Toronto Sweeps Western Weekend To Remain In First Place
San Diego, CA – The Toronto Rock (10-2) came from behind in the late going of a 15-13 win over the San Diego Seals (8-4) on Saturday night in San Diego, California at Pechanga Arena. The win kept the Rock perfect on the road at 6-0, while it was the Seals’ first loss at home this season.
Both the Rock and the Seals played last night, but the two teams certainly put on an incredible show as two of the top three teams in the league battled right to the final buzzer to decide this clash of NLL titans.
“Each and every night when you go out there, you’re going to face something different,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “That was a hard-fought game by both teams, and we made a couple more plays than them to get the win.”
The Rock started very well, building a 3-1 lead. Early on it was the faceoff dominance of TD Ierlan that gave the Rock the upper hand and allowed the visitors to keep the pressure on the Seals. San Diego netted a pair to even to the score at 3-3 but couldn’t take the lead as the Rock went up 4-3 and 5-4 but the Seals tied the score each time Toronto jumped ahead. A late power play goal by Wes Berg gave the Seals a 6-5 lead after one.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second quarter until the Seals put together a mini two-goal run to go up 10-8. The Rock’s Chris Boushy continued to carry a hot stick, scoring to draw his team to within one before halftime, trailing 10-9 at the break.
After 19 goals in the first half, the third quarter saw both teams dial up the defence. Marley Angus scored for the second consecutive game, tying the score 10-10. Just 36 seconds later the Seals answered back to carry an 11-10 lead into the final quarter.
Mark Matthews and Corey Small each scored their second goals of the game to give the Rock their first lead since the first quarter. The Seals scored two in a row to surge back ahead 13-12. With exactly two minutes remaining, Dan Lintner picked up a rebound and defied gravity to hang in the air long enough to put the ball in the net and stay out of the crease until the ball entered the goal. Originally called no goal on the floor, following an officials-initiated review, the call on the floor was overturned and the Rock had tied the game 13-13.
That set the stage for a superhero like finish, and of course it was none other than ‘Captain America’ Tom Schreiber firing a long-range laser that torched the twine and put the Rock up 14-13. Mitch de Snoo scored an empty net goal to round out the scoring.
“It was a gutsy weekend,” said Schreiber. “I think playing two tough games, coming out with two Ws, down a couple guys, and facing some adversity frankly in both games. Particularly tonight against a really tough team, both on the road, coming away with two wins. It feels that much better.”
The Rock took 15 minutes worth of penalties in this game and the Seals’ power play was dialed in, going 4-for-6. It was almost enough for them to come out on top, but Nick Rose continued to make a strong case for goalie of the year, making 38 saves to get the win. The Rock were 2-for-2 on the power play. Chris Origlieri took the loss for San Diego.
At 10-2, the Rock have matched their best-ever start through 12 games, equalling the start of the 2015 Toronto Rock.
The Rock will return home next Saturday to face the Colorado Mammoth at 5pm at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton. It’s Kidz Night and the first 5,000 fans will receive a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Bachly Construction.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
