Hamilton, ON – The Toronto Rock (3-0) continued their winning ways with a 14-8 win over the New York Riptide (0-3) on Saturday night at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, ON in front of 9,566 fans to end 2023 on a high note.
The Rock played a very strong first half leading 6-1, with the Rock defenders and their star goaltender shining brightest, keeping the opposition’s shooters at bay.
“Over the years of playing here, it’s unfortunate (for other teams) to know that that’s a very high likelihood so it’s nothing crazy out of the ordinary. They’re fantastic back there,” Dan Craig said of his goaltender Nick Rose and the Rock defence who held New York to the solo tally in the first half.
The Rock transition game was on full display all night and it wasn’t something that was lost on Rose.
“I think that’s a big part of our game, it has been for a long time, and we have the personnel that can run and actually cash in and transition,” explained Rose. “It’s such a huge kind of breath of relief for the offence I’m sure when we can cash in on those. So hopefully that doesn’t slow down at all.”
The second quarter was a 3-0 blanking of the Riptide, and it was the transition game that really got it all going. Justin Martin continued his rookie scoring streak and Dan Lintner scored carbon copy goals 1:17 apart, coming off the bench and burying goals that really swung the game in the Rock’s favour before halftime.
The Rock built and 8-1 lead in the third quarter and from there it looked like the home team would coast to victory. However, New York started chipping away at the large deficit and three-goal run that started at the end of the third and carried over into the final quarter suddenly saw the scoreboard read 10-6 and it appeared we might have a lacrosse game on our hands.
Craig quickly put that possibility to rest, scoring his fourth goal of the game to send the Rock up by five goals, 11-6. Toronto outscored New York the rest of the way to make the final 14-8. TD Ierlan rounded out the scoring with an empty night goal to go along with his 23 faceoff wins on 27 attempts.
The Rock outshot the Riptide 51-48. Rose finished with 40 saves, while the Riptide’s Cam Dunkerley made 37 stops. Will Johnston played just over a minute late in the game and made 1 stop and didn’t allow any goals.
The Rock will now have another bye week, their third of the season. Their next game will be at Halifax on Friday, January 12 at 6:30pm ET. The Rock will be back at home on Saturday, January 20 at 7pm ET against Georgia for 80s night.
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.
