Home Opener Saturday

Toronto, ON – After beginning the season with a pair of victories, the Toronto (2-0) Rock will return home to Air Canada Centre to open the home portion of their 2013 schedule on Saturday night at 7pm ET against the Philadelphia Wings (1-0).  The game will be broadcast live on TSN2 and will also be available on TSN Mobile TV.

Philadelphia opened their season at home last weekend and defeated the Buffalo Bandits 13-8 at Wells Fargo Center.  Toronto began their season on the road and knocked off Calgary 13-11 and down Edmonton 10-9.

The Wings made significant changes trading away former league MVP Dan Dawson to Rochester and acquiring American forward Paul Rabil.  Philadelphia has a distinctly different roster with only a handful of Canadians on their roster.

“I like what Philadelphia has done down there with the changes they’ve made,” said Rock GM Terry Sanderson.  “I think it’s a different brand of lacrosse than what we’re used to playing.  The changes they have made will keep everyone honest and you have to prepare a bit differently.”

Goaltender Nick Rose enjoyed a tremendous opening weekend and was recognized as the NLL’s defensive player of the week.  He’s prepared for the different attack the Wings will bring to Toronto on Saturday night.

“They’re going to make you pay you when you make mistakes,” explained Rose.  “Philadelphia’s speed and size can create mismatches, we just can’t make mistakes, they are a very opportunistic team.”

Saturday’s meeting is the first of three meetings between the Eastern Division rivals.  Each of the final two meetings will be played in Philadelphia with the next contest taking place on Saturday, March 16th.  Philadelphia won two of three meetings, both victories coming in Toronto.

Both Damon Edwards and Brandon Ivey will be re-evaluated on Saturday prior to the game, they both sustained injuries last weekend that kept them out of the lineup last Sunday in Edmonton.

The Rock will play back to back games for the second time in three weeks when they host Minnesota next Friday night at 7:30pm at Air Canada Centre and then travel to Rochester next Saturday to face the defending NLL champion Knighthawks.  For the best ticket in town, please call 416-596-3075 or visit www.torontorock.com.