Rock Fall To Defending Champs 12-8

ROCHESTER, NY – The Toronto Rock (1-2) were defeated 12-8 by the Rochester Knighthawks (3-0) on Saturday night at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena.

The Knighthawks scored the first two goals of the quarter giving them a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into the frame.  The Rock battled hard to get on the board as Sandy Chapman scored half way through the quarter to break the goose egg on the Toronto side of the ledger.  The Rock evened the score 2-2 with just 7 seconds left in the first quarter when Garrett Billings fired a brilliant pass cross-floor to Stephan Leblanc who buried the ball into the Rochester cage on the powerplay.

Just 21 seconds after Rochester went up by a goal, Damon Edwards evened the score on a breakaway.  The Knighthawks benefitted from a powerplay goal by Cody Jamieson to give them back a one-goal edge.  Rochester scored once more before the half to take a 5-3 lead into the break.

The third quarter was not kind to the Rock as despite carrying the offensive play for stretches, they only came up with a pile of goal posts and one goal over the 15-minute span to show for their efforts and trailed 9-4 going into the fourth quarter.

Toronto would outscore Rochester in the final quarter 4-3 but it was too little, too late as the Knighthawks got the win on home floor.

The Rock got a pair of goals from Stephan Leblanc and Rob Hellyer while Sandy Chapman, Damon Edwards, Garrett Billings and Colin Doyle all had singles.

Goaltending continues to be a strength for the Rock as Nick Rose turned in another solid effort making 34 saves.

The Rock are next at home on Friday, January 31^st when they host the Vancouver Stealth at 7:30pm at Air Canada Centre.

2014 Toronto Rock Pro-Rated Season Tickets and the brand new Toronto Rock Upper Bowl Season Pass are on sale now.  The Toronto Rock Upper Bowl Season Pass gets you a seat for all eight remaining regular season home games at Air Canada Centre for just $99.99.  Single game tickets are also on sale for all eight remaining regular season home games.  For more information, please visit www.torontorock.com or phone 416-596-3075 to speak with a ticket representative get your hands on the BEST ticket in town.