THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Matt Vinc has a big appetite.
The Orlando goaltender was munching on slices of pizza after devouring 52 Rock shots.
"It’s a huge win any time you can come into Toronto and get a W," Vinc said after a 16-12 triumph that moved the Titans (4-2) past the Rock (6-4) into first place in the National Lacrosse League’s East Division standings Saturday night.
How good was Vinc? Toronto had a 64-43 shots-on-goal advantage in front of an announced Air Canada Centre crowd of 10,984.
"I feel pretty good," the St. Catharines, Ont., high school phys-ed teacher said when asked if the workload tired him out. "Our guys did a great job getting in their hands and limiting their second chances."
Titans captain Casey Powell had four goals and four assists, Matt Alrich scored three goals, Ryan Boyle and Pat Maddalena got two each and Jordan Hall, Chad Thompson, Mat MacLeod, Bill Greer and Pat Merrill got one each.
"It was an important game for us to gain some momentum," said Powell. "We came up big."
Maddalena picked up six assists and Hall five as the Titans flashed a multi-threat offence that gave Rock defenders fits.
"That’s what we’re trying to do, spread it out, spread the wealth," said Powell. "When we do that, we’re hard to beat."
Hall is a big-time scorer but is happy as a playmaker, too.
"Sometimes the coaches tell me to shoot more but I like to distribute the ball, especially when the goalie steps to the top of his crease. I’m more than happy to keep the ball moving. I don’t care how many goals I score."
For the Rock, who have lost three straight, Sandy Chapman scored three, Colin Doyle, Garrett Billings, Stephan Leblanc and Mike Hominuck got two each and Kasey Beirnes added one.
Toronto led 2-0 after one quarter. Starting Rock goaltender Bob Watson was perfect — until the second quarter started. It was 8-5 for the Titans at halftime. They shredded Toronto’s defence.
The Titans left no doubt which team was going to emerge with the win when they put four balls behind Watson in the opening 1:50 of the fourth quarter. That was it for Watson. Orlando was up 14-8, while Toronto had a 48-39 shots edge. Steve Dietrich took over in the Rock net.
Power-play goals by Billings and Chapman and the 400th of Doyle’s career made it 14-11 but Toronto was too far behind to catch up.
It was the first home defeat of the season for the Rock, who’ve crashed after a six-week joyride atop the NLL East.
Titans coach Ed Comeau was left doing what he usually does — responding to raves about Vinc’s goaltending.
"That’s the way he’s played every game for us, without fail," said Comeau. "He’s really consistent, and our defence has done a good job. Matty has been playing great. He’s a big part of our success. When we do have a hiccup defensively, he bails us out more often than not."
Toronto has a bye next weekend, and Doyle says the rest will be beneficial.
"We’ve got to regroup and start over," said the captain. "Our youth and inexperience might be showing a little bit. We worked our systems at the start of the year but we’ve been getting away from them lately. We’re not a good enough team to do that. We’ve got to stick to our systems and outwork teams.
"This is a good chance to sit back and have a look at things."
Comeau’s crew, having played only six games in two months, is well rested to make a second-half run and hold onto first place. Defenceman Pat Merrill knew what was at stake coming into this one.
"It’s obviously a big one," Merrill, who used to play for the Rock, said of the victory. "We know that if we want to win the East we’ve got to go through them. A win here in Toronto is a big one for us for sure."
Notes: On power plays, Toronto was 4-for-7 and Orlando was 4-for-5 … Orlando won 21 of 31 faceoffs. Stephen Peyser was 17-for-24 and Greg Peyser was 4-for-7. Leblanc was 9-for-18 for the Rock … Rock scratches: Creighton Reid, Brendon Doran, Josh Wasson, Stephen Hoar and Kim Squire … Titans scratches: Steve Ammann, Jessie Guerin, Dan Hardy, Jarett Park, Mike Ammann … Toronto has only two games in March — at home versus Buffalo on the 12th and in Orlando on the 27th … Merrill, who lives in Toronto, passed the 500 career mark in loose ball pickups.