Watson And Dunkerley Outstanding As Seals Force Game Three

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Gary Groob

Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media. An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to "grow the game", Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history. Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse, Ontario Series Lacrosse, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, CUFLA, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them. In the year 2019, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page "Global Lacrosse" with a membership of 14,000+ members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022 with a membership of 19,000+. Gary also has been the media person for Ontario Series Lacrosse (Senior B) since 2023. Mr. Groob also covers the Green Gaels for their excursions to Prague at the Ales Hrebesky tournament since 2022. In 2024, when Major Series Lacrosse was in need of a media person, Gary stepped in as their interim media person. His tasks were running their social media, as well as their website until a full time person was found to fill the role. In 2025 Gary was voted onto the Board of Directors for Ontario Series Lacrosse. Mr. Groob hosts a weekly lacrosse interview show formerly on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, now on StreamPunkEnt.com, Youtube, as well as Spotify. Groob also hosts a lacrosse talk show and podcast for All Lacrosse All The Time seen live Sunday nights at 8pm (ET), and archived on the All Lacrosse All The Time YouTube page, as well as Spotify. Gary also wrote a weekly lacrosse editorial column for La Portada Canada News both in print and online for three years from 2021-2024. In 2025, Mr. Groob joined the ownership ranks, becoming a minority owner of StreamPunk Entertainment, ensuring Lacrosse will always have voice in media. Gary was voted onto the board of directors as the social media director for Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) in November of 2025. In 2026 Mr. Groob was nominated for the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, made a voting member of the NLL media, was put as a voting member in the Ales Hrebesky Tournament awards, and was nominated for the Tom Borelli Award as media person of the year for the NLL. Mr. Groob's other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.

(Photo courtesy of Alexis Goeller/ NLL)

The Toronto Rock and San Diego Seals headed west to Pechanga Arena in San Diego, CA for game two of the best of three series.  Toronto won game one 14-12 in a wild, back and forth affair.

Wes Berg, Connor Robinson, Dylan Watson, and Tre Leclaire all had big games in the loss for the Seals.  The biggest news of all was Chris Origlieri leaving the game with an apparent concussion.  He was not available for this game either.

Toronto had big games from Owen Hiltz, Mark Matthews, Challen Rogers, and Sam English on offense. Josh Jackson is out due to injury, with Jake Darlison in the lineup instead.

The goaltending match-up had Nick Rose in net for the Rock facing Cam Dunkerley in net for the Seals.

The Rock struck first, but it was all San Diego Seals from there. Toronto opened the scoring early in the first quarter with Challen Rogers finishing a setup from Chris Boushy, but San Diego quickly found their rhythm.  Dylan Watson answered with a pair of goals before the end of the frame, flipping the momentum and giving the Seals a 2–1 lead after one.

San Diego took full control in the second quarter, capitalizing on both even strength and special teams opportunities. Connor Robinson extended the lead on the power play, and Tre Leclaire added another to make it 4–1 at halftime.

The third quarter was all about the San Diego Seals tightening their grip on the game and putting the Toronto Rock on their heels. San Diego came out rattling off three straight goals from Wes Berg, Zach Currier, and James Barclay to stretch the lead and stop any momentum Toronto was hoping to build. While Chris Boushy briefly stopped the bleeding for Toronto, Dylan Watson quickly answered back for the Seals, restoring a commanding six goal cushion heading into the final frame.

In the fourth, Toronto showed some pushback, but the Seals never let the game slip from their control. CJ Kirst and Mark Matthews helped chip away at the deficit, but every time the Rock found a spark, San Diego responded, most notably through Connor Robinson and Watson, who continued his standout performance.

The game’s physicality escalated late, with a flurry of penalties and misconducts reflecting rising frustration on the Toronto side. Even with late goals from Owen Hiltz and Boushy, the outcome was never truly in doubt, as San Diego closed things out with an 11–6 victory, setting up an all or nothing game three next Saturday in Hamilton.

To The Game:

The Rock got on the board first with a great individual effort from Challen Rogers dancing around the top of the crease off a Chris Boushy pass at 1:17, but on a delayed penalty Dylan Watson was able to convert a no look shovel pass from Zach Currier at 7:27 to tie the game.

Watson then gave San Diego their first lead with a high to low shot off from in close off a Wes Berg feed at 10:55.

After one quarter, San Diego 2 Toronto 1.

Second Quarter:

The Seals increased their lead on the power-play when Connor Robinson blasted a Tre Leclaire feed off the post and in at 3:39, followed by Tre Leclaire with an outside laser from the restraining line off a Wes Berg pass at 13:15.

At the half, San Diego 4 Toronto 1.

Warriors

Third Quarter:

San Diego started the second half with Wes Berg firing a screenshot from the outside beating Nick Rose off a Connor Robinson pass at 3:29, followed by Zach Currier with another outside shot to the shortside off a Tre Leclaire pass at 5:23.  James Barclay then scored in transition off a long lead pass from Ben McIntosh at 8:31.

Chris Boushy finally got the Rock back on the board for the first time in over 37:00,  converting an Owen Hiltz pass at 8:55, but Dylan Watson got it back finishing a Tre Leclaire pass at 9:26.

After three quarters, San Diego 8 Toronto 2.

Fourth Quarter:

The Rock opened the fourth quarter with CJ Kirst scoring shorthanded off a Hugh Kelleher pass at 0:50 seconds, but Connor Robinson scored all alone in front of the net off a Zach Currier pass at 1:52.

Mark Matthews then fired a high to high blast off a CJ Kirst pass at 2:18, but Dylan Watson dove from behind the net to restore the six goal Seals lead at 7:22.

The Rock replaced Nick Rose with Troy Holowchuk in net.

Owen Hiltz scored for the Rock with a high to high floater shorthanded at 9:29, but an empty net goal from Eli Gobrecht put a stake in the Rock at 10:30.

Chris Boushy scored from behind the net off a Josh Dawick feed at 14:10, but it was way too little, way too late.

Final score San Diego 11 Toronto 6.

The Three Stars:

1. Cam Dunkerley
2. Dylan Watson
3. Connor Robinson

Game Stats:

  • Shots on goal favored San Diego 52-42.
  • The faceoff battle went to Toronto 12-9.
  • The loose ball battle was won by the Seals 61-58
  • The Rock went 0 for 5 on the power-play, but scoring 2 shorthanded goals.
  • The Seals went 2 for 7 on the power-play.

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