Led by a hat trick from Toronto Rock forward Steve Toll, the North All-Stars outplayed and outlasted their counterparts from the South on Sunday, rallying to win the 2002 NLL All-Star Game by a 14-10 score at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

The introductions would have told you a lot about what to expect in the game. Gary Gait (Washington Power), Tom Marechek (Philadelphia Wings), and Roy Colsey (Buffalo Bandits) were all missing from the South squad, and Philadelphia's Dallas Eliuk nearly fell onto the floor going through the bench door. The game had its moments but if you were expecting a dazzling display of skill, you were probably disappointed.

Bob Watson (Toronto) and Rob Blasdell (Albany Attack) started in goal, but the players on the floor did more standing around than the keepers. There was no checking expected but the first ten minutes of the game had little spirit. Paul Gait (Washington) hobbled badly and some of the other players looked worse, apparently feeling the effects of the partying the night before.

North and South traded goals in the first half of the quarter. Cam Woods (Albany) scored first at 3:38, followed by Toll a half-minute later. New York Saints defenseman Pat McCabe quickly replied, but Peter Morgan (Vancouver Ravens) evened the game again after two more minutes.

The walk through continued with Chris Gill (Vancouver) scoring at 7:37, then again three minutes later on a rare exciting goal. Gill came in all alone on Blasdell and intentionally cranked one off the glass so he could quick stick home the rebound.

Next came a goal from one of the few players who looked really into the game. Philadelphia's Kevin Finneran had been playing some mighty good defense, intercepting passes in his own end three times before going behind the back to beat Watson at 12:47. Jim Moss of Albany tied the game up at 13:31, but Watson kept it that way by stopping Buffalo Bandits star John Tavares on a breakaway in the final minute.

The first quarter had plenty of sloppy play and that continued with the North squad getting called for too many men on the floor in the first minute of the second. Watson stopped another breakaway near the end of the power play by stoning Moss. Finneran set up the second period's first goal with a between-the-legs, one-handed feed to Washington's Paul Cantabene, who then caught, shot, and scored with one hand from the slot.

New goalies entered the game here, with Buffalo's Steve Dietrich reliveving Blasdell and Rochester's Pat O'Toole replacing Watson. The teams then traded goals at a rate of one per minute, with Toll scoring at 5:38, Tavares at 6:21, Pat Coyle (Toronto) at 7:18, and Gewas Schindler (Columbus) at 8:16. Dietrich stopped the string with several moblie saves and O'Toole made a few good stops too, but Cantabene got his second goal at 10:14.

More sloppy play in the last five minutes of the quarter was lowlighted by another too many men call in the last minute. There was no desire to call these on the referees' part (and rightly so) but they were so bad it had to be done. The South was guilty this time but it did have an 8-6 lead at the half.

Ottawa Rebel rookie Ryan Painter started the second-half scoring right off the opening draw, recording the game's only power play goal just nineteen seconds into the third quarter. Dietrich stoned Toll, who was left all alone on the porch and moments later it was déjà vu. Painter got his second goal to tie it up, then Chugger stoned Toll again.

Toronto's Jim Veltman gave the North the lead with a surprising little flip shot from the slot after acting like he was waiting for reinforcements. Dietrich got a piece of it but the ball dribbled through. Eliuk and Vancouver's Dwight Maetche, a pair of goaltenders for whom the term "ageless" is appropriate, entered the game at 9:28. Darren Reisig scored at 14:02 and Eliuk stoned Shawn Williams in the last minute. It was apparent that the depleted South squad was wearing down; they couldn't get a goal in the period and were just about out of gas.

Morgan scored on a breakaway just thirty seconds into the fourth quarter, off a beautiful home run pass from Coyle. Pat was along the boards in his own zone and launched one to Morgan on the way down the middle to Eliuk. The Knighthawks' Mike Hasen scored exactly a minute later after his multiple fakes had Eliuk falling, and Calgary Roughnecks forward Kaleb Toth capped a seven-goal run on a move right up the gut at 3:24.

Albany's Josh Sanderson finally broke through on Maetche at the five-minute mark, and New York rookie Gavin Prout followed suit, circling behind the net before squeezing one home, short side high, at 6:19. Maetche made a couple of outstanding saves and would not yield another goal. Toll rounded out the scoring, completing his hat trick, at 9:37. Maetche had Finneran talking to himself after deflecting an initial shot and then reaching back toward the goal line to deny the ironman a stat padder.

Toll was the Game's MVP and a worthy first star for his hat trick and constant pressure on the South goalies. Finneran was my second star for being the South's best performer and the player who interacted most with the fans, including a few relatives. His showed the way to be with a constant smile on his face. Maetche was my third star for being the best-performing goalkeeper in the game (two goals allowed on 24 shots). Paul Gait deserves an honorable mention for his effort on a bad set of wheels -- this was his final game as a pro -- and for tossing his gear to the crowd.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
North All-Stars                       4  2  4  4  --  14
South All-Stars                       4  4  0  2  --  10

NORTH ALL-STARS               SOUTH ALL-STARS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Toll           3 - 1     4    Tavares        1 - 3     4
Painter        2 - 1     3    Cantabene      2 - 1     3
Coyle          1 - 2     3    Prout          1 - 2     3
Grant          0 - 3     3    Woods          1 - 2     3
Kelusky        0 - 3     3    Finneran       1 - 1     2
D Malawsky     0 - 3     3    Schindler      1 - 1     2
Gill           2 - 0     2    McCabe         1 - 0     1
Morgan         2 - 0     2    Moss           1 - 0     1
Reisig         1 - 1     2    J Sanderson    1 - 0     1
Doyle          0 - 2     2    Dietrich       0 - 1     1
Hasen          1 - 0     1    Rosyski        0 - 1     1
Toth           1 - 0     1    Blasdell       0 - 0     0
Veltman        1 - 0     1    Eliuk          0 - 0     0
Maetche        0 - 1     1    P Gait         0 - 0     0
Codd           0 - 0     0    Hanford        0 - 0     0
O'Toole        0 - 0     0    Colsey                 DNP
Watson         0 - 0     0    G Gait                 DNP
S Williams     0 - 0     0    Marechek               DNP

Shots on goal           54    Shots on goal           55
Saves made by (GA)      45    Saves made by (GA)      40
   Maetche (2)       22          Eliuk (5)         15
   O'Toole (3)       13          Dietrich (5)      14
   Watson (5)        10          Blasdell (4)      11

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH MONTREAL EXPRESS ***