The Toronto Rock won their third National Lacrosse League championship in four years by defeating the Albany Attack by a score of 13-12 on Saturday night.
Albany suffered a major breakdown in the fourth quarter, squandering a two-goal lead by allowing Toronto several successive breakaways. NLL Goalie of the Year Rob Blasdell, having an off night, could not stop most of these, and the Rock tallied four goals inside of three minutes to go up 11-9.
The Attack got a lucky break when a long shot was deflected into the Toronto goal, but the Rock’s Darryl Gibson—formerly of the Attack—came right back with a pair of goals, including the game winner, leaving Albany down by three with about two minutes left.
Albany made things interesting by pulling Blasdell at this point, and they made the most of the extra attacker, scoring twice in just over a minute and securing the next faceoff with 45 seconds remaining. A backhand shot went wide, allowing Toronto to recover, but a suddenly tenacious Attack defense kept the Rock from scoring on the empty net. Albany got one last chance, recovering the ball deep in their end with 16 seconds left, but they could not get a shot off against the tough Toronto D.
The major battle all night long was that defense against a quick Albany offense that scored several very pretty goals. However, the same high-risk passes that the Attack used to make plays were also Albany’s downfall: A repeated theme of the night was the Rock intercepting a poorly timed Albany pass and scoring on the resulting breakaway.
Despite the success of the Attack this season—they finished at 15-3, the best record in the league—low attendance during the regular season may lead team owner Herb Chorbajian to relocate the franchise for next year. Albany drew an average of just over 3,500 fans to each game, one of the lowest tallies in the league. The NLL has set a deadline of June 1 for Chorbajian to decide if the team will remain in Albany.
