The Toronto Rock have advanced to the National Lacrosse League semifinals. On Saturday at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, the Rock defeated the Rochester Knighthawks 9-6 in NLL quarterfinal action.
The Rock were led in scoring by forward Challen Rogers of Coquitlam, British Columbia. He had two goals and three assists for five points. Five more Rock players had a multi-point game. Forward Mark Matthews of Oshawa, Ontario had one goal and three assists for four points, forwards Chris Boushy and Tom Schreiber each had two goals and one assist for three points, forward Corey Small of St. Catharines, Ontario had one goal and two assists for three points, and forward Dan Craig of Shelburne, Ontario had one goal and one assist for two points.
It was a dominant first quarter by the Rock as they outscored the Knighthawks 5-1. Faceoffs were also a key statistic in the match as Toronto won 14 of 19 faceoff attempts.
The Rock will now face the Buffalo Bandits in a best of three NLL semifinal. There is one more Canadian team in the 2024 NLL Playoffs. That is the Halifax Thunderbirds, who will play the Albany FireWolves in the last quarterfinal matchup on Sunday. The Thunderbirds/Attack winner will play the San Diego Seals in the other semi-final.
