Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Toronto Rock (7-2) was back on the road for the third time in four weeks to take on the winless Georgia Swarm (0-6) at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia Friday night.
Friday afternoon, the Rock made a number of roster moves. Brandon Slade, Zach Manns, and Josh Dawick were moved to the active roster, while Dan Dawson was placed on the Injured Reserve List with a lower body injury. Jordan McKenna and Marley Angus were also placed on the practice roster.
The Swarm have had a terrible schedule this year, only playing five times in ten weeks, and having no bye weeks the rest of the year. Winless so far, Georgia is hoping for more production from their offense. Ryan Lanchbury, Andrew Kew, Shayne Jackson, and Brendan Bomberry have only scored 20 goals combined, while Lyle Thompson has scored 12 on his own. To get in the win column, the Swarm will need production from everyone.
The goalie match-up had Brett Dobson in net for the Swarm facing Nick Rose in goal for Toronto.
The first half saw rookie Josh Dawick score his first two goals of his NLL career for Toronto, while the Swarm finally woke up near the end to make it a 7-4 game.
Georgia made a game of it in the second half, holding Toronto off the scoreboard for the majority of the third, tying the game early in the fourth. The Rock put it in another gear, and with Tom Schreiber’s third of the night, and Dan Craig’s second to take the lead for good en route to a nail-biting 11-10 victory. Georgia made it interesting, but were unable to solve Nick Rose in the final minutes.
To The Game:
The Rock opened the scoring with Tom Schreiber firing a shot low to the shortside off a Stephen Keogh feed at 2:20. Mitch de Snoo increased the lead going coast to coast off a Georgia turnover at 6:10.
The Swarm got on the board with Shayne Jackson converting a Lyle Thompson pass at 9:53, but the Rock answered when Latrell Harris fired a shot low to high beating Brett Dobson to the top corner at 11:30. Josh Dawick then scored his first career goal from the outside off a Corey Small pass at 12:21, increasing the Rock lead to three.
After one quarter, Toronto 4 Georgia 1.
Second Quarter:
Georgia opened the scoring on the power play with Andrew Kew converting a Brendan Bomberry pass at 5:01, but again were answered back by Dan Craig in transition off a Brandon Slade pass 0:29 seconds later. Challen Rogers increased the lead on a great individual effort in transition battling to the goal at 6:26, followed by Josh Dawick with his second of the game firing a laser off a Mitch de Snoo feed at 7:10.
The Swarm replaced Brett Dobson with Craig Wende at this point.
Andrew Kew scored on a screen shot off a Lyle Thompson pass at 7:48, followed by Shayne Jackson with a bounce shot off an Andrew Kew behind the back flip at 10:18.
At the half, Toronto 7 Georgia 4.
Third Quarter:
Georgia got on the board first when Seth Oakes fired a howitzer from the outside off a Lyle Thompson pass at 5:09, followed by Lyle Thompson himself jumping across the crease scoring on Nick Rose off a Brian Cole feed at 6:12.
Tom Schreiber finally got the Rock on the board for the first time on over twenty minutes. Schreiber beat Craig Wende with a long outside shot off a Challen Rogers pass at 13:12. Lyle Thompson answered for the Swarm with a sidearm shot from the restraining line that beat Rose at 14:55.
After three quarters, Toronto 8 Georgia 7.
Fourth Quarter:
The Swarm tied the game when Shayne Jackson converted an Adam Wiedemann pass at 1:49.
Toronto answered back quickly with a blast by Stephen Keogh. Keogh scored through the five hole of Craig Wende off a Mitch de Snoo feed at 2:00. Schreiber scored his third of the night converting a Corey Small pass 0:26 seconds later, giving the Rock a two goal lead once again. Dan Craig scored his second of the night with a blast to the shortside off a Tom Schreiber pass at 5:49.
Adam Wiedemann scored shorthanded for the Swarm on a bounced shot off a Mike Manley pass at 7:40, followed by Andrew Kew’s third of the night to the top corner off a Shayne Jackson pass at 12:09.
A frantic last minute ensued, which also saw the Rock take a penalty. Georgia threw everything at Toronto, but the Rock were able to hold on.
Final score, Toronto 11 Georgia 10.
The Three Stars:
- Tom Schreiber
- Dan Craig
- Josh Dawick
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored Toronto 49-47.
- The faceoff battle was dominated by TD Ierlan of the Rock 17-8.
- The Rock also won the loose ball battle 72-58.
- Toronto went 0 for 2 on the power play, while Georgia went 1 for 2, also scoring 2 shorthanded goals.
Top Scorers:
Toronto Rock:
- Tom Schreiber 3g,2a
- Josh Dawick 2g, 1a
- Dan Craig 2g, 1a
Georgia Swarm:
- Lyle Thompson 2g, 4a
- Andrew Kew 3g, 3a
- Shayne Jackson 3g, 1a
Don’t forget to check us out every Sunday night at 9pm (ET)
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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