The Toronto Rock's tendency to employ a rough-and-tumble style became its downfall Friday night, suffering only its second home loss since moving from Hamilton in 1999, in a 16-13 defeat at the hands of the Washington Power.

Gary Gait led the charge for the Power, with four goals and four assists, leading all scorers. Gait also scored at will the first time these teams met, recording seven points in a 13-12 victory on 30 December at MCI Center.

Washington dominated much of the first period, jumping to a 4-1 lead after ten minutes. Kim Squire and Colin Doyle scored to end the period, bringing the Rock to a more respectable, 4-3 deficit.

The Rock fought hard to keep with the Power through the second quarter, and took a 7-6 lead on a bad bouncer from Pat Coyle with just over five minutes remaining before halftime. Matching his brother's two-goal effort in the quarter, Paul Gait tallied a pair in quick succession, and Matt Green beat the buzzer to extend the lead to 9-7.

By now, the Rock were barely stumbling along, seemingly incapable of understanding that the referees were not going to allow it to overpower Washington with the usual Toronto rough stuff. Green's goal set off a skirmish in front of the home goal, when Coyle shoved Green into goaltender Bob Watson, Watson starting attacking Green, and defenseman Dan Ladouceur jumped into the fray. This lack of control proved fatal, as Jesse Hubbard scored fifty-three seconds into the third quarter, with a five-on-three advantage from the halftime brawl. Toronto never again got closer than three goals, and found itself dead in the water when goals by Matt Shearer and Neil Doddridge extended the Washington lead to 12-7 at the end of three.

Try as they might, the Toronto Rock couldn't get a foothold in the scoring race. Doyle's second and third goals of the night both were quickly countered by the Power, first by Josh Sims and later by Gary Gait. Dan Stroup cut the gap to 14-11 on a shorthanded goal, but Hubbard and Shearer soon put the Power out of Toronto's reach. Garbage-time goals from Chris Gill and Kaleb Toth finished the scoring.

After the game, there was a chorus of complaints about the officiating in Toronto's locker room. Two of the three referees in the game are from Boston, and as one might expect, they were not inclined to "let the boys play."

Chris Gill, perhaps seeking the Ted Dowling Award for Officiating Criticism, summarized the Rock's perspective most angrily. "Those referees were on a witch hunt," Gill said. "It's clear some people in the league don't like that Toronto has won two championships in a row. It was ridiculous out there."

However, blaming the loss totally on the officiating is far too simple an explanation. Toronto's offense wasn't sharp, even by Toronto's standards, nor was Watson. Likewise, Washington was striking at will, even at even-strength, and goaltender Devin Dalep played very well for the Power. Besides, regardless of the officiating, Rock players lost their cool numerous times throughout the contest, most notably with the halftime debacle, infractions that any official has to call.

The Rock had better find their way quickly -- a showdown at first-place Buffalo is slated for Saturday night.

"We've got to start putting the ball in the net consistently throughout the game or else this is going to happen more often," Stroup said. "[The Bandits] have the best offence in the league and we have to play better than we did to win [tonight]."

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Washington Power (5-2)                4  5  3  4  --  16
Toronto Rock (3-2)                    3  4  0  6  --  13

WASHINGTON POWER              TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
G Gait         4 - 4     8    Gill           3 - 2     5
P Gait         2 - 3     5    Toth           2 - 3     5
Hubbard        3 - 1     4    Toll           0 - 5     5
Shearer        3 - 1     4    Doyle          3 - 1     4
Sims           1 - 2     3    K Squire       2 - 1     3
Dalep          0 - 3     3    Veltman        0 - 3     3
Doddridge      2 - 0     2    Langdale       1 - 1     2
Green          1 - 1     2    Millin         0 - 2     2
Cantabene      0 - 2     2    O'Connor       1 - 0     1
Hiltz          0 - 2     2    Stroup         1 - 0     1
Donovan        0 - 1     1    Bullen         0 - 1     1
Tapp           0 - 1     1    Coyle          0 - 1     1
Wills          0 - 1     1    Watson         0 - 1     1
Zeller         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           49    Shots on goal           63
Saves made by           50    Saves made by           33
  Dalep                          Watson
Power Play Chances      12    Power Play Chances       6
Power Play Goals         6    Power Play Goals         2
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        1
Loose Balls             96    Loose Balls             89
Faceoffs Won            19    Faceoffs Won            13

       *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NLL ***