Veteran captain Jim Veltman looped home three goals, dished out four assists, and vacuumed up 23 loose balls -- more than twice as many as anyone else in the game -- as the Toronto Rock battled right down to the wire for a razor-thin 11-10 win over its traditional archrival, the Rochester Knighthawks.

This tense, thrilling contest provided a huge amount of fun for the 18,269 souls who wedged into the Air Canada Centre to take it in.

The Knighthawks, who famously have never won in Toronto, come out storming. Tim Soudan and John Grant, Jr., ring shots off Bob Watson's goalposts in the game's opening moments. Grant bags the first goal, unassisted from the slot, and adds a second on an unmolested high screen rip seven minutes in. Cory Bomberry makes it 3-0 two minutes later, when he turns Rock defender Ian Rubel inside out with running series of back-and-forth fakes before lasering the ball home from well outside.

Great start for the visitors, but Veltman has other ideas. At 9:08, he floats down the middle, faking a shot to freeze the defence. Actually, faking a fake would be more accurate, because as soon as his stick stops, he half-speeds the ball past a startled Pat O'Toole in the Rochester net. At 10:23, Veltman makes a slow-motion cut down the middle, serving up a baffling series of dekes, and bringing his boys to within one. The tying goal, in the quarter's final minute, is geometric poetry. Blaine Manning zips a cross-floor pass to Colin Doyle, who immediately pumps it back across to Steve Toll, who taps in it at the post.

3-3 tie after one.

Veltman completes his hat trick 32 seconds after the restart, pumping home a low one after being left generous amounts of time and room to shoot. Ah, but back comes Rochester. Shawn Williams zings home a bouncer from the doorstep a minute in. Then Cory Bomberry touches off an all-world boomer of a slot bomb. Moments later Grant caps his three-spot, sprung by Shawn Wilkins' superb sidearm burn pass from the boards.

But then the Rock defense puts the big squeeze on the K'Hawks, who won't score again until the final minute of the third quarter. Todd Richard scores for Toronto on a flying corner pick. Then Manning rips one from well out that hits O'Toole in the foot and squibs in to tie the game at six. Manning puts the Rock back into the lead at 12:59 on a surging cut on the power play. Doyle closes out the quarter with a corner pop job, scored just seconds after Rochester defender Andy Turner is bansihed to the box for flattening Doyle with a nasty, late, high, running crosscheck.

8-6 Rock at the half.

Just two goals in quarter number three. Kevin Finneran runs the Rock lead to 9-6, again with Andy Turner in the box. Ted Jenner answers for the Knighthawks, scoring easily after being left wide open and all alone on a clumsy Toronto line change.

9-7 Rock after three.

Now it's Rochester's turn to slam the door defensively. Jeremy Hollenbeck cuts the deficit to one, surging unassisted out of the corner at 6:33. Derek Malawsky ties the game at 8:06 on a deliciously arrogant drop bouncer while running out from behind Watson's net. He just slams the ball straight into the floor, and it leaps up under the crossbar.

Finneran puts Toronto back in front at 10:41, on a surging run with Hollenbeck in the penalty box for holding the stick. Malawsky responds again, dancing down the middle to beat Watson, knotting the score at 11-11 with just two and a half minutes to go.

It falls to Rock rookie Aaron Wilson to put this one away. Wilson, doing so well in his first full NLL campaign that his teammates call him "7/11" because he's always open, breaks free in the high slot, races to the top of the crease, nabs the pass and buries the game-winning goal with just 46 seconds left.

A very tight, well-played game overall. Veltman was amazing. It seems he never hit full speed, but his anticipation, floor-reading, fakes and dekes were more than a match for Rochester tonight. The Rock holds serve in the all-time series against Rochester, now 7-6 alltime including 7-0 in Toronto, and will soon go looking for its first-ever win in Rochester.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Rochester Knighthawks (6-3)           3  3  1  3  --  10
Toronto Rock (8-3)                    3  5  1  2  --  11

ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS         TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
D Malawsky     2 - 4     6    Ji Veltman     3 - 4     7
Grant          3 - 2     5    Manning        2 - 4     6
Co Bomberry    2 - 2     4    Finneran       2 - 3     5
Hollenbeck     1 - 0     1    Doyle          1 - 3     4
T Jenner       1 - 0     1    Wilson         1 - 2     3
S Williams     1 - 0     1    Richard        1 - 0     1
Abrams         0 - 1     1    Toll           1 - 0     1
Soudan         0 - 1     1    G Clark        0 - 1     1
Thorpe         0 - 1     1    Watson         0 - 1     1
Wilkins        0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           48    Shots on goal           41
Saves made by           30    Saves made by           38
   O'Toole           30          Watson            38
Penalties                8    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         16    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       5    Power Play Chances       7
Power Play Goals         3    Power Play Goals         6
   Co Bomberry        1          Finneran           2
   Grant              1          Ji Veltman         2
   D Malawsky         1          Doyle              1
                                 Manning            1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             75    Loose Balls             83
   Abrams            12          Ji Veltman        23
   Grant              8          G Clark            8
   Hasen              8          Coyle              8
Faceoffs Won            17    Faceoffs Won             8
   Co Bomberry  (17- 7)          Merrill      ( 5- 4)
   Thorpe       ( 0- 1)          Toll         ( 3-13)

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH TORONTO ROCK ***