THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Bob Watson isn’t done yet.
The Toronto Rock, with veteran goaltender Watson at his best, defeated the Rochester Knighthawks 10-8 to win Sunday a National Lacrosse League East Division semifinal showdown.
Garrett Billings and Colin Doyle scored three goals each and Sandy Chapman, Pat Merrill, Blaine Manning and Aaron Pascas one each for the Rock, who had a 54-41 shots advantage. Watson made 33 saves on 41 shots to earn the win.
Shawn Evans, Jordan Hall and Mike Accursi all scored twice for Rochester, while Jarrett Davis and Shawn Williams had one each.
Toronto goes to the division final in Buffalo on Saturday. The Bandits edged the visiting Boston Blazers 11-10 in the other East semifinal the previous night.
The West Division final will be in Calgary on Saturday. The Roughnecks defeated Colorado 10-6 and the defending-champion Washington Stealth beat Minnesota 14-8 in the semis.
Home floor for the Champions’ Cup final in two weeks will be determined in the seeding of the four remaining teams: 1. Calgary, 2. Buffalo, 3. Toronto, 4. Washington.
The only way the title would be decided in Toronto, giving the 41-year-old Watson one last home start in his final season of pro lacrosse, would be if the Rock and the Stealth both win.
The Rock trailed 3-1 before goals 25 seconds apart by Doyle and Pascas tied the game 3-3 by the end of the first quarter.
The Rock continued to roll in the second. Billings whipped in a sidearm shot on a power play, Merrill intercepted a pass while killing a penalty and ran the floor to beat Vinc low, and Billings fired one through Vinc’s legs on a power play. The five consecutive goals had Toronto up 6-3 by halftime. Shots were 30-18 in favour of the Rock.
Billings scored with a sidearm shot while being checked to the floor and Manning leapt into the crease after sucking up a rebound to score a seventh straight Rock goal to make it 8-3.
Wait, the Knighthawks weren’t done.
Accursi bounced in a long shot at 10:52 of the third quarter for Rochester’s first goal since 10:42 of the first quarter and Williams beat Watson with a long, high shot 1:53 into the fourth quarter.
Rochester was awarded a penalty shot when Toronto was called for interference with too many men on the floor, and Hall trotted to the front edge of the crease to stuff the ball into a top corner of the net at 2:30 to make it 8-6.
Doyle struck back with a long low shot at 2:47 for a 9-6 Toronto and Evans countered for the Hawks at 5:39 on a power play to make it 9-7.
Five minutes remained.
Four minutes remained.
Doyle sealed the Rock win when he darted past defenceman Troy Bonterre to take a Billings pass and beat Vinc from the front edge of the crease at 12:05.
Accursi got his second of the game at 14:24 — too little, too late.
Notes: Doyle and Billings had three assists each . . . Pascas was helped to the dressing room after injuring his left ankle in the second minute of the fourth quarter . . . Watson was presented prior to the opening faceoff with the Les Bartley Award as team MVP . . . The Rock deleted Mat MacLeod, Pat Maddalena and Tim O’Brien while the Knighthawks scratched Joe Walters, Josh Ruys and Kevin Fines . . . Toronto was 3-0 against Rochester during the regular season . . . The Knighthawks ended the regular season on a 3-0 run while the Rock slumped to 0-3 . . . Toronto improved its all-time home playoff record to 11-2. … There was an announced crowd of 10,228 in the Air Canada Centre.