HAMILTON, ON – The Toronto Rock closed out their best-of-3 NLL Semifinals Series in the third and deciding game with a 14-8 win on Saturday night at TD Coliseum in Hamilton to take the series two games to one. The Rock will face the winner of the Halifax vs. Georgia semifinals beginning next weekend.
A finals appearance has been 11 years in the making with the Rock’s last appearance in the NLL Cup championship series was in 2015. However, you have to go all the way back to 2011 for the Rock’s last NLL title when names like Colin Doyle, Blaine Manning, and Bob Watson led the way.
“That’s sports, you go to a finals early in your career and you think you’re going to go there all the time,” said Nick Rose who joined the Rock in 2012 and was part of the 2015 team that got to the big dance. “We’re here now and we’re ready for the moment and we’re excited to go to the NLL finals.”
The game started very well with the Rock building a 4-0 lead and held a 4-1 lead after one quarter. But the tables turned quickly and the Rock offence went cold for the entire second quarter while the Seals struck for four goals to lead 5-4. A 20:34 Rock scoreless draught certainly felt all too familiar after last weekend’s nearly 38-minute stretch without a goal in their Game 2 loss.
However, rookie Hugh Kelleher scored just over two minutes into the third quarter to tie the game. Almost eight minutes elapsed before another goal was scored and it was the Seals taking advantage of a power play to retake the lead 6-5. CJ Kirst and Chris Boushy then took turns scoring two goals apiece and before you knew it, the Rock had scored four times in 4:12 to lead 9-6 after three quarters of play.
Sam English and Mark Matthews scored give the Rock a 10-6 lead but the Seals Trevor Baptiste finally broke up the Rock six-goal run to draw San Diego back to within four at 11-7. Owen Hiltz then scored a pair of goals 31 seconds apart to all but ice it. The Seals got one more on the man advantage but Josh Jackson netted the empty netter to close out the scoring.
Rose finished with 53 saves on 61 shots allowing just 8 goals in this do-or-die elimination game for a shot at trip to the NLL Finals. The veteran keeper certainly played a huge role in getting the job done for the Rock.
Rookie Sam English had two goals and three assists for five points to lead the Rock on the scoresheet. He also picked up 15 loose balls and, in the process, established a new NLL Playoff record for loose balls by a rookie in the postseason.
The Rock were outshot by the Seals 61-47. San Diego was 3-for-4 on the power play while the Rock were 1-for-2.
Next weekend, the best-of-3 NLL Cup Finals will begin with Game 1 on Friday, May 15 and Game 2 on Sunday, May 17. The location of those games will depend on the outcome of Sunday’s deciding Game 3 of the semifinals series between Georgia and Halifax.
Tickets for the Rock’s NLL Cup Finals Game 1-OR-2 will go on sale Sunday morning at 10am ET.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 905-426-4744, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
