Toronto Rock advance to the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals

Toronto Rock (Wikimedia Commons)

The Toronto Rock have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2022 National Lacrosse League Playoffs. On Friday night at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, the Rock defeated the Halifax Thunderbirds 14-13 in the quarterfinals of the National Lacrosse League playoffs.

Three Rock players led the team in scoring with five points each. Tom Schreiber had three goals and two assists, while Zach Manns of Victoria, British Columbia and Rob Hellyer of Lion’s Head, Ontario each had two goals and three assists.

Toronto actually had a commanding 9-3 lead over Halifax at half time. However, the Thunderbirds marched back and outscored the Rock 10-4 in the second half to force overtime with the game deadlocked at 13 goals apiece. Then in the extra frame, Challen Rogers of Coquitlam, British Columbia scored at 2:27 with an unassisted marker.

With the win, the Rock will either play the Buffalo Bandits or the Albany FireWolves in a best-of-three Eastern Conference Final, that will start next weekend. The Rock are the only Canadian team left in the NLL Playoffs for 2022. That is because on Friday, the Calgary Roughnecks lost 16-12 to the Colorado Mammoth. The Mammoth will now play the winner of the San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings in the other Conference Finals Series. The final is also a best of three.

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