Photo courtesy of Vancouver Warriors Instagram
The Toronto Rock (4-9) traveled west to face the Vancouver Warriors (6-7) at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC.
The Rock beat Halifax last week with a revised lineup after trading a number of veterans. While Corey Small and Josh Dawick had good evenings, youngsters like Jake Darlison and Zack Kearney looked very comfortable in the lineup as well. Troy Holowchuk answered a lot of naysayers with a standout performance in net as well.
The Vancouver Warriors stole all the headlines trading for goalie Christian Del Bianco to sure up an already tough back end. While the offense has been sporadic this year, there is plenty of talent to give Toronto all they can handle in this game.
The goaltending match-up had Troy Holowchuk in net for Toronto facing Christian Del Bianco in net for the Warriors.
A combination of a poorly played offensive half by Toronto, and a high octane offense played by the Warriors had Vancouver up by six goals at the half. Christian Del Bianco looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in his play in net, as well as his part in the Warriors transition game. At the half it was 8-2 for Vancouver.
Once again a combination of strong Warriors defense and bad Toronto shot selection had Vancouver dominate the Rock in the third quarter. The power-play was the only thing that was working well for the Rock going 2 for 4 in the quarter. If there was one thing to pick on in the Vancouver game was their undisciplined play taking penalties. Though the game wasn’t in doubt, this would be the time to practice disciplined play.
A Chippy fourth quarter saw the Warriors mix it up a bit with a clearly frustrated Toronto Rock team. Once again Toronto primarily settled for outside shots that Christian Del Bianco handled quite easily. Although the Rock scored a few late goals, it was too little too late. Final score Vancouver 13 Toronto 8.
To The Game:
The Warriors got on the board first when Kevin Crowley scored from the outside off an Adam Charalambides pass at 1:03, but Tom Schreiber answered for Toronto with a laser to the far corner 0:29 seconds later.
Brett Mydske gave Vancouver the lead going coast to coast off a Christian Del Bianco feed at 2:24, followed by Keegan Bal finding the top corner on the power-play at 10:09.
After one quarter, Vancouver 3 Toronto 1.
Second Quarter:
Vancouver increased their lead with a blast from the side of the net from Keegan Bal off a Riley Loewen pass at 2:01, followed by Adam Charalambides with a laser to the far corner at 2:37. On a delayed penalty Dylan McIntosh scored from the side of the net off an Adam Charalambides pass at 6:50.
Josh Dawick finally got the Rock on the board with a no look behind the back goal off a Tom Schreiber pass at 7:21, but a great individual effort from Riley Loewen scored a highlight reel goal at 10:07 to restore the five goal lead.
Owen Grant added to the Warriors lead going in all alone off a Matt Beers pass in transition at 11:05.
At the half, Vancouver 8 Toronto 2.
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Third Quarter:
Adam Charalambides froze the Toronto defense coming from behind the net to score shorthanded at 4:10, but Corey Small got it back 0:23 seconds later on the power-play for Toronto finishing a Josh Dawick pass.
Keegan Bal scored his third of the night picking the far corner off a Marcus Klarich pass at 5:06, followed by Adam Charalambides’ third of the game with a sidearm snipe from the outside off a Keegan Bal pass at 5:41. Keegan Bal then added another to the far corner off a Dylan McIntosh pass at 6:59.
Gowah Abrams replaced Troy Holowchuk in net for Toronto.
The Rock got one back when Chris Boushy converted a Corey Small pass on the power-play at 7:37, but Dylan McIntosh scored on another outside blast off a Keegan Bal pass at 14:15 to increase the Warriors lead to nine goals.
After three quarters, Vancouver 13 Toronto 4.
Fourth Quarter:
Troy Holowchuk went back in the Toronto net.
The fourth quarter saw rhe Rock wake up. Tom Schreiber was able to beat Del Bianco to the far side off a Dan Craig pass at 5:16, followed by Josh Dawick scoring from in close off a Nathan Grenon pass at 8:36.
Corey Small added another power-play goal at 13:46, then Zack Kearney scored his first NLL goal at 14:41.
Final score, Vancouver 13 Toronto 8.
The Three Stars:
1. Keegan Bal (4g,5a)
2. Christian Del Bianco (47 saves)
3. Adam Charalambides (3g,3a)
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored the Rock 55-45.
- The faceoff battle was won by TD Ierlan 16-9.
- The loose ball battle went to the Rock 73-50.
- Toronto went 3 for 5 on the power-play.
- Vancouver went 1 for 3 on the power-play, also scoring a shorthanded goal.
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