Franchise-best start for Toronto Rock after win against Georgia

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HAMILTON – The best start in Toronto Rock franchise history continued on Saturday. But the team also received a stern message that things are never going to be easy.

The Rock needed to battle every step of the way in a 12-9 win over the Georgia Swarm at FirstOntario Centre to improve to 5-0. The win in front of 7,420 fans, coupled with a 14-7 loss by the Albany FireWolves to the San Diego Seals puts the Rock at the top of the National Lacrosse League standings as the circuit’s only undefeated team.

The Swarm led for a significant part of the game and impressed with its defensive abilities and athleticism along with a sharp goaltender in Brett Dobson.

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But as good teams do, the Rock methodically fought back from a three-goal deficit early in the third quarter and did its best work when it mattered most.

“We weren’t doing things with a purpose early on.” Rock head coach Matt Sawyer said. “But we found a way to win.”

“It’s always really easy to do anything when things are going well. The hard part, and the true test of a team or an individual is to figure it out when things aren’t going your way and we certainly did that tonight.”

Corey Small took control of the Rock’s offensive set in the third quarter, scoring three times. He would add another goal in the fourth and feed Dan Craig in front of the net for the first of his two goals.

“The first half was not our best,” Craig said. “The second was not our best either but a step in the right direction against a good team.”

“There are still strides to be made and we know that collectively.”

The Rock needed transition goals from Brandon Slade and Phil Mazzuca, both on breakaways, to keep the game close early. Chris Boushy also scored in the first half. It was the first goal at home for Boushy who was signed from the Halifax Thunderbirds in the off-season.

Mark Matthews also scored in the second half as did Josh Dawick. Challen Rogers ended the Rock scoring into an empty net.

The Swarm was led by Lyle Thompson. The former NLL MVP scored three times and thought he had a fourth, but that goal that would have tied the game 10-10 was called back after review. Andrew Kew and Seth Oakes also scored twice for Georgia (4-3), who also got singles from Zach Miller and Jordan MacIntosh.

Rock goaltender Nick Rose was solid again, making 38 saves including a couple of spectacular stops early in the game.

The Rock welcome the Buffalo Bandits to Hamilton next Saturday. The defending NLL champions who ended the Rock’s playoff run the past three seasons, are having a mediocre start to the season with a 3-3 record.

“We’re going into a game next weekend we’re very excited about,” Craig said. “They’ve had our number in the playoffs.”

“There are still a lot of games in the season, we know that.”