Gary Groob
Lax Philly – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Toronto Rock (7-4) took on the New York Riptide (2-8) at FirstOntario Centre in the back end of the home and home series. The Riptide upset the Rock last weekend on Long Island 14-13, so the Rock were looking for revenge. A healthy crowd of 7,920 witnessed the action.
Coming into this game Toronto’s Tom Schreiber had the most goals in the NLL with 28, and Dan Dawson was playing in his 305th NLL game, tying him for the most career games played with John Tavares. Dawson was only six assists away from passing Tavares for the all-time assists record as well.
The Riptide got big games from Callum Crawford and Jeff Teat last week, enroute to the victory over Toronto. They would both need to come up big games again this week if they wanted to repeat against the powerful Rock club. Steven Orleman was spectacular in net for the Riptide, making many game saving stops last week, and was looking to build on that performance again in this game.
The goalie match-up had Orelman facing Nick Rose in net for the Rock. Rose was pulled last week after three quarters in favor of Riley Hutchcraft, and was looking to get back on track in this battle with the Riptide.
Although it took the Rock over a quarter to get rolling, once they started they dominated the game on either end of the floor. Toronto won 12-9.
To the game…
After a flurry of end to end activity, Dan Lomas (3g,0a), in his first game back after an Achilles injury in the summer, scored on a bounced shot off a Callum Crawford pass at 5:58.
Both defenses were strong, but Steven Orleman was spectacular in the quarter making 17 saves for the Riptide.
After one quarter, New York 1 Toronto 0.
Second Quarter:
The Rock finally got on the board on the power play. Dan Craig (2g,2a) fired a shot to the top corner converting a Tom Schreiber pass at 3:40. Zach Manns (2g,0a) scored the next Rock goal from the top of the crease off a Rob Hellyer pass at 4:40 giving them the lead, then scored once again on the power play, when Latrell Harris (1g,1a) put it a Dan Dawson pass at 7:14.
New York got one back in transition when Damon Edwards (1g,0a) made a beautiful individual effort diving across the crease at 10:39 unassisted.
Dan Dawson (2g,4a) scored off a Mitch de Snoo pass at 12:41 to increase the lead to 4-2, followed by Rob Hellyer (2g,2a) firing a screen shot from the outside off a Mitch de Snoo pass at 14:19.
At the half Toronto 5 New York 2.
Third Quarter:
The Rock got started quickly in the second half. Tom Schreiber (1g,2a) fired a low shot to the far side beating Orelman just 0:43 seconds into the third quarter. Toronto increased the lead further on a great effort by Brad Kri blocking a shot and fighting down the floor. Kri was able to get the ball to Challon Rogers (1g,0a) who made no mistake at 2:12.
The Rock continued the attack shorthanded when Zach Manns (2g,0a) fired a howitzer from the outside off a Dan Craig pass at 4:40.
The Riptide scored a beauty of a goal when Jeff Teat (1g,4a) scored on a behind the back shot while crossing the crease at 8:21, followed by Ryan Fornier (1g,1a) scoring off a Jeff Teat pass at 9:25 to narrow the lead to 8-4.
The Rock got one more before the end of the quarter when Dan Craig (2g,2a) converted a Reid Reinholdt pass at 13:11, but the Riptide answered back on the power play when Larson Sundown (1g,1a) dove from behind the net beating Nick Rose at 13:57.
After three quarters, Toronto 9 New York 5.
Fourth Quarter:
Toronto got on the board in the fourth on the power play when Rob Hellyer scored his second of the game off a Dan Dawson pass at 0:24 seconds, followed by Mitch de Snoo (1g,2a) converting a Latrell Harris pass in transition at 2:16. New York got one back when Connor Kearnan (1g,1a) converted a Larson Sundown pass just 0:22 seconds later.
Dan Dawson scored his second of the game for the Rock at the top of the crease converting a Tom Schreiber pass at 3:29. The Riptide got on the board when Dan Lomas converted a Tyson Gibson pass at 10:15, followed by Lomas scoring again from Keiran McArdle at 11:46. The Riptide made it interesting when Callum Crawford (1g,5a) scored at 13:28 to bring the score within three goals, but that was going to do it.
Final score, Toronto 12 New York 9.
The Three Stars:
- 1st Star Dan Dawson
- 2nd Star Mitch de Snoo
- 3rd Star Nick Rose
Stats of the Game:
- Toronto outshot New York 57-46
- Faceoffs had a slight edge to Toronto 13-12
- New York went 1 for 4 on the power play
- The Rock went 3 for 4 on the power play, also scoring a shorthanded goal.
Top Scorers
New York Riptide:
- Callum Crawford 1g, 5a
- Jeff Teat 1g, 4a
- Dan Lomas 3g, 0a
Toronto Rock:
- Dan Dawson 2g, 4a
- Rob Hellyer 2g, 2a
- Dan Craig 2g, 2a
New York’s next game is Saturday March 12th in Rochester vs. the Knighthawks.
Toronto’s next game is in Vancouver Saturday March 12th vs. the Warriors.
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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