The Philadelphia Wings had no answers for the Toronto Rock in the second half, as the opponent used a stifling defense to keep the Wings off the board in an eventual 14-7 Toronto victory.
The game started out well for the Wings, who established an early 4-1 lead just over seven minutes into the game. Ben McIntosh had a hat trick in the first quarter, and Matt Rambo and Corey Small also contributed to a 5-3 advantage at the first quarter break.
Toronto then pulled ahead with the first four goals of the second quarter, but a pair of tallies from Blaze Riorden knotted things up at 7-7 at halftime. From there though, Toronto goaltender Nick Rose and the Rock defense shut the doors, permitting the Wings just 18 shots on goal and zero goals in the second half.
Further complicating matters for the Wings was that Toronto, which had taken the league’s second-most penalty minutes on average per game heading into the contest, only committed one coincidental minor – meaning the Wings power play, ranked first in the NLL, did not get a single opportunity in the contest.
Dan Craig led the way for Toronto with a career night, potting five goals and adding four assists for a nine-point game. Tom Schreiber continued his assault on NLL nets with four goals, putting him at 19 on the season in just five appearances.
Trevor Baptiste was a bright spot for the Wings, dominating a faceoff battle between two of the best takers in the game by winning 19 of 24 draws against Toronto’s TD Ierlan. Baptiste gobbled 12 loose balls, as did Kiel Matisz.
The Wings continue on in their slate this Sunday afternoon when they head to Hamilton, Ontario to take on the Halifax Thunderbirds in a game that was moved to Toronto’s home building due to COVID restrictions in Nova Scotia.
