Another close one

The Rock lost their second game of the season to the Buffalo Bandits last night, 13-11. Other than the outcome, it was a great game - kind of chippy in the 1st half though. It seemed for a while that we wouldn't have 5-on-5 lacrosse at all - there would always be someone (or two or three) in the box. Josh Sanderson, who didn't show up in game 1, came out guns-a-blazing last night, and ended up with 4 goals and 3 assists. Blaine Manning, who had a great game 1, got no goals and a single assist. If this trend continues, both Manning and Shooter will have a great game tonight, and Doyle will do nothing.

The defense played pretty well, though stopping Mark Steenhuis on transition is next to impossible. Man, that guy's good. He's one of those annoying little pricks that you hate to play against, but you'd give your left nut to have on your team. He ended up with 5 goals and 4 assists. Chugger put on a clinic, although a lot of shots seemed to hit him square in the chest. Watson made some really nice saves, but also let in 12 goals on only 44 shots.

The most interesting part of the game was a fight (well, sort of) that I actually agreed with. Normally, I don't much like fighting in lacrosse or hockey; most of the time, it's seems pointless. But when Chris White gave Toronto MVP Colin Doyle a cross-check to the head after the whistle was blown, Toronto enforcer Tim "The Surgeon" O'Brien went after White and started pounding him. White immediately turtled, dropping to the floor and covering his face. Since White never threw a punch, he didn't get a fighting penalty, and O'Brien got 5 for roughing. (White did get 5 minutes for cross-checking.) Like I said, I don't generally like fighting, but when someone hits your star player with such a cheap shot, I have no problem with sending someone after him.

Toronto plays in Rochester tonight, trying to avoid starting the season 0-3. Winning in Rochester, however, has never been easy for the Rock - I think they've only done it once ever. (Of course, that once was the 2004 NLL Championship.) The game is on b2, which is some live video streaming thing that I've never tried, but I've heard good things about it, so I think I'll give it a shot tonight.