Late Comeback Falls Just Short in 13-12 Loss
Mississauga, ON – The Toronto Rock (3-7) dropped another one-goal decision, losing 13-12 to the undefeated Buffalo Bandits (7-0) on Saturday night at Paramount Fine Foods in Mississauga. It was a tightly contested battle that included a ton of goals, scrums, and the kind of mutual affection you’d expect from two bitter rivals on Valentine’s Day.
After dropping the first head-to-head meeting of the season to the Bandits, Toronto knew they wanted to get some revenge on the men in orange but fell just short in the dying seconds to lose the season series.
“We had a decent lead in the third quarter, we were playing solid,” said Rock netminder Nick Rose. “But the mistakes started to add up in the second half and some tough penalty calls ended up in the back of our net, and very similar to a lot of games we’ve had with them, they find a way to make one more play than us.”
The game started exactly the way Toronto wanted it to; score five on the Bandits, don’t get into penalty trouble and let 2023-24 Goaltender of the Year, Nick Rose do what he does best in between the pipes. Chris Boushy, Josh Dawick, Mitch de Snoo and Corey Small kickstarted the night for the Rock offensively and the Rock defence stood tall through the opening 15 minutes of play which saw the Rock build a 5-0 lead.
The second quarter was a completely different story as Buffalo went on a three-goal run from Kyle Buchanan who netted two while Chris Cloutier added another, along with the Bandits’ defence shutting down the Rock offence and silencing the Rock fans, however Toronto had a 5-3 edge at halftime.
In the third quarter, Buffalo was able to limit the Rock’s offence and outscore them four-to-two. However, a highlight of the quarter came seven seconds into it as TD Ierlan won the opening faceoff of the frame and fired a shot past Bandits’ goaltender, Matt Vinc. The Bandits’ offensive surge tied the game 7-7 heading for home.
The Rock came out hot, scoring twice in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as Boushy and Tom Schreiber struck just eight seconds apart to give the Rock a 9-7 lead. Buffalo then took advantage of their chances to go on a 6-1 run to lead 13-10 with just under five minutes to play. The Rock successfully killed a slashing penalty to Challen Rogers that would expire with just under two minutes to play.
With 1:07 to play Mitch de Snoo rumbled down the floor to score his second of the game to make it a two-goal game and breathe some life into a possible late Rock comeback. 17 seconds later, Dan Craig scored and with 57 seconds to go, and the Rock had made it a one-goal game. Despite some late opportunities, the Rock were unable to come all the way back, and the Bandits escaped with a win to remain the NLL’s only undefeated team.
“There’s a reason why they’re the defending two-time champions,” forward Josh Dawick said who netted a hat trick on the night. “Buffalo is a tough team to play against, going up 5-0 isn’t enough, you have to put more in than that, and play a full 60 minutes to beat those guys.”
Buffalo outshot Toronto 56-42. The Rock were 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Bandits were 1-for-6.
Schreiber led the way offensively with two goals and five assists for seven points. Dawick’s three-goal game made him the Rock’s top twine denter on the evening.
Toronto will now look to end their February three-game homestand with a win when they face off against the Georgia Swarm for the second and final time this season. The Swarm were able to win the first meeting of the regular season, by a goal, 10-9. Toronto will be looking to split their season series next week on Brad Kri Bobblehead Night at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga on Saturday, February 22 at 7pm. Fans can stream the game on TSN+, NLL+ and ESPN+.
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.
