Rock Lose Second Straight

Albany defeats Toronto 15-4

Mississauga, ON- The Toronto Rock (0-2) came up short against the Albany FireWolves (1-1) dropping a one-sided decision 15-4 in their home opener at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga on Saturday night. Despite Josh Dawick’s second career hat trick, Doug Jamieson stood tall making 43 saves and was a huge difference in the result.

“That’s obvious,” a disappointed Dawick said of the need to be better. “We have to turn it around quickly, and we’re going to need to clean some things up.”

Rock City was charged up from the opening faceoff, as fans were loud and proud in their temporary home for the 2024-25 season. However, the Rock took two quick penalties to start the game putting the FireWolves on the power play.  After coming up empty on their first man-advantage, Albany scored on their second man-up as Tye Kurtz opened the scoring. Once some five-on-five action began to unfold, the Rock got some great looks but were unable to get any shots past Jamieson in the FireWolves cage. Albany scored twice more before the end of the quarter, including a shorthanded marker, to lead 3-0 after one.

Albany scored just 44 seconds into the second quarter and would get another one before the Rock made their way onto the scoreboard with a Josh Dawick goal. Dawick was able to ignite the fans and give them something to cheer for after allowing five straight goals to start the game. The visitors would net one more before halftime while shorthanded to make it a 6-1 game.

The third quarter saw Toronto start to mount a comeback with Dawick netting his second and third goals of the night, but Albany used a quick three-goal run to put the game out of reach and make it 11-3 heading into the final quarter.

The physicality increased with multiple penalties and some heavy hitting in the fourth quarter. In the midst of it all, Rock rookie Luke Robinson was able to record his first career goal in his NLL debut after finding the loose ball in the crease, putting it past Jamieson. The FireWolves would add a couple late to close out the 15-4 win, their first of the season.

Veteran forward Corey Small discussed how the rookies are really stepping up early in the season while the veterans need to match them to get some wins.

“I think, personally, the young guys have come in and done a fantastic job,” Small said with pride. “I think our veterans need to kind of pick up some of the slack there.”

The Rock will be back in action on Saturday December 14 on the road against the Georgia Swarm at 7pm ET. Fans can stream the game on TSN+ or NLL+. The Rock’s next home game will be a Pre-NYE Party on Saturday, December 28 when the Rock host the Ottawa Black Bears in round two of the Battle of Ontario at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga 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.