Toronto Rock enters 2024 with a 3-0 record

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HAMILTON — When Nick Rose re-signed with the Toronto Rock in the fall, there was criticism.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with his tremendous off-field contributions to the local lacrosse community. But with a humiliating playoff loss to the Buffalo Bandits last spring still fresh in mind, many thought it was time for a new netminder.

But in the big picture, Rose, who will be 36 next month, has won significantly more games in the Toronto net than he has lost since arriving via trade in 2012. And occasionally he is brilliant, just as he was at First Ontario Centre on Saturday.

Rose made 45 saves in a 14-8 victory over the New York Riptide. He had several show-stopping saves and was very good on shots from close range. He was particularly sharp in the first half, conceding only one goal, and even that was on a bad bounce.

“Nick is one of the best goalies in the league and we’re very fortunate to have him,” Rock head coach Matt Sawyer said. “He’s a real good goalie and it’s time to support him and get a better team around him.”

Even though the Riptide found its scoring touch in the second half, Rose made the saves needed to keep the margin comfortable. Rose knew early on that he and the defence in front of him were dialed in.

“We were awesome all over the floor tonight,” Rose said. “To see some of the second effort from guys like Challen Rogers and be able to hold their top guys at bay was awesome.”

Leading the Rock offence were Dan Craig and Corey Small. Craig opened the scoring and added three more in front of a pre-New Year’s crowd of 9,566. Small scored his first with a running shot from a short angle, then added two more.

Dan Lintner scored twice on consecutive shots in the second quarter. Josh Dawick scored on two long-range blasts. Mitch De Snoo also scored as did Justin Martin, the rookie defender who now has goals in all three Rock games. He also scored in all of the team’s pre-season contests. T D Ierlan finished the scoring into an empty net.

“In the second half, we were a lot more comfortable,” Craig said. “In the first half, we were doing the right things but not necessarily coming to the final goal.”

For the Riptide, Jeff Teat, the NLL’s leading scorer in 2023, finished with three goals and three assists. Larson Sundown scored twice while Reilly O’Connor, Stephen Keogh and Connor Kearnan scored once each.

The Rock improved to 3-0 on the season and is one of only two teams in the NLL without a blemish on its record. The Albany FireWolves will try to keep pace against the Saskatchewan Rush on Sunday.

The Rock get a week off before travelling to Halifax for a meeting with the Thunderbirds on Jan. 12. The next home game is Jan. 20 against the Georgia Swarm.