The Toronto Rock authored a stunning comeback on the road Saturday night, erasing a significant first-half deficit to snatch an 11-10 victory from the Rochester Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena.
Resilient Rock Rallies from Early Hole
Frustration marked the opening half for the visiting squad, as the Rock struggled to convert scoring chances and found themselves trailing 6-2. The narrative shifted completely in the final thirty minutes, with Toronto's offence and defence clicking in unison to mount a relentless push.
The dramatic finish came with just 58 seconds remaining on the clock. Veteran forward Mark Matthews found a sliver of space to the left of Rochester goaltender Rylan Hartley and fired a low bounce shot into the net for the decisive goal.
"It came from moving our feet on offence and everyone sharing the ball," Matthews said post-game. "(Chris) Boushy found me on the back side. I saw a small lane to the net and was fortunate to put it away."
Holowchuk Steps Up in Critical Relief Role
A pivotal moment in the contest occurred in the third quarter when starting goaltender Nick Rose left the game with a lower-body injury following a collision with Rochester's Graydon Hogg. Backup Troy Holowchuk entered under pressure and delivered a stellar performance, holding the potent Knighthawks offence to just three goals on 16 shots to preserve the comeback chance.
On the scoresheet, Owen Hiltz led Toronto with a hat trick. Mark Matthews and Dan Craig each contributed two goals. The scoring was rounded out by single markers from CJ Kirst, Hugh Kelleher, Chris Boushy, and rookie Sam English, who also collected eight loose balls in what was his best performance of the young season.
For the Knighthawks (4-2), Connor Fields was a standout with four goals. Ryan Lanchbury and Thomas McConvey scored twice each, with Hogg and Ryan Smith adding singles.
Around the National Lacrosse League
The Saskatchewan Rush (6-1) solidified their hold on first place with a 15-10 win over the visiting Oshawa FireWolves. A 5-0 run in the first half proved insurmountable. Oshawa native Ryan Keenan tormented his hometown team, scoring four times in the first half, including his 200th career NLL goal.
In other Saturday action:
- Ottawa Black Bears 10, Buffalo Bandits 9: Jeff Teat scored three of his five goals in the fourth quarter to lift Ottawa (4-3) past Buffalo (3-3).
- Colorado Mammoth 11, Halifax Thunderbirds 6: Dillon Ward's 49-save masterpiece backstopped Colorado (4-2) to a road win in Halifax.
- San Diego Seals 11, Vancouver Warriors 9: The Seals (2-3) earned a road victory, overcoming a hat trick from Vancouver's Adam Charalambides.
- Georgia Swarm 19, Calgary Roughnecks 9: Lyle Thompson and Toron Eccleston each scored four times as the Swarm (3-3) routed the Roughnecks (1-5) in a neutral-site game in Edmonton.
- Las Vegas Desert Dogs 10, Philadelphia Wings 7: Adam Poitras' hat trick led Las Vegas (3-3) to a win over Philadelphia (1-4).
The victory improves the Toronto Rock's record to 3-2 on the season. The team's next challenge comes this Saturday when they host the Georgia Swarm at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton.
