Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough
The Toronto Rock (3-6) hosted the San Diego Seals (4-6) on a snowy Saturday night in February with both teams heading in different directions. San Diego was on a three-game losing skid while the Rock had won three in a row. At the beginning of the game the Seals looked like a team that had been winning as they poured 35 shots on goal in the first half alone and were ahead by three at the break. They increased their lead to four going into the final quarter and that’s when the Rock came to life. They went on a five-goal run in the fourth to take their first lead of the game. In the last minute and a half of the game San Diego broke through to tie it up and put the game winner into the net in the last 49 seconds to end their losing skid with an 11 – 10 win.
Toronto got into penalty trouble in the first minute of the game as Brad Kri took two penalties on the same play and the Rock were short handed for four minutes. The Seals had plenty of shots on the power play but only one goal. Dylan Watson (2G) picked up a loose ball late in the shot clock, ran behind the net and dunked it over Nick Rose’s (48 saves, 2A) shoulder for the early 1 – 0 Seals lead. San Diego continued to shoot at will, but Rose was up to the task for the next 10 minutes of the quarter. But the Seals would double their lead with less than three minutes to play in the frame. Eli Gobrecht (3A) passed to Wes Berg (4G), he dove in front and while in the air, faked low and went high over the shoulder for a shorthanded goal and it was 2 – 0 Seals. On the ensuing faceoff, while still on the power play Elijah Gash (1G) took the ball all alone to the net and his high to low shot beat Chris Origlieri (39 saves) cutting the lead to 2 – 1. The shots at the end of the first quarter were San Diego 22 and Toronto 9.
Three minutes into the second, San Diego struck again. Berg cut around his defender, headed straight down the middle of the floor and his high-to-high shot beat Rose over the shoulder to make it 3 – 1 for the Seals. Half of a minute later Dylan Watson (2G) spun off his defender and fired a low to high shot to the top corner and it was 4 – 1 San Diego. Toronto would get one back three minutes later while on the power play. Josh Dawick (1G, 2A) got the feed from Tom Schreiber (1G, 2A) and put a high-to-high shot over the shoulder of Origlieri far side cutting the lead to 4 – 2. San Diego wasted no time restoring the three-goal lead off the ensuing face off. Trent DiCicco (1G) took the ball in on Rose and his side arm shot went low to the glove side and the Seals lead was now 5 – 2. Three minutes later Rose would make a good save, passed the ball up the floor to a cutting Mitch deSnoo (2G, 2A) who fired an overhand shot to the low stick side, and it was 5 – 3 Seals with six minutes left in the first half. The Seals would close out the scoring on a nice two-man game. Rob Hellyer (2G, 3A) passed to Ben Mcintosh (1G, 3A) and he beat Rose over the shoulder to close out the half with a 6 – 3 lead. The shots on goal at the end of the first half were San Diego 35 and Toronto 22.
The Rock would strike first in the second half. Schreiber took a pass from Dawick on the run and his sidearm shot went short side cutting the Seals lead to 6 – 4. Less than 30 seconds later, San Diego would regain their three-goal lead. Ty Thompson (1G, 3A) took a jab step and unloaded a high to low shot that went five hole, and it was 7 – 4 Seals. They would increase their lead less than a minute later. Hellyer made a one-handed pass to Berg in front and his shot beat a screened Rose to the far side and it was 8 – 4 Seals. Three minutes later, Toronto would get that one back. While on the power play, Corey Small (3G) picked up a loose ball and fired a shot to the far side under the stick to make it 8 – 5. The Seals would close out the scoring with 5:39 left in the third quarter. Hellyer beat his defender low and his high to low bounce shot beat Rose through the legs. For the next five and change, it was the netminders who dueled it out. San Diego would head to the fourth leading 9 – 5. The shots on goal were San Diego 50 and Toronto 32.
Toronto came out on fire in the fourth and started it off just 24 seconds in. Dan Craig (2A) took a loose ball and on a two-on-one passed to Chris Boushy (1G, 1A) and his quick stick found the back of the net and it was 9 – 6 Seals. Twenty-five seconds later Challen Rogers (1A) passed to Small, and his bounce shot beat Origlieri over the leg pad and it was 9 – 7 San Diego. Toronto kept up the pressure and just as their power play ended, Schreiber passed across the floor to Small and his high to low shot went through the wickets for his hat trick goal and the 400th goal of his career making it a 9 – 8 game. The 5,030 Toronto fans started to get very loud as they were trying to push their team onto victory. Twenty seconds later Brian Cameron (1G, 1A) came from behind the net and his bounce shot beat Origlieri five hole tying the game at nine with half of a quarter to play. Just over a minute later Rose passed the ball the full length of the floor to a streaking deSnoo and his shot around the defender went under the arm giving the Rock their first lead of the game at 10 – 9. For the next six minutes, although each team tried, the keepers of the cage were relentless staving off shot after shot. Then, for Toronto the unthinkable happened. With less than two minutes left in the game, Hellyer took a high-to-high shot over his defender that went over the shoulder of Rose, and we were tied at ten. San Diego would come back 30 seconds later and notch not only the go-ahead tally, but what also turned out to be the GWG. Berg ran along the top and his sidearm shot beat Rose short side to give the Seals an 11 – 10 lead. Toronto Bench Boss Matt Sawyer made the call to pull Rose for the extra attacker in the last 30 seconds, but they couldn’t beat Origlieri to tie the game and San Diego held on for the 11 – 10 win. The final shots on goal were San Diego 59 and Toronto 49.
The Three stars of the game were:
Wes Berg – San Diego Seals: 4 Goals
Nick Rose – Toronto Rock: 2 Assists and 48 saves
Corey Small – Toronto Rock: 3 Goals
GAME STATS:
San Diego Seals—59 SOG; Saves 37; Sv% .796; FO 9-25; PP 1-3; PIM 14
Toronto Rock—49 SOG; Saves 48; Sv% .828; FO 16-25; PP 4-5; PIM 10
NEXT UP:
The Toronto Rock (3-6) will play host to the unbeaten Buffalo Bandits (6-0) at Paramount Fine Foods Centre on Friday February 14, 2025, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. For the fans in Canada, this is NLL Friday Night on TSN, so fans can see the game on TSN5 & TSN+. The game can also be seen on NLL+
The San Diego Seals (4-6) will also face the Buffalo Bandits in Pechanga Arena on Saturday February 15, 2025, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. This game can also be seen on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©