Toronto Hits Last Shot To Beat Halifax 14-13 In Overtime
HALIFAX, NS – It was an instant classic on display for the entire country as the Toronto Rock (8-5) defeated the Halifax Thunderbirds (5-8) on NLL Friday Night on TSN when Josh Dawick scored the overtime winner 5:58 into the extra frame to secure the 14-13 Rock victory.
“We are just continuing to strive for consistency,” said Dawick. “It’s always hard to play here and we knew that was the type of game it was going to be. Thrilled to come out on the right end of that one.”
The Rock were held without a goal for the first eleven-plus minutes of the first quarter and fell behind 2-0 to the Thunderbirds. Dan Craig, newcomer Josh Jackson, and Dawick scored in succession in a span of just over three minutes to put the Rock up 3-2. Halifax scored a buzzer beater with 0.1 seconds left in the quarter to tie the score 3-3 through the opening 15 minutes.
Toronto scored twice but Halifax answered with a pair of their own to once again tie the game, 5-5. Exactly two minutes after the Thunderbirds evened the score, Latrell Harris scored on a long blast to put the Rock up 6-5 going into the break. The Harris goal will stand as his 100th career point.
Halifax outscored the Rock 4-3 in the third quarter to knot the game up 9-9 heading to the fourth quarter. Three of the Thunderbirds’ tallies came on the power play.
On the opening possession of the fourth quarter, Owen Hiltz struck just 15 seconds in to put the Rock up 10-9. The home side scored three straight to surge ahead 12-10 with 7:51 remaining. Sam English kickstarted the comeback with an ankle breaker to draw the Rock to within a goal. From there, Rock captain Challen Rogers took over, scoring the tying and go-ahead goals just 34 seconds apart to give the Rock a 13-12 lead with 1:28 to play. Halifax tied the game with 22 seconds left to force overtime tied 13-13.
In the extra period, both teams had glorious scoring chances but it was the Rock’s Josh Dawick, now becoming famous for his hands-free shooting accuracy, who delivered the overtime game winning for the Rock to seal the 14-13 win.
Halifax was a perfect 4-for-4 on the power play while the Rock were 1-for-2 with the man advantage. While the Rock carried the advantage in the shots on goal department for most of the night, it was the Thunderbirds that finished with a 58-55 edge in shots on goal.
The Rock scoring was spread throughout the lineup with five players finishing with four points each: Dawick (3G, 1A), Hiltz (3G, 1A), Harris (1G, 3A), Mark Matthews (1G, 3A), and Rogers (2G, 2A).
“There’s still a lot of lacrosse to be played and we’re just trying to get better each and every week,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “We feel like we’ve been making strides and tonight it was important to follow up last week’s performance with another real good one.”
The Rock will play their second-to-last home game on Friday, March 20 against the Saskatchewan Rush at TD Coliseum in Hamilton at 7:30pm. It’s Marvel Super Hero Night and Charity Night featuring a Teddy Bear Toss all benefitting Smilezone Foundation.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 905-426-4744, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
