Toronto, ON – The Toronto Rock (6-1) capped off a perfect weekend with 14-9 win over the Minnesota Swarm (3-4) in the second half of the home and home at Air Canada Centre on Saturday night.
There was a little more snarl to the opening quarter than the night before as the teams combined for 28 minutes in penalties in the opening 15 minutes. That total included fighting majors assessed to Minnesota’s Shane MacDonald and Toronto’s Billy Hostrawser. However, much like the night before the Rock and Swarm were tied after one quarter, this time 3-3.
“We knew they would come out hard, they are a team with some pride and they’ve have some success this year so we expected a hard push. We were happy to be tied after the first quarter,” said Rock Head Coach John Lovell.
The Rock scored 3 straight goals, for a four-goal run in total, to take a 6-3 lead. The two teams exchanged a pair of goals each, with the Rock leading 8-5 at the break.
Toronto’s special teams did the damage for the Rock in the third quarter with one powerplay goal and one shorthanded goal. The man-down marker was the Rock’s league leading 7th shorthanded tally of the season. Minnesota also scored two of their own, both even strength, but still trailed the Rock by 3 goals after 3 quarters.
The Rock once again carried the play in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Swarm 4-2 over the final 15 minutes on the way to the win.
“Our theme going into last night was just to be and honest team and stick together,” said Lovell. “We were an honest team tonight, we share the ball and look after things in certain situations and we’re not selfish.”
Rock goal scorers: Stephan Leblanc (3), Brett Hickey (3), Kasey Beirnes (3), Rob Hellyer (2), Kevin Ross (2), Josh Sanderson (1).
Nick Rose was steady in the Rock goal earning the game’s second star, making 40 saves and winning his second game of the season.
The Rock will be back in action again on Friday night against the New England Black Wolves at Air Canada Centre. It’s the Rock’s annual charity night, this year raising funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. For the BEST ticket in town and more information, please visit torontorock.com or call 416-596-3075.
