it fell behind him and Tim Edwards knocked it over the line as he dove to try and keep it out of the net and the game was tied at six. Colorado answered right back when Williams was double teamed. He passed it to Gibson and his high-to-high shot from way outside beat Rose over the shoulder to the far side and it was 7 – 6 Mammoth. On a broken play at the end of the shot clock with 11 seconds left in the frame, Lintner took a loose ball off of the boards, went towards the net, jumped across and beat Ward with a twister shot to the short side for his hat trick goal and it was tied again at seven. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Toronto 42—Colorado 35.
Toronto would open the scoring in the fourth quarter less than two minutes in and would shut out Colorado. Zack Kearney (1G) picked up a rebound on a Craig shot and his twister shot went far side low to give Toronto a one goal lead at 8 – 7. Less than 30 seconds later Mitch de Snoo (1G) caused a turnover, picked up a loose ball, went in all alone on Ward and beat him to the stick side and the Rock lead was 9 – 7. Toronto would continue their run. Schreiber received a pass from Corey Small (3A) and his side arm low to low shot went through the legs increasing the Rock lead to three at 10 – 7. With Ward on the Colorado bench for the extra attacker, Chris Weier (1G) picked off a pass in his own end, ran the length of the floor and deposited the ball into the empty net for his first goal of the year and it was 11 – 7. With 1:56 left in the contest, off the ensuing faceoff, Matthews would run around his defender, took it to the net and his low shot beat Ward to the glove side for the final tally on the night. The shots at the end of the game were Toronto 55—Colorado 45. Final Score: Toronto 12—Colorado 7.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Mark Matthews – Toronto Rock: 1 goal, 6 Assists
Dillon Ward – Colorado Mammoth: 1 Assist, 46 saves
Tom Schreiber – Toronto Rock: 2 Goals, 4 Assists
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (11-2) will head to KeyBank Center to face off against the Buffalo Bandits (6-6) on Saturday March 16, 2024, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. This is one of the Games of the Week for fans in Canada so they can see the action on TSN5 and TSN+.
The Colorado Mammoth (4-9) have a bye-week next weekend and will be back in action on Saturday March 23, 2024, when they host the Rochester Knighthawks (5 -6), game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to see the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse Is Awesome©