The Toronto Rock are off to a strong start to their 2019 NLL campaign after defeating the Buffalo Bandits last Friday, 17-12. The Rock silenced a raucous Banditland crowd on a night of back and forth gritty lacrosse.
This was Toronto’s first game of the season and it showed early on as the Bandits went up 5-1 on them in the 1st Quarter. However, it didn’t take long for the boys in blue and red to shake the rust off and the Rock answered by rattling off 6 goals in a row.
Toronto continued to apply pressure on the Bandits as well as frustrating their defense all night, which resulted in Matt Vinc getting pulled in the 3rd Quarter. The Rock pulled out a dominant victory on the backs of stellar performances by Nick Rose in net, Challen Rogers and the defense, and the offense peppering Vinc and back up Zach Higgins.
Also, congrats to Rob Hellyer who scored his 400th point on this goal against Buffalo.
This goal marked the 400th career point for Rob Hellyer! If you'll be at the Home Opener, give us a #HellYeah!
Tickets: https://t.co/7KwcEE6SFd pic.twitter.com/juq0RpcgD9
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) December 27, 2018
Hellyer and Schreiber looked very good working together and Schreiber looks like he is back at 100%. The Rock’s right side will be giving opposing defenses fits all season.
After the game, head coach Matt Sawyer credited the turning point of the game to Damon Edward’s shorthanded goal at the end of the 1st Quarter. Sawyer went on to say:
Damon won a battle and found a way to put the ball in the back of the net. Once the game settled down, we started to play the game we wanted to.
The Rock were flying up the floor all night in transition and helped spark their comeback. They will give opposing teams a lot of trouble if they can continue this pace and bury several of those chances every night.
Highlights via the Lacrosse Analytics YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5vh5kFZ1w
Toronto Rock: Looking Ahead
The Toronto Rock will face the Georgia Swarm on December 28th in their home opener at Scotiabank Arena in what should be a fast paced high scoring game. The Swarm have players all over their roster that love to fly up the floor like the Rock do, plus they also have the Thompson brothers who will surely provide tough defensive matchups.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this game turned into an old fashioned shootout – especially if both offenses are clicking and their defensive players are streaking up the floor like they love to do.
On one end you’ll have Schreiber and company popping corners…
When you make that mesh POP! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/ugegi6xD7Y
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) December 22, 2018
And on the other end Mike Poulin will be throwing full floor dimes to Jordan MacIntosh…
https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1074120036980285440
The Toronto Rock will look to start the season 2-0 this Friday night. Catch the action on Bleacher Report Live.
