Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson has announced the acquisition of transition player Brock Sorensen from the Minnesota Swarm in exchange for transition player Ethan O’Connor and Toronto’s first round pick in the 2017 NLL Draft.
The Swarm selected Sorensen with the 2nd overall pick in a very deep first round of the 2012 NLL Draft. The 6’6” native of Peterborough, ON enjoyed a great rookie season in 2013 with 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points in addition to 51 loose balls and 10 forced turnovers in 16 regular season games. In 2014, his loose ball numbers crept up to 73 and forced 17 turnovers. Sorensen dressed for all 18 regular season games and scored 6 goals and added 3 assists for a Minnesota team that didn’t qualify for the post-season.
The biggest assets Sorensen will bring to the Rock are his size and athleticism. With last week’s addition of unrestricted free agent Jeff Gilbert, the team continues to increase the size of the bodies on the defensive side of the ball.
“Brock will make us a tougher team to play against,” said Sanderson. “The past couple of seasons, at times we weren’t a tough team to play against. Our recent moves have begun to address that issue. However, some of that change in becoming a tough team to face is also going to have to come from within.” Sorensen played collegiately at Ohio State University and the first four years of his junior lacrosse career was played with his hometown Peterborough Junior A Lakers.
In his Junior A rookie season of 2006, he was a part of a surprising Minto Cup championship team that upset the host team from Six Nations. Sorensen finished his Junior A career by playing his last year of eligibility with the Orangeville Junior A Northmen in 2010.
Going the other way in the deal, the Swarm get O’Connor who led the Rock and all NLL rookies in loose balls and was Toronto’s first round pick, 9th overall in the 2013 NLL Draft. Toronto also sends their first round pick in the 2017 NLL Draft to Minnesota in the trade. The Rock do not have a first round pick in the upcoming 2014 NLL Draft, but do have their first round picks in the 2015 (expected to be one of the deepest drafts in league history) and the 2016 draft.
“We had to give up some significant assets in this trade,” explained Sanderson. “Ethan had a strong first season in the NLL and has a bright future ahead of him in this league.”
