Randy Mearns was having one of those nights, one of those bury-your-head-in-your-arms kind of nights.

With about four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the game tied 10-10, the Rochester Knighthawks captain was handed the ball by the referee, the whistle blew to start play, and unprovoked by any Toronto defender, Mearns threw it right into the crowd.

Early in the third quarter, Mearns impersonated a statue as Toronto's Dan Stroup went around him to score the Rock's first goal of the second half.

"It was weird, it was an off night," Mearns admitted. "I throw it in the crowd, I couldn't believe that, and Dan Stroup totally beat me clean to the net, and that stunk."

Okay. Now guess who scored the winning goal 2:12 into overtime to give Rochester a much-needed 11-10 victory over the Rock in front of 9,042 at the Blue Cross Arena.

"It was funny," Mearns said after his low one-hopper skipped past Toronto goalie Rob Blasdell, enabling the Knighthawks to avenge last week's 16-9 loss at Maple Leaf Gardens.

"(Assistant coach) Tommy Emmick said I'd get that one (the Stroup goal) back for us. He said 'Don't worry about it, you'll get the game-winner.' "

It was sweet justice for Mearns, weird karma for Emmick, and a crucial victory for the Knighthawks who squared their record at 3-3 and dropped the Rock to 2-2.

For the first 15 minutes, though, there was nothing sweet about this game for Rochester.

The Rock rolled to the first three goals of the game and five of the first six, chasing starting Knighthawks goalie Derek General to the bench in the process.

Just like last week in Toronto, General was a sieve. Shots from all angles and lengths were zipping past him, and coach Paul Day mercifully lifted him in favor of Pat O'Toole.

O'Toole proceeded to allow just five goals in the final 49 minutes and was named player of the game.

"Things went my way and I stopped the ball," O'Toole said. "When I came in last week they got the first couple shots past me, so it was just a matter of bearing down, stop the first one and get some confidence and hope the guys pick it up on defense.

"When you come in to a situation like that, it's 5-1 and there's really no pressure, so it's just what I put on myself."

Russ Heard scored on a power play 54 seconds into the game, Chris Gill tallied while Toronto was shorthanded, and Kim Squire beat General with a behind the back shot at even strength for a 3-0 lead.

Pat McCready stopped that run by ripping an outside shot past Bob Watson, but Gill and Kim Squire scored to make it 5-1.

O'Toole trotted onto the field, and the Rock did not score for 13 minutes. That allowed the Knighthawks to go on one of those scoring binges that keyed their success in years past.

They scored six goals in a row as Duane Jacobs, who was held to two assists last week, took control of the game. He was involved in the first five in the run, scoring three, and setting up Dan Teat and McCready.

"I just think somebody had to get in there and go all out," said Jacobs. "It's my job to be a leader on this team and I just did what I had to do.

"We started getting loose balls, we started moving the ball and we showed what we can do. I was just in the right place at the right time."

Jacobs' third goal gave Rochester a 6-5 lead, and Toronto coach Les Bartley pulled Watson in favor of Blasdell, the goalie who had stoned the Knighthawks last week.

Rochester extended its lead to 7-5 when O'Toole threw a touchdown pass to Curt Malawsky who was alone in the Toronto end. Malawsky put a terrific fake on Blasdell and dumped the ball into an open net.

The Rock finally solved O'Toole as Colin Doyle scored twice before the half ended to forge a 7-7 tie, and then Toronto opened a 10-9 lead through three quarters.

But they never scored again as O'Toole pitched a shutout over the final 19:56.

Meanwhile, Tim Soudan scored the tying goal on a long shot with 4:28 left in regulation, and after each team failed on two possessions in overtime, Mearns came free for the winner.

"I didn't know what my stick was going to do after I threw the ball in the stands," said Mearns. "I was just trying to make up for that. You take the good with the bad, and I was just lucky that I was able to get the last shot."

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4 OT     TOT
Toronto Rock (2-2)                5  2  3  0  0  --  10
Rochester Knighthawks (3-3)       1  6  2  1  1  --  11

TORONTO ROCK                  ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
K Squire       3 - 1     4    Jacobs         3 - 2     5
Doyle          2 - 2     4    McCready       2 - 3     5
R Squire       1 - 2     3    Co Bomberry    0 - 5     5
Harrison       0 - 3     3    Mearns         2 - 0     2
Veltman        0 - 3     3    Kruger         1 - 1     2
Gill           2 - 0     2    Malawsky       1 - 1     2
Heard          1 - 1     2    Soudan         1 - 1     2
Stroup         1 - 1     2    Driscoll       0 - 2     2
Coyle          0 - 1     1    Hollenbeck     0 - 2     2
Keenan         0 - 1     1    O'Toole        0 - 2     2
Williams       0 - 1     1    Teat           1 - 0     1
                              Dance          0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           39    Shots on goal           39
Saves made by           28    Saves made by           29
   Blasdell          20          O'Toole           24
   Watson             8          General            5
Loose Balls             64    Loose Balls             63

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