NLL Week Nine: Here Come the Rock

Arguably the biggest story in the NLL this season has been the trials and tribulations of the Toronto Rock. After being decimated by injuries in the early season, the Rock got out to a 0-5 start. To make matters worse, Mark Matthews was added to the Injury Reserve.

But in the last two weeks, the Rock have gotten healthy and gotten rolling. With Tom Schreiber, TD Ierlan, Challen Rogers and Latrell Harris all finding their way back into the lineup, the Rock have won two in a row and look ready to go on a roll.

It’s been an odd year in the league with so much parity, but a Rock playoff push would certainly increase the drama for the rest of the season.

But for now, check out the rest of the results from the weekend.

Toronto Rock 14 – Calgary Roughnecks 9

The Rock were in control from the jump on Friday night, leading 5-1 after the first quarter and 8-3 at the half. They pushed the lead all the way to 13-4 in the third quarter before Calgary made the score more respectable in the last frame.

Tom Schreiber continued his excellent play since returning, leading the Rock with 3 goals and 6 assists. Josh Dawick (1 goal, 5 assists) and Corey Small (1 goal, 5 assists) also had 6 points in a balance scoring effort for Toronto.

Jesse King and Curtis Dickson had 6 points each for the Roughnecks, while Mathieu Gautier had a hat-trick in his re-entry to the lineup.

Stat of the Game: Rock rookie Brian Cameron had 2 goals and 3 assists to set a new personal best for points in a game. His previous career high was 2 goals and 1 assist on January 10th.

Attendance: 11,759

Vancouver Warriors 8 – Ottawa Black Bears 4

After a huge win for the Black Bears the week before, the Warriors got some revenge on home floor, taking the game 8-4.

Adam Charalambides continued the hot pace he found in Philadelphia last Monday, and led all scorers with 3 goals and 3 assists. Keegal Bal (1 goal, 4 assists) and Ryan Martel (1 goal, 3 assists) were sharp for the Warriors as well.

Eric Fannell had his best game of the year with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Jeff Teat had 3 assists for the Black Bears.

Stat of the Game: The Warriors are allowing just 9.1 goals per game this season, the best mark in the league.

Attendance: 8,887

Saskatchewan Rush 17 – Albany Firewolves 13

The injury bug continues to hit the Firewolves and they dropped their second game of the season to the Saskatchewan Rush 17-13. Robert Church had a huge night with 5 goals and 5 assists to lead all scorers. Ryan Keenan also had 2 goals and 7 assists for the Rush.

Alex Simmons was excellent with 2 goals and 5 assists, while Dyson Williams continued to heat up, scoring 3 goals and 3 assists.

Rush goaltender Thomas Kiazyk made his first career NLL start and got the victory for the Rush.

Stat of the Game: Church became the 10th player this season to score 10 or more points in a game. The other nine are Connor Fields, Jesse King, Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Holden Cattoni, Joe Resetarits, Will Malcom, Thomas McConvey and Randy Staats.

Attendance: 5,678

Colorado Mammoth 11 – Rochester Knighthawks 10

For the second time in three games, the Rochester Knighthawks lost in the final seconds, as Zed Williams scored with just three seconds on the clock to win the game for the Mammoth.

Eli McLaughlin, Connor Kelly, and Ryan Lee had 5 points each for the the Mammoth, who improved to 5-3 on the season.

Connor Fields had a goal and 7 assists for Rochester while Ryan Lanchbury had 2 goals and 4 assists.

Stat of the Game: The final goal from Williams was the seventh game winner of his regular season career and third of the season. He scored with 31 seconds remaining to defeat the Halifax Thunderbirds on December 21st, and with 7:42 remaining in the fourth against the Albany Firewolves on January 11th.

Attendance: 4,765