MISSISSAUGA, CANADA – FEBRUARY 22: the NLL regular season game between the Georgia Swarm and the Toronto Rock at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre on February 22, 2025 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Christian Bender/NLL)
One-goal games have not been the friend of the Toronto Rock. Fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive, and just 1-4 in one-goal games this season, the Rock were in another tight battle Saturday night against the Georgia Swarm. Corey Small’s fourth and fifth goals of the game helped tie the game at 10 and force overtime. After six and a half goalless minutes, Lyle Thompson found brother Miles at a bad angle who was still able to convert the quick-stick for an 11-10 Swarm victory – Toronto’s third straight one-goal loss.
Small and coach Matt Sawyer both used the term “must-win” to describe the game, which drop Toronto to a league-worst 3-8 record, tied with Albany and Las Vegas. The veteran scorer called the loss, ‘all too familiar’. “A bunch of one-goal losses in a row – that’s tough to swallow,” he said. “We’ve been really close, but the reality is we’ve been on the wrong side of all of those,” coach Sawyer said. He did add, “You can’t ask for much more as far as compete and effort.”
Toronto led at halftime 7-6 with Small needing just 21:23 to score his second hat trick of the season (and seventy-third of his career). Nick Rose (40 saves from 51 shots) and Brett Dobson (55 of 65) combined to blank their opponents in the third quarter. In the fourth, the score was tied three times although Toronto could never regain the lead Georgia took on Lyle Thompson’s hat trick goal. Small’s first attempt at the tying goal was overturned after review when an initial shooter stepped in the crease. However, in the final minute with Rose on the bench, his outside shot off a broken play beat Dobson to force the extra period.
Miles Thompson’s game-winner was his second of the game. Lyle Thompson led all runners with seven points (3,4). Corey Small’s five goals led all runners. Dan Craig matched him with six points (all assists).
Still, Small was in no mood to celebrate personal achievements. “It means nothing in the loss,” he said. “The win is what’s most important. That’s why we’re all here – that’s why I play. I was just trying to do anything I can to give us a chance.”
Those chances may be running out for the Rock this season. “We’re in every game, we’re fighting for our lives,” Small admitted. “We maybe have one more opportunity at this.” Last season’s lowest playoff seed was the Rochester Knighthawks, sneaking into the postseason on the final day with an 8-10 record. Following the Week 13 loss, Toronto is now 3-8 with just seven games remaining.
Toronto head into its second-to-last bye week where Sawyer says the team will ‘regroup’ and ‘turn the page’. He was quick to point out while the Rock was scoring, so was the Swarm. However, when the defense stepped up – like the third quarter – so did the Swarm’s. “That’s been the story,” he said. “We’ve had a tough time just marrying all that together all year.”
