Rock Fall 11-10 In OT To Swarm
Mississauga, ON – The Toronto Rock (3-8) lost for the third consecutive time in the month of February, dropping a heartbreaking 11-10 OT decision to the Georgia Swarm (6-4) on Saturday night at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga. Miles Thompson scored the extra time winner for the Swarm 6:28 into sudden victory overtime after the Rock had battled back to force OT.
“You can’t ask for much more as far as compete and effort,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “We could be a little bit better in our execution, but we knew how important this game was, it’s a tough one to swallow and there’s nothing really to say to take the sting away. They were just a little bit better than us.”
The game started off quick and an electric vibe filled the building as the Rock were searching for a win to take a step forward in the race to the postseason. The game’s first goal didn’t come until Toronto found themselves on a powerplay and the team’s leading scorer Josh Dawick found the back of the net. Georgia struck back with two goals in quick succession before Corey Small scored on the powerplay to kick start a great night for him. The Swarm would get up by one again, but it was Small that cashed in for his second goal to tie the game 3-3 after one.
After going down 4-3, Toronto used a three-goal run to jump in front of the Swarm. Chris Boushy, Small, and Dawick connected for the Rock to put them up 6-4. Georgia broke up the run only to have Boushy score his second of the frame to restore the Rock’s two-goal lead. The Swarm scored with just two seconds left in the half to get back to within one, as the Rock led 7-6 at the break.
The third quarter saw neither team able to get on the scoreboard, but it was definitely an action-packed 15 minutes of lacrosse. Fans were treated to big-time stops, stellar defence and up-and-down transition plays that included shots hitting the posts at both ends to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Toronto and Georgia may have saved their best for last after failing to score in the third. The Swarm built a 10-8 lead, and you can do the math, that meant the Rock offence had only scored once in over 27 minutes in the second half. However, there was still time to turn this into an absolute nail-biter. Small scored his fourth of the game with 2:33 left in the quarter and then blew the roof of Rock City when his fifth goal of the game tied the score 10-10, with 27 seconds to play. We were off to overtime.
Both teams enjoyed glorious chances to end the game in OT, but ultimately it was Lyle Thompson finding his brother Miles on the crease for a quick stick that beat Rock goaltender Nick Rose to give the Swarm the win.
Despite scoring five goals in the contest, the lack of a positive result was the focus of the night for Small.
“The wins are the reason why we all play and it’s tough when you keep losing tight games,” Small said after a five-goal, six-point night. “I think I’ve under performed for parts of this year, so I was happy I could contribute a little more tonight but would have been better in a win.”
Toronto will now head into a bye week and reset before a matchup against their True North rival, the Halifax Thunderbirds on the road on Friday, March 7 at 6pm ET. The game will be broadcast nationally on ‘NLL Friday Night on TSN’. The Rock will then head out to Vancouver on Friday, March 14 for another nationally televised game. Toronto will be back at Paramount Fine Foods Centre on Saturday, March 22 for Marvel Superhero Night when they take on the Philadelphia Wings at 7pm ET.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
