Aaron Woods wears number seven but should probably switch to six.
The 28-year-old made his NLL debut last week by scoring two goals and six points. He followed that up with another two-goal and six-point performance in Halifax’s 12-10 win over the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Friday night in Halifax.
“I think just the great group of guys around me, everyone is moving the ball out there and we’re all looking out for each other trying to get each other open, we’re really just playing for each other. With a group of guys like that, it makes it really easy to put some points on the board,” said Woods.
Woods has had a long journey to make it to the NLL. He moved up the ranks from Junior C to B lacrosse and eventually moved to the Arena Lacrosse League with the Peterborough Timbermen. He became the ALL East MVP in 2022 with scoring 61 points in 11 games. This summer, he played for the Coburg Kodiaks of the Major Series Lacrosse, scoring 44 points in 21 games. From a story written in the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Woods felt his production warranted a shot at an NLL roster, so he called general managers to try to secure an invite to training camp. He received an invite to the Thunderbirds camp and made their team as a practice squad player. However, Randy Staats being out of the line-up opened a spot for him and he made the most out of his opportunity.
“I couldn’t be more grateful being in a place like Halifax playing lacrosse. It’s really a dream come true,” said Woods.
“He is coachable, he works his tail off, he is an excellent lacrosse player, and he is just making the most of his opportunity,” said veteran Thunderbirds defenceman David Brock on Aaron Woods. “He’s a natural, he’s looking like he’s a seasoned veteran. I think he’s 28-years-old so he’s mature and doing all the right things. The sky is the limit for him.”
Bo Bowhunter opened the scoring a minute-and-a-half into the game. He had the ball high in the offensive zone and squeaked a shot through two defenders to open the scoring.
Sean Westley answered for Las Vegas four minutes later. He took the ball from up high ran towards the right corner, and shot the ball on goal to tie the game.
Woods then got his first goal of the game. He had the ball on the left side and had a bit of room between him and his defender to get his shot off, and he made no mistake sniping it into the back of the net for his first goal at home.
“It was awesome. Obviously, my first game was on the road, so being able to come here and have the fans going nuts for us every time we score and the momentum and energy that they bring to our game is truly an unmatched experience,” said Woods.
The goals kept coming, Ryan Benesch and Clarke Petterson scored for Halifax, while Dylan Watson got two for Las Vegas to make the score 4-3 for Halifax.
Woods and Brock then connected on a goal. Brock took the ball up the floor and passed it to Benesch on the right side, who immediately passed it across the slot to Woods at the other side of the net, and he scored his second of the game, finishing the high-scoring first quarter with a 5-3 lead for Halifax.
The Thunderbirds kept pouring on the pressure in the second with a gorgeous goal from captain Cody Jamieson. He got the ball in the slot, spun away from his defender, and as he was doing so, shot the ball one-handed between his legs into the top corner of the net. The goal was TSN’s Highlight of the Night.
Clarke Petterson added two more goals for Halifax to stretch their lead to 8-3.
Then David Brock got on the scoreboard. He picked up a loose ball in the neutral zone and took off down the floor on a 2-on-1 with Jamieson. Brock shot the ball himself into the back of the net.
“That was special. I don’t get many, and I love chipping in, I love scoring goals. I’ll remember that one for a while,” said Brock.
It was a big goal for Brock, knowing he wasn’t sure if he was going to play this year. He has a young family at home and asked to be put on the hold-out list so he could take care of his kids, get them on a proper sleep schedule and be there for his family. He felt his personal life was settled enough to come back and, like Woods, has only played in this game and the last game against Philadelphia.
“Being away from the game for the first time in my life, I missed it and I really wanted to be back involved,” said Brock. “To be here at home in The Nest, this building is rocking. And that’s what is enticing about coming back and playing in front of these great fans and this great city and for such a great coach and general manager. It means a lot, it is a special moment for me and I had a lot of fun.”
Brock finished the game with a goal, an assist and collected seven loose balls.
Sean Westley wouldn’t allow the Desert Dogs to give in. He scored two goals to end the half, but the Thunderbirds still led 9-5.
Las Vegas scored 24 seconds into the third quarter. Connor Kirst, the brother of Halifax’s Cole Kirst, went down on a 2-on-1 and fired the ball into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, Desert Dogs captain Rob Hellyer fired the ball from the left side on the power play to narrow Halifax’s lead to two.
The rest of the quarter was a defensive battle with both goalies standing tall and making excellent saves. Cody Jamieson finally broke the deadlock with over a minute to go in the third to make the score 10-7 going into the third quarter.
Dawson Theede stretched Halifax’s lead to 12-7 by scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.
But Las Vegas wouldn’t go away. Casey Jackson scored on a tic-tac-toe goal and added another. Jack Hannah followed up with a goal from the left side to narrow Halifax’s lead to 12-10 with just under two minutes left. However, Halifax didn’t allow any more quality scoring chances and won the game.
“We came out hot and were able to put a good amount of goals up in the first half and from there, it was just keeping our head down and keep working,” said Woods. “It was a bit of a gritty finish, but we just kept battling as a group and working for each other. I think we have that confidence that if we do, we will come out with the win.”
Aaron Woods and Clarke Petterson led the way for Halifax with six points. Ryan Benesch had five, and Cody Jamieson and Austin Shanks had four. Warren Hill had an outstanding game making a number of big stick-side saves. He stopped 45/55 shots.
For Las Vegas, Dylan Watson and Casey Jackson both led the way with two goals and five points. Sean Westley had a hat trick and Jack Hannah had four points. Landon Wells stopped 39 out of 51 shots.
With the win, Halifax’s record improves to 5-3. They have a huge Week 12 starting tonight when they host the defending NLL champions, the Buffalo Bandits, for Marvel Superhero Night, and then travel to Calgary to play the Roughnecks on Sunday afternoon. For Las Vegas, their up-and-down season continues with the loss dropping their record to 3-5. They play next Friday at home against the Philadelphia Wings.
