After two impressive road wins to open the season, the Toronto Rock will look to continue their momentum on home soil when the Philadelphia Wings visit the Air Canada Centre (ACC) Saturday night.
Philadelphia opened their season with a 13-8 home win versus the Buffalo Bandits. Leading the Wings in the victory was the recently acquired Jordan Hall. Hall finished his Philly debut with 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists). Other new additions to the Wings roster who impressed in their first game included Kevin Buchanan and rookie Ethan Farrell. Buchanan registered a hat trick against his former Bandit squad, ending the night with 6 points. Farrell, a Lynchburg College alum, finished his first NLL game with 3 points. Kevin Crowley began his sophomore campaign in impressive fashion, registering 4 goals and 1 assist on the night.
On the defensive side, Brandon Miller backstopped the Wings to victory with 43 saves. Captain Brodie Merrill showcased his ever-versatile abilities with 1 goal, 2 assists and 16 loose balls, earning him NLL Transitional Player of the Week honors.
The Rock began their 2013 season with two close games, a 13-11 win over the Calgary Roughnecks followed by a 10-9 victory versus the Edmonton Rush.
Garret Billings and Colin Doyle lead the team in scoring thus far with 10 points each. Despite only 2 goals scored between the pair (both by Billings), the high scoring duo have quarterbacked the Rock offense in both victories. Doyle currently leads the NLL in assists with 10.
Veteran Kasey Beirnes follows closely behind Billings and Doyle with 9 points. Beirnes leads the Rock in goals with 5, ranking him third among NLL scorers. Josh Sanderson and Stephan Leblanc are also off to hot starts with 6 points each.
Nick Rose not only began his first official season as Toronto’s starter with a pair of wins, the Orangeville native recorded 40-plus save performances in each game. Rose was named NLL Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts and currently leads all goalies in saves with 89.
Toronto and Philadelphia will battle for first place in the eastern conference on the ACC turf Saturday night at 7pm. Check back with In Lacrosse We Trust for all your latest NLL news.
