Albany, NY – The Toronto Rock (6-3) won their second straight road game and fourth in a row overall, defeating the Albany FireWolves (4-6) by a score of 13-9 on Saturday night at MVP Arena in Albany, NY.
The Rock came into this game as one of the hottest teams in the NLL with three straight wins, while the FireWolves were coming off a loss a night earlier to the Bandits in Buffalo.
“One of those games where you just felt like you were grinding throughout the whole game, I thought in the fist half we made it tougher on ourselves than it needed it to be with some turnovers up front,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “It was a game where if felt like we were scuffling all game, but we pulled it out in the fourth when we needed it. Certainly not our prettiest effort.”
The Rock scored first but quickly found themselves down 2-1. A power play goal from Reid Reinholdt tied the game 2-2. Albany added a marker with just over two minutes to play to take a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.
Andrew Kew’s third goal of the game, this one on the power play, pushed the FireWolves ahead by a pair. The Rock went on a four-goal run, that included Reinholdt’s second and third of the game, swinging the lead to the visitors 6-4. Albany scored a pair before the end of the half to tie the game 6-6.
Albany scored first in the third quarter to lead 7-6, but it was the final time they would have an advantage in the game. The Rock runs proved to be too much and three in a row gave the Rock a 9-7 edge. The FireWolves once again got on the board later in the quarter to get back to within a goal, trailing 9-8 with one quarter to go.
A four-goal Rock run sealed this one, but it was Jubenville and Schreiber’s second goals of the game the truly put this game away. Toronto’s final two goals were empty netters.
“We had a couple mental lapses early, but I thought we rallied as a group and brought our game throughout the rest of the game,” said Reinholdt.
The Rock were 2-for-2 on the power play while the FireWolves went 1-for-2 with the man advantage. Nick Rose made 32 saves on 41 shots and Rob Hellyer was the top point-getter for the Rock with a goal and five assists for a six-point game.
The Rock’s next game will once again be on the road, next Saturday, February 26 against the New York Riptide. It will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs.
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.
