The Toronto Rock take a thrilling overtime game 14-13 against the Halifax Thunderbirds at the Scotiabank Centre on Friday night in Halifax, N.S.
Six minutes into overtime, Rock forward Josh Dawick fired the ball from the outside to win the game.
“I came over the top, and they didn’t really press out as much on my hands. So my hands were free a little bit, I knew there was traffic in front of the net, I just threw it on net and lucky it went in,” said Dawick, who scored three goals and four points tonight.
“Tight the whole way, two good teams, they were battling for their lives tonight, and we are continuing to strive for consistency. It is always hard to play here, and we knew this was going to be the type of game it was going to be,” said Dawick.
The loss was a tough blow for the Thunderbirds, who are fighting for their playoff lives.
“It’s definitely tough. But I think, overall, our outlook on it is that we played a great game. The effort was unbelievable from start to finish, and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” said Thunderbirds forward Mike Robinson, who had three goals and an assist. “That’s going to happen, I think the biggest thing is we just take it, learn from it and keep pushing and keep bringing that same effort moving forward.”
Halifax likely needs 10 wins to secure a playoff spot, maybe nine if the standings work out in their favour. The loss drops their record to five wins and eight losses. That means they need to win out their last five games, or come close to doing so, to make it in.
“We just got to trust what we do best, go out there and give 110 per cent effort every time, and the chips fall where they do,” said Robinson. “We gotta trust, and we gotta have the confidence and the swagger that we’re able to go out and win every night. We came into this game with a good confidence and a good swagger like that, and we just got to keep that going down the stretch here, and hopefully we can make a little run and get into those playoffs.”
The Thunderbirds open the scoring five minutes into the game. Austin Blumbergs had the ball up high and passed it to Will MacLeod charging towards the crease. MacLeod received the pass and shot it from the top of the crease to beat Toronto’s goalie, Nick Rose.
Halifax added another goal five minutes later. Jake Withers took the ball up in transition and fired it on goal. Rose made the shoulder save, but Robinson was there to pick up the rebound to score his first goal since Dec. 27 against Saskatchewan. He motioned throwing a monkey off his back for good measure. The monkey was certainly gone as he scored another two goals and an assist in this game.
Halifax was one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league until they played Buffalo on Feb. 14. Since then, they have scored 10 or more goals in four out of five games. Key to the success is secondary scorers like Robinson have found the back of the net.
“We definitely turned the corner a little bit. We had a tough start to the year,” said Robinson. “We weren’t producing, we knew if we stuck with what we do best, we could get back to where we should be, and I think we’re finding that right now. I don’t think we changed a whole lot. We have just been executing a lot better and not really second-guessing ourselves.”
Toronto tied the game quickly. Dan Craig received a pass up high and fired it past Halifax’s goalie Warren Hill’s stick to get Toronto on the board. They tied it soon after from a tic-tac-toe goal set up by Elijah Gash and Chris Boushy and scored by Josh Jackson to make it 2-2.
Toronto gained the lead with 19 seconds left with Dawick firing a shot through Hill’s legs. But Halifax responded. Nonkon Thompson hit Josh Jubenville to cause a turnover. Ryan Terefenko passed the ball up the floor to Clarke Petterson, and he scored with 0.1 seconds left to end the quarter at 3-3.
Toronto scored the first goal of the second quarter in transition. Sam English passed it over to Mark Matthews, coming off the bench, to score. Soon after, Owen Hiltz collected a rebound to score to stretch their lead to 5-3.
Petterson responded for the Thunderbirds. He used a pick from Brendan Bomberry to separate himself a little up high and fired the ball past Rose. Bomberry tied the game at five a few minutes later on the power play.
Latrell Harris responded for the Rock with a goal in transition, and the half ended with Toronto up 6-5.
Both teams scored to open the second half courtesy of goals from Jason Knox and Owen Hiltz.
Clarke Petterson tied the game at seven with his hat trick goal. He received the ball in front, faked a shot to dodge Hugh Kelleher and scored. Halifax gained the lead a minute later with a power play from Cody Jamieson.
Toronto answered. Dan Craig was behind the net and passed it to Chris Boushy in the slot for the goal. Josh Dawick scored two minutes later to make it 9-8 for Toronto.
Halifax answered with a power play goal from Robinson. Petterson passed him the ball in the slot, and Robinson shot behind his back to beat Rose and tie the game at nine going into the fourth quarter.
“Give us credit and give them credit, we both responded when the other team had their run and scored a few, and it was back and forth,” said Robinson. “I just think the heightened importance of these games down the stretch, nobody is willing to give up a lead, and the effort is going to be increased when the other team scores. I think it is that time of year where you’re going to see a lot of these games around the league.”
Toronto opened the scoring in the fourth with a hat trick goal from Owen Hiltz. However, Cody Jamieson answered for Halifax 20 seconds later.
The game was physical throughout, but some players were banged up in the fourth quarter. Dan Craig hobbled off the floor, not putting pressure on his left leg. Chris Boushy left the game for a bit after being slashed in the hand, and Clarke Petterson went down in pain after battling Elijah Gash at the side of the net. All three returned to the game.
“It’s just a hard lacrosse game. We’ve seen each other a little bit in the past, which I’m sure contributes to it. They’re always a tough team to play against. We want to be a tough team to play against as well, so it’s just the game of lacrosse. It’s the NLL,” said Dawick.
The Thunderbirds kept coming. Curtis Romanchych scored a break away goal. Nineteen seconds later, Robinson drove to the crease to score and stretch Halifax’s lead to 12-10.
Sam English answered for Toronto. He spun around the offensive zone to give himself a shooting lane against Romanchych and fired the ball past Hill.
Then Toronto’s captain, Challen Rogers, took over. He tied the game at 12 with two minutes left. Thirty seconds later, he drove in on goal and jumped over the crease to score the go-ahead goal.
“Chal, in the fourth quarter there putting the boys on his back. Some incredible goals in clutch time, it is not easy to do,” said Dawick.
Halifax wouldn’t go away. The ball went to Brendan Bomberry at the side of the net, and he dove over the crease to score with 21.8 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Josh Dawick would be the hero in overtime, sending Toronto home with their eighth win of the season.
Halifax narrowly outshot Toronto 58-55. Nick Rose stopped 45 shots, Josh Dawick and Owen Hiltz both had three goals and four points, Latrell Harris, Mark Matthews and Challen Rodgers all had four-point nights. Sam English had three points and a game-high 14 loose balls.
For Halifax, Clarke Petterson led the way with three goals and 10 points. Mike Robinson had a hat trick and four points, and Brendan Bomberry scored four points as well.
The Thunderbirds are on the road next Friday when they take on the Georgia Swarm, while Toronto is at home on Friday when they host the Saskatchewan Rush.
The trade deadline
The Thunderbirds made a trade on deadline day. Sending veteran defender Tyson Bell, along with their highest 2026 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 second-round pick to Las Vegas for 24-year-old transition player, Casey Wilson. The second round pick becomes a 2027 third round pick if Bell re-signs in Las Vegas this offseason. Wilson was the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft and is the brother of Thunderbirds’ defender, Max Wilson. Casey is recovering from ACL surgery but hopes to suit up before the season ends. Max tore his meniscus against Calgary on Feb. 28 and will require surgery in a few weeks. He is done for the year.
