Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Christian Bender
The Toronto Rock (0-2) hosted their Home Opener in their temporary home arena, the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario on Saturday night, where they will play for the 2024/25 season during the renovation of the First Ontario Place in Hamilton. The Rock would be without five key players who could be in the starting lineup as Tom Schreiber, Latrell Harris, Brad Kri, TD Ierlan and Captain Challen Rogers were all out with injuries. Both the Albany FireWolves and Toronto came into the game 0 – 1 on the season so each team wanted their first win so as to avoid falling further behind in the standings. The Rock continued with another slow start for the second game in a row, were held scoreless in the first quarter and even though they scored earlier than last week, the offense couldn’t put enough shots behind Doug Jamieson to keep the game close. Albany rode 5 and 6 goal runs to easily get into the win column with a 15 – 4 win over the Rock.
he Rock ran into penalty trouble right away. Just over three minutes into the first quarter while trying to kill off their second penalty of the game, Tye Kurtz (2G, 1A) went around a pick and his bounce shot beat Nick Rose (27 saves) to the far side and Albany was on the board. Six minutes later Marshall Powless (1G, 1A) after some back-and-forth play, fired a sidearm bounce shot that beat Rose to the far side for a two-goal lead for Albany. Five minutes later while short-handed Albany’s John Piatelli (1G, 1A) grabbed a rebound from a shot off of the back boards and his quick shot beat Rose over the shoulder to increase the Albany lead to three after the first quarter. The shots in the first quarter were Albany 15 and Toronto 12. Score at the end of one: FireWolves 3—Rock 0.
Less than a minute into the second quarter while in transition on a two on one, Zac Masson (2G) received a pass from Jackson Nishimura (2A), bounced one in five-hole and it was 4 – 0 Albany. The five-goal run was capped on a FireWolves powerplay. Alex Simons (2G, 1A) fired a sidearm shot from the top that beat Rose over the shoulder and they were up 5 – 0. Thirty seconds later the Rock would finally get on the board. Phil Mazzuca (1A) fed a cutting Josh Dawick (3G) who dove across the crease and put it through Jamieson’s legs cutting the Albany lead to 5 – 1. Four minutes later while short-handed, Albany rushed up the floor, Colton Watkinson (1G, 1A) took a side arm shot over the shoulder of Rose, and it was 6 – 1 Albany. The remaining six plus minutes of the second did not produce another goal, however, with 39 seconds left in the period the power in the building went out for a few seconds. The way that the game was going for the Rock they may have wished that it had stayed out for even longer. The shots at the end of the second quarter were Albany 31 and Toronto 27. Score at the end of two: FireWolves 6—Rock 1.
Albany would strike first again the third. Sam Firth (5G, 1A) picked up a loose ball in front of the Rock net, spun around and put his side arm shot through Rose’s legs to make it 7 – 1 for Albany. Thirty seconds later, Toronto would score back-to-back for the first and only time in the contest. Dawick picked up his second goal of the game beating his defender down low and his high to low shot beat Jamieson through the legs cutting the lead to five, at 7 – 2. Just over a minute later while on the power play, Dawick notched his hat trick goal firing an overhand shot to the far side. Off the ensuing face-off, it took only seven seconds for Albany to strike starting their six-goal run. Joe Nardella passed to Kurtz on the crease and his low-to-low shot beat Rose through the legs restoring the five goal lead for Albany. Firth would add to the FireWolves lead when he came across the top and his low-to-low bounce shot went short side and it was 9 – 3. Two minutes later Simons would cut underneath his defender and beat Rose over the shoulder as he dove across the crease and it was now 10 – 3. Albany would close out the scoring in the third while on their fifth powerplay on the night. Firth received a pass from Travis Longboat (1G, 5A) as he cut in front of the net and his quick stick shot went short side closing out the frame 11 – 3 for Albany. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Albany 41 and Toronto 39.
The final frame would see more penalties than goals with Toronto being nabbed with six and Albany being the recipient of four. The Rock Bench Boss Matt Sawyer had seen enough and changed their goaltender to start the fourth quarter putting in Troy Holowchuk (10 saves) and Rose’s night was done. Albany did not take long to welcome Holowchuk. Just eight seconds into the quarter off the faceoff, Masson grabbed the loose ball, ran right down the center of the floor and beat Holowchuk to the far bottom post for an almost insurmountable lead for the Rock to overcome, and it was 12 – 3 for Albany. Less than two minutes later, while on a delayed penalty Firth would fire a shot from the top that Holowchuk got a piece of, but it trickled over the line giving them a 10 goal lead. Toronto would get that one back five minutes later when Jamieson made a save but the ball was sitting at his feet, Luke Robinson (1G) picked it up and his shot beat Jamieson over the shoulder for his first NLL goal and the final goal on the night for the home squad. Halfway through the final quarter Firth would notch his fifth on the night when he received a one-handed pass from Simons and his twister shot went far side to make it 14 – 4 for Albany. With the game out of hand on the scoreboard, it started to get chippy. Josh Jubenville wrestled with Tye Kurtz, then Elijah Gash and Dyson Williams (1A) wanted to fight but the referees got in between them before it could start. The FireWolves decided they weren’t done yet and with less than five minutes on the clock, Longboat would close it out off a pass from Will Johansen (1A) in front and his shot beat Holowchuk to the far side to make it 15 – 4 for Albany. It was then that Albany pulled Jamieson and put Andrew Kidd (1 save) in net for his first minutes in the NLL. The Albany captain Watkinson was a marked man after an open floor hit on Gash and throughout the last few minutes of the game Billy Hostrawser took a run at Watkinson but again the referees got in between them before a fight could ensue. As the final buzzer went there was a gathering at the benches when Rose and Jamieson came together and some pushing and shoving happened. Again, no punches were thrown. Unfortunately for Toronto they cannot avenge their loss during the regular season, as the two teams will not face each other again unless it is in the playoffs. The shots at the end of the game were Albany 52 and Toronto 48. Final Score: FireWolves 15—Rock 4.
The Three stars of the game:
- Sam Firth, Albany FireWolves – 5G, 1A
- Travis Longboat, Albany FireWolves – 1G, 5A
- Josh Dawick, Toronto Rock – 3G
GAME STATS:
Albany FireWolves—SOG 52; Saves 44; Sv% .917; FO 20-23; FO% .869%; PP 3-7; PIM 19
Toronto Rock—SOG 48; Saves 37; Sv% .712; FO 3-23; FO% .130%; PP 1-5; PIM 25
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (0-2) will travel to Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia to face the Swarm (1-0) on Saturday December 14, 2024, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the US can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
The Albany FireWolves (1-1) will play host to the Calgary Roughnecks (1-0) also on Saturday December 14, 2024, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the US can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©