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Rock leaves it to last second Dramatic buzzer-beater secures second consecutive lacrosse title By MIKE KOREEN -- Toronto Sun After 59 minutes and 59 seconds of gruelling lacrosse in a sweltering Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Rock rookie Kaleb Toth fired the only shot that mattered. With 14,211 fans screaming at him to shoot, Toth's blast from the left point went over the right shoulder of Rochester netminder Pat O'Toole with one second remaining in regulation time to give the Rock a 14-13 win in the National Lacrosse League championship game. It was the second consecutive Rock win over Rochester in the title game. Last year, Toronto won 13-10 at the Gardens. "My whole body started to shake (after the game-winning goal)," said Toth, a 22-year-old Calgary native. "I felt like I was having a heart attack. I couldn't believe it went in." The irony is Rock coach Les Bartley didn't want Toth to take the final shot. After Rock goaltender Bob Watson stopped a shot by Rochester forward Tim Soudan with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Bartley called a timeout and designed a play that was supposed to give the final shot to Dan Stroup. Bartley pulled Watson and put an extra attacker on the floor but Stroup still was covered by two defenders as he made his cut to the net, so Rock forward Colin Doyle fed a pass to a wide-open Toth. "(Toth) was our second option," Bartley said. "We were trying to put the ball in Stroup's stick, but Kaleb ended up being open and he got a perfect high shot off and it went in." Once Toth got the ball, he knew the original play wasn't going to work, so he figured there was no harm taking a last-ditch shot. "I didn't exactly know how much time was left, but I knew there wasn't much," said Toth, who was the Rock's leading point-getter yesterday with three goals and five assists. The Knighthawks, who trailed 7-4 at halftime, started to click during the third quarter, and were tied 8-8 after 45 minutes. Toronto went ahead 13-11 with 2:30 remaining in regulation time, but Rochester rallied to tie it, again. "When you see it go to 13-13, you say: 'Oh no,' " Rock captain Jim Veltman said. "But then you see the fans going crazy and you say, `I've got to have something left.' " NLL rookie of the year John Grant Jr., led the Knighthawks with four goals and five assists. Stroup, with five goals, was the game's most valuable player. "Lots of people thought we overachieved last year," Veltman said. "This win proves it wasn't a fluke." The Rock compiled a 15-1 record in its two-year stint at the Gardens. Next year, it will play its home games at the Air Canada Centre.
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