The Toronto Rock (9-3) looked to stretch their winning streak to a franchise-record nine games when they faced the Philadelphia Wings (5-5) at the Wells Fargo Center. Both teams entered the contest on the heels of home wins on Saturday.
More Aggression From the Wings
Since the trade for Mitch Jones the Wings have been a much more aggressive team. With Joe Resetarits, Matt Rambo, Blaze Riorden, and Ben McIntosh they would give Toronto all they could handle.
Dan Dawson made history on Saturday night getting his 1,500th career point. Along with Tom Schreiber, Dan Craig, Corey Small, Zach Manns, and Stephen Keogh the Rock can fight fire with fire.
The goalie match-up had Zach Higgins in net for the Wings against Nick Rose in net for Toronto.
Philadelphia had a strong first half getting out to a 7-4 lead by halftime. The Rock outshot Philadelphia 29-14 at the half, but Zach Higgins was up to the task.
Toronto was shutout for just over 20 minutes when they finally made a game of it down 9-5. A four goal Rock run tied the game up with just over five minutes to play. Goals by Riorden and McIntosh put the Wings in control with only a couple of minutes left, but Tom Schreiber got Toronto within one with just under a minute to go. Toronto had one more opportunity but the Wings defense was up to the task, winning 11-10.
“We outshot them 2-to-1 in the first half and created a lot of opportunities but had trouble getting the ball behind (Zach) Higgins,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “We got ourselves chasing the game a little bit, but we stuck with it and had opportunities right down to the end. Overall, it wasn’t our night. There was a lot of good stuff out there, but it just wasn’t good enough from start to finish.
To The Game:
The Wings got off to a fast start when Matt Rambo converted a Joe Resetarits pass with a blast to the far corner at 3:08, followed by Blaze Riorden finishing off a Ben McIntosh feed at 6:45.
After one quarter, Philadelphia 2 Toronto 0.
Second Quarter:
Dan Craig got the Rock on the board with a laser from the outside to the glove side of Higgins off a Tom Schreiber pass at 1:15. Philadelphia answered on the power-play with Mitch Jones blasting a shot to the stick side of Rose at 3:16.
Latrell Harris caused a turnover and took it coast to coast for the Rock’s second goal, unassisted at 4:44, followed by Challen Rogers firing a shot off the post finishing off a Chris Weier pass 5:42.
Ben McIntosh regained the lead for the Wings all alone in front of the net off a Joe Resetarits feed at 7:07, but Toronto answered back when Dan Craig scored his second of the night off a Latrell Harris pass just 0:15 seconds later.
Mitch Jones scored his second of the night with a howitzer just inside the restraining line off a Joe Resetarits pass at 8:26. Resetarits himself got on the board with a high to low shot beating Rose to the glove side at 11:03, followed by Trevor Baptiste all alone in front finishing off a Joe Resetarits feed 0:11 seconds later.
At the half, Philadelphia 7 Toronto 4.
Third Quarter:
The Wings scored to open the second half scoring. Ben McIntosh went high to low with a shot that slide under Nick Rose’s stick off a Taite Cattoni pass on the power-play at 11:51. Corey Small finally got the Rock on the board after 20:22 of scoreless play. Small converted a Stephen Keogh feed at 12:54 to bring Toronto within three goals.
After three quarters, Wings 8 Rock 5.
Fourth Quarter:
Kiel Matisz increased the Wings lead with a behind the back shot converting an Ian Llord pass in transition at 1:12.
Dan Craig scored his third of the night with a shot over Higgins shoulder off a Tom Schreiber feed at 2:34, followed by Schreiber himself making it a two goal game finishing Craig’s pass 0:23 seconds later. Dan Craig’s fourth goal was a great individual effort diving across the crease off a Tom Schreiber pass at 7:44. Corey Small tied the game on the power-play with a bounce shot through the legs of Higgins off a Tom Schreiber pass at 10:20.
Blaze Riorden gave the Wings the lead once more as he dove across the crease off a Mitch Jones feed at 11:55, followed by Ben McIntosh finishing off a Joe Resetarits pass at 12:52.
The Rock replaced Nick Rose with Troy Holowchuk for speed getting to the bench and back in these last crucial minutes.
Tom Schreiber scored his second of the night with a shot to the top corner off a Dan Craig pass at 14:12. The Wings were able to withstand the final challenges and hold on for the one goal win.
Final score, Philadelphia 11 Toronto 10.
“No excuses, a lot of shots in the game, a lot of posts, that’s the reality, but that’s not an excuse. We have to shoot better, we put enough on the net, but at the end of the day they put more in the net.”
Rock Forward Dan Craig
The Three Stars:
- Zach Higgins
- Dan Craig
- Ben McIntosh
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored Toronto 65-32.
- Faceoffs went to Philadelphia 16-8.
- The loose ball battle went to the Rock 77-61.
- Both teams went 1 for 2 on the power-play.
Top Scorers:
Toronto Rock:
- Dan Craig 4g, 2a
- Tom Schreiber 2g, 4a
- Challen Rogers 1g, 4a
Philadelphia Wings:
- Mitch Jones 2g, 5a
- Joe Resetarits 1g, 6a
- Ben McIntosh 3g, 2a
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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.
