Colin Doyle was on fire all night on Friday.

Not only did the Toronto Rock's all-time leading scorer rip home five goals, he kept the Calgary defence off-balance all night with a knee-freezing array of runs, passes and cocky behind-the-back shots.

Throw in a hat trick from his old Kitchener-Waterloo Braves teammate Aaron Wilson, and the Toronto Rock pulled away late to dump the Calgary Roughnecks, 16-10, at the Air Canada Centre.

Lewis Ratcliff and Tracey Kelusky bagged three goals each for the visitors, in a game that thrilled 17,141 lacrosse fans.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable contest, filled with surging runs, great goaltending and plenty of high-speed, one-touch passing from both teams.

The first quarter was the best. Doyle got it going on the power play at 2:28, cashing in a behind-the-back pump pass from Jim Veltman on the power play. The Roughnecks struck back hard. Ratcliff tied the game at 2:59, stepping around a defender to beat Bob Watson cold. Seven seconds later, Andrew Biers put Calgary ahead, unassisted, right off the draw.

Kelusky's first was a lot like Ratcliff's. The Roughneck captain hid behind a defender, then stepped out and picked the far top corner.

Veltman cut the deficit to 3-2, on Calgary goalie Curtis Palidwor's doorstep to cap a nice flurry of passes on the power play. But back came Ratcliff with two more for the visitors, muscling his way to the post at 7:31, and cashing in a penalty shot at 10:52.

5-2, but the lead wouldn't last. Blaine Manning kicked off the comeback with a fine one-handed bouncer from the porch. Chris Driscoll needed just eight seconds off the draw to beat Palidwor with a running short-side shoulder pick. Doyle then tied the game at 13:35, dumping the ball into the empty half of the net after a goalie-freezing pass from Josh Sanderson.

5-5 tie after one.

The intensity didn't drop after the restart, but the goal scoring did. Brad MacDonald put the Riggers back in front at 2:41 on a short-handed two-man counterbreak. The lead held until 9:43, when Josh Sanderson went bag on the counterbreak, finishing off a slashing pump pass from Doyle.

6-6 deadlock at the half.

It was the Rock's turn to attempt a pullaway right off the resumption. Wilson got his first of the night a minute in, with a short-handed catch, spin and score right in front of the Calgary net. Driscoll boosted the lead a minute later, with a looping five-hole wicket job from way out at the restraining line.

And the thrill just kept on coming. At one end, Doyle missed on a behind-the-back attempt. Right back down the floor, and Kelucky narrowly misses, attempting exactly the same thing.

Then the Rock got another power play, Doyle blazed a cross-crease pass to Wilson along the goal line, and Wilson converted to put the Rock up 9-6 at 7:53. And then back came Calgary. Kelusky broke hard to the net, Kyle Goundrey lasered a pass, and Kelusky instantly redirected it past Watson. Kaleb Toth then stepped up, ripping one home from just twenty feet out.

9-8 Toronto after three.

There was no clue of what was coming. Even midway through the final frame, there was still serious talk of overtime up in the rafters.

Kelusky tied the game a minute and a half in, again breaking hard to the net, this time finishing from over his shoulder. Rusty Kruger put the Rock back in front, racing off the bench on the penalty kill, and snagging a heads-up pass from Veltman to score. But half a minute later we were tied again, when Kevin Howard bagged a post rip at 4:15.

So here we went. A great East-West NLL battle, dead even in the fourth. A fine test for which division is really stronger. And the verdict? On this night -- East. Huge.

• Doyle, high fake, five-hole stuff at 5:05
• Doyle again, floating run, five-star pass from Josh at 6:46.
• Wilson, crossing run, 7:31. That chased Palidwor, and put Andrew Leyshon in the Roughneck goal.
• Doyle, in-close on the power play, 8:20
• Phil Sanderson, on a rare forward run, 11:23
• Matt Shearer, doorstep dump, 12:08.

NOTES:

The last time Calgary was here, the Riggers played well at the start, then folded badly to lose 16-10. They started great this time, and kept it up deep into the fourth. Then they got blitzed anyway -- by the identical score.

Calgary gets another cut at the Rock, out west in two weeks. That will be a huge chance for the Riggers to answer back, doubly important because these two teams could easily end up facing each other for the Champions Cup in May.

Onward!

Ben Knight is lacrosse and soccer columnist for Sportsnet.ca.