Rock wins quarterfinal, will face Buffalo in NLL semifinal series

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HAMILTON — The same formula that worked for the Toronto Rock in the regular season has now brought the team one step further in the National Lacrosse League playoffs.

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A 45-save performance from Nick Rose and a well-measured effort on Toronto’s back end made sure an early offensive burst would stand up in a 9-6 win over the Rochester Knighthawks in their National Lacrosse League quarterfinal game at FirstOntario Centre.

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“We were playing to get together for another week,” Rock head coach Matt Sawyer said. “And that was our intention here.”

On several occasions, Rose made a sequence of saves that prevented the Knighthawks from making any sustained run after the Rock built a 4-0 lead less than four minutes into the single-elimination quarterfinal game.

“We’ve been feeding off Rosey all season,” defender Brad Kri said. “We clearly give him the shots he wants to see. But he also made some saves he had no business making as well.”

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The Rock played with the right playoff intensity at both ends, blocking several shots at the back and creating several turnovers at the offensive end.

“That’s what championship teams are made of,” Kri said. “That’s what we’re trying to mimic.”

“Some of us have been on championship teams and that’s the stuff that it’s going to take.”

Challen Rogers, who has had a recent knack for scoring goals early in games, put the first two in, albeit the second one off a Knighthawks defender. Chris Boushy and Corey Small also scored in that span. Tom Schreiber scored late in the opening quarter as the Rock built a 5-1 lead.

The Knighthawks closed the gap to 5-3 in the second quarter, but Tom Schreiber of the Rock scored with 20 seconds left while the Rock was shorthanded.

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“Huge goal for us,” Sawyer said. “Tell me another player that switches hands and rips a shot like that top shelf.”

“He’s one of a kind.”

The Rock extended the lead in the third quarter on goals by Mark Matthews and Chris Boushy. In the final period, Connor Fields scored on a transition breakaway but that one was answered on a goal midway through the period by Dan Craig. Ryan Smith, who had a goal earlier, scored twice more for the Knighthawks in the final minute but more big saves by Rose prevented the game from becoming too tense.

Curtis Knight and Kyle Waters also scored for Rochester, who won twice last weekend to sneak into the playoffs. Ryan Hartley kept the Knighthawks in the game with 40 saves.

The Rock learned later in the evening that their second-round opponents once again will be the Buffalo Bandits. The defending champions needed a Josh Byrne goal in overtime to defeat the Georgia Swarm 10-9. The series will open on Friday night in Hamilton.

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