Rock rallies to win Game 1 of NLL final

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HAMILTON — The Toronto Rock did not play a full 60-minute game on Friday. But they played a memorable final 30 minutes to bring them within one win of a National Lacrosse League championship.

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The Rock put a complete performance on both ends of the floor in the second half to beat the Halifax Thunderbirds 13-11 in the first game of the NLL Final at TD Coliseum. It was the first win for the team in the championship series since their last title victory in 2011. Toronto will have a chance to clinch the title in Halifax on Sunday.

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The Rock could not match the intensity of the Thunderbirds in the first half. But with a spectacular performance from the defensive unit, outstanding goaltending from Nick Rose, and an offence that was able to pressure the Thunderbirds, Toronto was able to get the win.

”First half, we didn’t get a chance to play a lot of offence. They got the better of us,” Rock head coach Matt Sawyer said. “We felt in the second half that if we changed that, we’d be OK.”

The Rock opened the scoring on long-range goals by Dan Craig and Owen Hiltz just seconds apart. Halifax went on a run with Wake:Riat BowHunter, Mike Robinson, Jason Knox and Clarke Petterson all scoring. Mark Matthews scored from the right side as his Rock trailed 4-3 after one.

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The Thunderbirds extended the lead less than a minute in with a goal by Jake Withers off the faceoff and Knox with his second quickly thereafter. After Casey Wilson and Stephen Keogh scored later in the period, Knox added his third as the Thunderbirds dominated much of the play. CJ Kirst answered with two for the Rock who trailed 9-5 at the break after bring outshot 29-20 in the half.

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The Rock dominated the third quarter spearheaded by Kirst, who earlier in the week was named the league’s rookie of the year. He dashed to the net to score his third then added one more on a dunk shot. Josh Dawick scored off a feed from Craig. Then Chris Boushy tied the game, taking a sharp pass from Challen Rogers to get the look from right in front of Halifax goaltender Warren Hill.

Rogers scored on the power play to open the fourth but the Thunderbirds regained the lead midway through the quarter on two goals by Cody Jamieson, one a power-play marker. Hiltz evened the game again when found in front of the net by Nick Rowlett.

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Sam English scored what would be the eventual winner for Toronto with 5:41 left, then clinched it with an empty-net marker with 20 seconds to go.

“The coach challenged us at halftime,” English said. “We play our best when our backs are against the wall. We came out in that second half ready to roll. CJ got us going a little bit then the defence and Rosey game through.”

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