Toronto Rock stopped by Roughnecks goaltender

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HAMILTON – For three quarters, the Toronto Rock were unable to solve the reigning National Lacrosse League Most Valuable Player. But when it finally did, it was too later, too late.

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Christian Del Bianco was brilliant for three quarters, demonstrating not only that he is among the elite goaltenders in the league but one of the most athletic as well. And despite facing a furious Rock comeback in the fourth quarter, his Calgary Roughnecks escaped FirstOntario Centre with an 11-10 win.

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Del Bianco, who ended with 44 saves, was helped by a defense that gave Toronto very little to work with for much of the night, and perhaps even by some sloppiness by the Rock offense. It all added up to a much-needed win for the Roughnecks, who had only won two of its first seven games.

Toronto faced a 10-5 deficit going into the fourth quarter but three goals by Corey Small, two in the first minute of the final period, spurred the attempted comeback.

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“We’ve had a few games this year where we start out slow and been able to battle back and get wins,” Small, who finished with five goals on the night said. “It was just a matter of time when that comes back to bite us.”

The win for Calgary also avenged a 9-7 loss to Toronto in Alberta last week. Rock goaltender Nick Rose recorded his 100th career win that night but was less than his best in the third quarter when four Roughnecks goals broke the game open.

Two of Calgary’s transition players, Robert Hudson and Harrison Matsuoka scored twice each. Their breakaway goals sent the Roughnecks on its way in the third. Jesse King also scored twice from the offensive set.

Calgary also got single goals from Shane Simpson, Josh Currier, Tyler Pace, Haiden Dickson, and Thomas Hoggarth. Hoggarth’s goal early in the fourth quarter was key in stopping what may have been a Toronto comeback run.

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Mark Matthews scored twice. Dan Lintner, Mitch De Snoo and Justin Martin scored once.

Veteran defender Chris Corbeil made his first appearance of the season coming off injury. Rose finished with 38 saves.

“We’ve dropped two of our last three now,” Corbeil said. “That should be a kick in the butt.”

“This is a bit of a wakeup call for us. There’s so much potential for this team but we’re just not hitting it.”

Toronto falls to 6-2 on the season and has a tough test on Friday against the surging New York Riptide. That game will be played at Bell Place in Laval, Que. as part of the NLL’s ‘Unboxed’ series. The Rock’s next home game is Feb. 24 against the Vancouver Warriors.

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