The Toronto Rock are 0-5. That sentence alone is enough to make the head of a lacrosse fan spin.
The Toronto Rock lost last night to the Georgia Swarm even though they scored 17 goals.
The Toronto Rock had 25 goals total before the output of 17 last night.
I am so confused that I cannot format this story properly.
The Rock’s 0-5 start is now the story of the NLL season after the Colorado Mammoth’s undefeated run of four games came to an end last night in Saskatchewan. Stepping up for certain in the loss last night was Rob Hellyer, putting up ten points on his own, seven of them assists. Colin Doyle also re-emerged with six assists and eight points total.
But even when the offense finally cam alive, the defense went and surrendered 20 goals. Georgia is a high scoring team, with 43 goals in three games before last night. However, 20 goals? The last time an NLL team put up that number was May 2nd, 2015, when the Buffalo Bandits did that to a New England Black Wolves club that was acting as nearly an expansion roster. The Bandits did it to New England twice in 2015.
(Stats shoutout to Ryan Conwell from Lax All Stars)
Toronto is a veteran team and a far cry from what the Black Wolves were as a team last season. The Rock have potential future hall of famers on the roster. They are coming off of a Champions Cup appearance.
And while the Swarm could be a prolific offense anyways, with ten point nights from Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson, along with the sudden assist streak from Kiel Matisz, there is almost no excuse to allow that kind of goal total in the NLL.
Toronto is missing three defensemen, and the previous strength of a Rock solid defense (pun) is now gone. Damon Edwards, Scott Johnston, and Jesse Gamble are all injured. In the lineup last night were Brad Kri and Glen Bryan, who have spent time on practice rosters, and a rookie in Luc Magnon. Billy Hostrawser did not see much floor time either, putting up 10 penalty minutes on five minor infractions.
Brandon Miller played the majority of the game, allowing ten goals on 27 shots. Nick Rose allowed nine on 19 shots. Overall, Toronto allowed 20 goals on 47 shot attempts. The Rock have now allowed 68 goals in four games, the most of any team in the league.
The 0-4 start was concerning. Now at 0-5, Toronto is in a situation where it has to do something, or the Rock are going to continue to sink at this pace.
