By Tom Hoffman
For the second consecutive season, the National Lacrosse League Championship game will feature the Washington Stealth and Toronto Rock. This season’s match will take place this Sunday at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. The game will be shown live in the US on Versus and on TSN in Canada at 2 PM.
How they got here
Toronto defeated the Buffalo Bandits last Saturday 12-11 at HSBC Arena. The Rock never trailed in the game but had to hold on as the Bandits scored the game’s final four goals to make things interesting. Bob Watson made 35 saves while Garrett Billings paced the Rock offense with a six point (3G, 3A) evening. Washington trailed the Calgary Roughnecks 3-1 after the first quarter before outscoring them 7-1 in the second and third stanzas en route to a 10-8 victory at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome. Lewis Ratcliff scored seven points (3G, 4A) for the Stealth while Tyler Richards made 44 saves in goal.
Playoff History
In addition to last season’s title game meeting that was won by Washington 15-11, the teams met back in the 2002 Championship when the Stealth were known as the Albany Attack. Toronto won that night 13-12 at Pepsi Arena. Six players have played in both Championship games. Colin Doyle (the 2002 Championship MVP), Bob Watson, Sandy Chapman and Blaine Manning all played for the Rock while Phil Sanderson and Cam Woods were in the Albany lineup.
Regular Season
The teams met on April 1 in Toronto with the Rock needing overtime to defeat the Stealth 13-12. Toronto’s Stephan LeBlanc scored with 1:12 left in regulation to send the game to overtime then scored the game winner in the extra session.
Stats and Stuff
Washington (203) again led the NLL in scoring this season. While the Stealth were next to last in goals against (198), their defense currently is tops (along with Calgary) among the eight playoff squads. This will be the final game of Bob Watson’s NLL career. Washington Rhys Duch was named to the league’s first team All-Pro squad while teammate Lewis Ratcliff and Toronto’s Stephan LeBlanc each made the second team. The Rock’s Aaron Pascas earned a spot on the All-Rookie team. Ratcliff and Duch finished second and third, respectively, in regular season scoring while the Rock placed four players (LeBlanc, Billings, Blaine Manning and Colin Doyle) in the top 20. Toronto is seeking its sixth NLL title which would tie them with Philadelphia.
The pick
If this game has the excitement of the regular season matchup this could be one of the best championship tilts in league history. Washington is looking join the 1997 Rochester Knighthawks and 1987 Baltimore Thunder as teams that won the championship playing all of their postseason matches on the road. The Stealth is also looking to win back to back titles for the first time since the Rock did so in 2002 and 2003. Toronto is looking to send Bob Watson off to retirement a winner. Look for the Champion’s Cup to stay out west.
Washington 12 Toronto 10
Friday, May 13, 2011
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