THE CANADIAN PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Toronto Rock scored five consecutive goals in a monster third quarter to defeat the Orlando Titans 15-10, advancing to the National Lacrosse League final Saturday.
Toronto will play Washington next Saturday after the Stealth beat the Edmonton Rush 12-11.
The Rock’s scoring streak started with Kasey Beirnes’ third goal of the contest at 7:18 of the third quarter. The next two minutes 35 seconds saw Toronto score four more goals from Colin Doyle, Stephan LeBlanc, Mike Hominuck and Jeff Gilbert to give Toronto an 11-6 lead.
"At halftime the guys looked at each other in the locker-room and asked one another for a little bit more and things worked out," said Rock head coach Troy Cordingley.
Beirnes opened the scoring for Toronto as he cashed in off a rebound for a 1-0 lead at the 7:04 mark of the first quarter. The Rock took a 2-0 lead on a goal by LeBlanc assisted by Doyle and Stephen Hoar.
LeBlanc is currently the favourite to take home NLL Rookie of the Year honours and is headed to his first championship game.
"I couldn’t be happier being placed beside a guy like Doyle, that’s a rookie’s dream come true," LeBlanc said. "It’s just a blessing that we’re able to keep playing into the championship game."
Orlando tied the score 3-3 on defenceman Greg Peyser’s goal just 1:57 into the second quarter.
Pat Maddalena and Casey Powell scored back-to-back goals to give the Titans a 5-3 lead with 5:28 left before half. That was the only goal of the game for Powell, Orlando’s scoring leader, as the Rock limited him to just three points after he scored five on the Boston Blazers in the opening round.
"We did have a game plan to limit his room, limit his space and keep the ball out of his stick," Rock goaltender Bob Watson said of Powell.
Beirnes answered with his second goal of the game at 13:32 of the second as Toronto trailed 5-4 at halftime.
Just 3:13 into the third quarter Blaine Manning scored unassisted to tie the game at five. Then 31 seconds passed before Toronto took back the lead 6-5 on Josh Wasson’s goal from Biernes and Cam Woods.
Before Toronto’s offensive onslaught in the second half, Orlando goaltender Matt Vinc had given up just eight second-half goals in its last two games.
"We had trouble scoring on Vinc early in the game, but at halftime we just said we wanted to stick to the game plan and keep peppering him with shots," said LeBlanc.
Watson recorded 25 saves before being pulled late in the game.
Beirnes, LeBlanc, Billings and Doyle all recorded four points apiece for the Rock.