The Vancouver Ravens took their maiden NLL flight from the top of their totem pole Saturday afternoon, but fell heavily to the floor of Toronto's Air Canada Centre by a 16-11 score.

The Ravens came out flying for the first five minutes. An early Toronto timeout and a blistering lecture from coach Les Bartley removed any hopes that Vancouver might have had that they could run with the big boys.

Ron Bull Toronto Star   Toronto's Dan Ladouceur checks Craig Stevenson of the Ravens.

From then on, it was Toronto's game.

The Rock dominated the Ravens in every category.

Vancouver goaltender Dwight Maetche's trend-setting, reverse-colored jersey set him apart from the rest of his team as he spent the evening protecting his nest from Toronto snipers who flapped at will around the edge of his crease.

Vancouver was continously outpaced by Toronto's rapid transition game. Steve Toll and Ken Millin breezed into the Vancouver end, seemingly without interruption.

Maetche's steady work came unglued on one occasion when he scooped up a loose ball in front of him and arced it back over his head, into his own net. On another frustrating moment, he drilled an intended outlet pass into the stick of a surprised Jim Veltman who stormed back to score.

There were times in the game when Toronto's offense surged with a breathtaking, swirling synergy of picks and rolls. This was a team that was free to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

Former Rock star Chris Gill learned the price of changing jerseys. On one occasion, he looked down the throat of Colin Doyle's stick as it pawed his face mask.

Vancouver's loss can be written off as first game jitters and a lack of team experience. But the forceful and rugged play of such players as Gill (four goals), Craig Stevenson, Jamey Bowen, Darren Reisig, and Ryan O'Connor (two goals, including the Ravens' first-ever tally) give glimpses of promise.

Several Vancouver goals came on breathtakingly quick release shots and the Ravens were able to score "big opportunity" goals during the critical beginning and final minutes of periods.

The Rock, on the other hand, got a huge performance from Dan Stroup, with five goals, four on the power play. Newcomer Mike Murray released several of his benchmark cannons from his "shooter" position high in the court and rookie Blaine Manning looked right at home among the experienced veterans.

The Ravens have a couple of weeks to solve the puzzle of how to deal with the Toronto before meeting them at their home opener in Vancovuer. In the meantime - there is hope that they can split the weekend series when they play last year's bottom-dwelling Ottawa Rebel on Sunday at Corel Centre.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Vancouver Ravens (0-1)                2  1  3  5  --  11
Toronto Rock (1-0)                    6  3  4  3  --  17

VANCOUVER RAVENS              TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Gill           4 - 2     6    Stroup         5 - 1     6
O'Connor       2 - 3     5    K Squire       3 - 1     4
Stevenson      1 - 3     4    Doyle          1 - 3     4
Bowen          2 - 2     4    Millin         1 - 3     4
K Goundrey     2 - 2     4    Manning        0 - 4     4
Phillips       0 - 2     2    Toll           2 - 1     3
Ansley         0 - 1     1    Coyle          0 - 3     3
Leies          0 - 1     1    G Clark        2 - 0     2
Maetche        0 - 1     1    Gibson         0 - 2     2
                              Murray         1 - 0     1
                              Veltman        1 - 0     1
                              R Squire       0 - 1     1
                              Watson         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           46    Shots on goal           64
Saves made by           48    Saves made by           35
   Maetche                       Watson
Penalties               14    Penalties               13
Penalty Minutes         28    Penalty Minutes         26
Power Play Chances      15    Power Play Chances      11
Power Play Goals         5    Power Play Goals         7

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NLL WEB SITE ***