TORONTO ROCK HOLD ON FOR CRUCIAL 9-8 WIN OVER ROUGHNECKS

The Toronto Rock advance to 7-6 on the season and snap a five-game losing streak with a 9-8 win over the Calgary Roughnecks tonight at the Air Canada Centre.

Donning black jerseys and pink helmets in hopes to Black Out Breast Cancer, the Rock pulled out a crucial win to stay over .500.

Bob Watson recorded the win in Toronto’s net turning away 40 of 48 shots. Stephan Leblanc was named game MVP for his game-high four goals and three assists.

Mike Poulin stopped 45 of the Rock’s 54 shots.

Blaine Manning was the first to strike for Toronto to open game scoring followed by Garrett Billings. Manning scored again to give the Rock a 3-0 lead six minutes into the game. Jeff Shattler finally got Calgary on the board after Bob Watson kept them scoreless for 11 minutes. Craig Conn followed suit to narrow the Rock lead.

Stephan Leblanc got past Mike Poulin in net for the Roughnecks to start the second. The quarter ticked away with two Toronto goals being called back, but Billings got on the board next. Watson was a wall in net stopping all of Calgary’s 11 shots to end the half with the Rock up 5-2.

The tables turned in the third quarter. Poulin kept Toronto scoreless while Calgary went on a scoring run that started when Peter McFetridge got the Roughnecks back on the board after 24 minutes of scoreless play. Teammates Jeff Moleski and Conn tied the game at five.  

Dan Dobbie continued the Calgary charge in the beginning of the fourth. Leblanc answered back, but the Roughnecks pulled ahead again from Dobbie’s second. Leblanc wouldn’t let his goal be outdone and scored another for the hat trick. Toronto’s go-ahead goal came from rookie Geoff McNulty, playing in his first-ever professional game. Leblanc scored again to extend the Rock lead to two. Shattler scored for Calgary to narrow the gap with one minute remaining on the clock but Toronto held onto to pull out the 9-8 win.

The Rock take their win on the road and hit the turf again tomorrow in Philadelphia when they visit the Wings at the Wachovia Center. The Wings (4-8) are on a two-game win streak that the Rock hope to halt. Fans can watch Saturday’s game live at 7:00 p.m. on the NLL Network at www.nll.com.