The Washington Power defeated the Toronto Rock 12-11 on Saturday night before a Capital Centre crowd seemingly counted accurately at 3,512, with Del Halladay's fifth goal of the game with 89 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter the decisive score.

Anthony Cosmo got the start in goal for the Rock, with Bob Watson on the bench. Several onlookers asked why, including a well-known lacrosse television producer. It was pointed out that Cosmo was the OLA MVP and his start shouldn't be such a surprise.

Cosmo started strong, making a couple of really nice saves with Ian Rubel in the box on an early penalty. Toronto's man-down unit then did a nice job ragging a full minute off the clock by getting the rebound after a Dan Stroup shot. Cosmo made another save on the next possession but Devin Dalep did him one better by stopping a breakaway at the end of the power play. Dalep stopped Glenn Clark on another breakaway seconds later but Jim Veltman was left all alone in front with a juicy rebound and he opened the scoring at 5:11.

The middle of the quarter saw lots of pressure from great ball movement by the Rock offense, including a Blaine Manning shot that rang the post. Dalep made several good saves including one on young Sandy Chapman, who was left all alone in front of the goal.

Paul Gait finally opened the scoring for the Power just after the eleven-minute mark and Dalep made a big save on Kim Squire's backhand from the porch in the last minute to preserve the tie. Cosmo looked strong early but Dalep was putting on a show.

Paul Gait scored his second in the first minute of the new quarter but Veltman got a clean breakaway off the ensuing face-off and beat Dalep to even things up.

Dalep made an impressive save on Kim Squire's equally impressive spinning shovel shot right in front. Squire was on the wrong side as he took a feed from behind the net and Dalep reacted quickly going pipe to pipe.

Washington was in control of the play early in the quarter but had trouble hitting the net. They had a lot of outside shots going wide or high. Halladay finally got one on net and was rewarded because the ball dribbled through Cosmo for a soft goal at 6:18.

Paul Cantabene made a nice move from the point, switching to his left hand and cutting to the net. He put the overhand shot top corner on the run at 9:07. Gary Gait scored on a bouncer from the point at 11:49 and Colin Doyle ended twelve scoreless minutes for the Rock at 13:23. Dalep saw plenty of action in that span but held firm. Gary Gait scored again at 14:00 with Dalep out in favor of a sixth attacker on a delayed penalty call.

The first half had plenty of good clean physical play but tempers flared at the end with Brian Reese getting two minutes for starting the fracas by diving into Cosmo's crease.

Toronto started the second half on the power play and Veltman's playmaking from the point could only be bested by Dalep's netminding. Veltman surprised everyone with a no-look pass to Stroup on the doorstep but Dalep denied access to the back of the net. Washington ragged some time off the clock and then Veltman found Stroup in the same spot, this time on a beautiful backhand feed, but Dalep saved that shot too.

Toronto then took control, scoring six of the next seven goals with Kim Squire acting as their catalyst. He scored first at 3:35 and then made a nice play on a loose ball in the corner, gaining possession and feeding Doyle. Doyle made a nice touch pass to Steve Toll who quick sticked it home at 5:10. Ken Millin tied it up just seven seconds later. Manning then finished a play started by Squire, scoring cross-handed off a feed from Doyle at 6:37 for the lead.

Paul Gait scored on the power play from brother Gary just before the eight-minute mark, after drawing a holding call on Darryl Gibson to give the Power the advantage. The brother connection produced assists on four of their five combined goals on the night. Kim Squire restored the lead at the nine-minute mark on a nice individual effort. He was a bit wide of the net but reached across to the long side and spun a bounce shot into the bottom corner.

Washington took a couple of penalties on either side of the eleven-minute mark. Cantabene went for a hold then Reese went for roughing on a late hit and got a ten-minute misconduct for screaming at the official.

Washington did a nice job ragging while two men short in the offensive zone. When Toronto got the ball back, Stroup finished a beautiful passing play from Doyle and Manning at 12:30 but Halladay gave the Power a shorthanded goal just ten seconds later. Washington killed off the remaining five-on-four to break even on a two-man disadvantage. That would prove costly for the Rock.

The fourth quarter belonged to Halladay. He scored on a weird one at 1:39. The ball floated in on Cosmo because a stick check softened the outside shot. Halladay couldn't follow through and the change up fooled the keeper. Doyle scored at 2:58 with John Gallant draped all over him in front of goal. Halladay scored another odd one at 4:03. The ball was loose in the back of the crease and Cosmo went behind to get it but Halladay beat him and two defenders by reaching in to scoop it up and throw it into the empty net. Halladay then fed Matt Shearer in the slot who scored on an underhand shot at 5:41.

A mini parade to the penalty box began at 6:14 with Pat Coyle going for roughing on Paul Gait. Fred Jenner went at 7:35 for goaltender interference. Chapman got called for a delay of game just one second after Coyle got out and Dan Ladouceur was sent off for a hold just eight seconds after Jenner came out. That set up a five-on-three for the Power.

Toronto did a great job on the kill. They got through the thirty-two seconds of the five-on-three disadvantage, then Clark scored a shorthander at 11:37 to tie the game with seven seconds left on the five-on-four.

Halladay's game winner came with Dalep pulled for an extra runner on a delayed penalty call on the Rock for too many men.

Washington made wise use of one of their timeouts with a minute left. They stopped play after milking the shot clock to ensure they would not get caught in transition.

Toronto goofed on a back-over while trying to pull Cosmo for a sixth runner but Washington gave the ball right back on a sloppy turnover. That gave the Rock a chance to tie but Dalep came up with a couple of nice saves in the last fifteen seconds to preserve the win.

Joe's Three Stars: Halladay gets the first star, with five goals, including the winner, and an assist. Second star to Dalep, stopping 52 of 63 shots. Completing the Power seep, my third star was Paul Gait, with three goals and four assists.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Toronto Rock (2-2)                    1  2  6  2  --  11
Washington Power (3-1)                1  5  2  4  --  12

TORONTO ROCK                  WASHINGTON POWER
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Doyle          2 - 3     5    P Gait         3 - 4     7
K Squire       2 - 2     4    Halladay       5 - 1     6
Veltman        2 - 1     3    G Gait         2 - 2     4
Manning        1 - 2     3    Jenner         0 - 3     3
Stroup         1 - 1     2    Sims           0 - 2     2
Toll           1 - 1     2    Wills          0 - 2     2
G Clark        1 - 0     1    Cantebene      1 - 0     1
Millin         1 - 0     1    Shearer        1 - 0     1
Burke          0 - 1     1    Brothers       0 - 1     1
Chapman        0 - 1     1    Dalep          0 - 1     1
Livingstone    0 - 1     1    Fulks          0 - 1     1
                              Horsey         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           63    Shots on goal           47
Saves made by           35    Saves made by           52
   Cosmo             35          Dalep             52
Penalties                5    Penalties                5
Penalty Minutes         10    Penalty Minutes         18
Power Play Chances       3    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         1    Power Play Goals         1
   Stroup             1          P Gait             1
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        1
   G Clark            1          Halladay           1
   Veltman            1
Loose Balls             87    Loose Balls            105
   Cosmo             18          Dalep             18
   Toll              10          G Gait            12
   Veltman           10          Cantabene          8
                                 Halladay           8
Faceoffs Won            10    Faceoffs Won            16
   Millin       ( 5-12)          Cantabene    (10- 4)
   Toll         ( 5- 4)          Brothers     ( 6- 6)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH WASHINGTON POWER ***