Rock Dominate Roughnecks in 14-9 Win
January 24, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Toronto Rock News Release
Calgary, AB - The Toronto Rock (2-5) earned their second win of the 2024-25 season with a dominant 14-9 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks (3-3) on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. Tom Schreiber led the way offensively with a six-point performance while Nick Rose turned in his second consecutive stellar performance between the pipes.
"I thought we were the better team from start to finish," said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. "We wanted to go out there and push them around, and there's a lot of ways to do that, not only physically, just with your play and battling for position, and being committed to get over the top and underneath on offence, it was a real good outing for us."
With the Rock getting in the win column a week ago at home against the Saskatchewan Rush, the Rock had momentum on their side and were able to carry the good vibes into Cowtown and came away with a five-goal win, that wasn't as close as the score might indicate.
The Rock offence started off very strong with Schreiber and Dan Craig each scoring twice in the opening quarter. A sign of things to come in this game was a Justin Martin goal in transition off a long pass from Rose to give Toronto a 5-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes of play. Rose was spectacular early as Calgary earned just as many scoring opportunities as the Rock did, but Rose turned away chance after chance to allow his team to get out to the big lead.
Calgary added two goals in the second courtesy of Mathieu Gauthier, while Schreiber, Josh Dawick and Chris Boushy all found the back of the net to widen the margin and take an 8-3 lead into halftime.
In the third, Toronto continued to share the ball and were able to add more names to the scoresheet as Brain Cameron, Corey Small, and captain Challen Rogers all scored to keep the good times rolling inside the Saddledome allowing Toronto to take full control heading into the final frame.
Calgary did try and mount a comeback in the fourth quarter with Gautier recording his hat trick goal and veterans, Jesse King, Curtis Dickson, and Dane Dobbie scoring, but it was too little too late as the Rock lead was just too large to overcome.
"We came here with a purpose and delivered," said Rose. "We have to stick up for each other and be there for each other as brothers and it might be what we were lacking early in the season when we were trying to find our identity, but I think we've found that."
Of note, defender Latrell Harris returned to the lineup for his first game back since the season opener in Ottawa and during a halftime interview on NLL Friday Night on TSN noted he was excited to be suiting up in a game with teammate Challen Rogers for the time since May 2023.
Rookie Brian Cameron recorded a career high in points with two goals and three assists in the win. Rock starter Nick Rose made 37 saves on 44 shots while Calgary starting goaltender Cam McLeod made 23 saves after splitting the duties with backup Colby Bowman who made 13 saves on the night. The Rock outshot the Roughnecks 50-46.
Toronto was 0-for-1 on the power play, while Calgary was 3-for-4.
Toronto will be looking to climb another rung towards entering the playoff race when they visit the Colorado Mammoth next weekend on Saturday, February 1 at Ball Arena at 9:30pm ET. Fans can stream the game on TSN+, ESPN+, and NLL+. After a trip to the Mile High City, the Rock will be home for three straight games starting on Saturday, February 8 for Indigenous Heritage Night against the San Diego Seals.
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.
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