Today was the last regular season game to be played by the New York Saints. And, as fate would have it, the game was a microcosm of their entire season - they were close, but not good enough.

Toronto opened up the scoring as attacker Chris Gill cut through a Saint defense that had yet to get warmed up. Matt Panetta evened it up for the Saints, putting a low shot through a lane given by an equally unset Toronto defense. The two teams would soon get their defenses rolling, however. Rock attackers Jim Veltman and Kim Squire traded goals with Darren Lowe, as the pace of the game slowed down. It was clearly getting harder to score goals, and the tough play led to a fairly steady stream of players into the penalty box. Gill, along with Rock attacker Colin Doyle finished the first period scoring late, to end it 5-3.

While the two teams' fired up defenses made the second period short on scoring, the fans had plenty to watch as the hits came fast and furious, and both goaltenders put on a clinic. With just under 7 minutes left in the half, the pressure boiled over, and Toronto's Dan Ladouceur took on Saint Matt Panetta in a fight that lasted several minutes. They both racked up 10 minutes worth of penalties, and the players continued to box out their opposing offenses. After a few more scuffles, the Saints finally broke the scoring drought with 11.4 seconds left in the half, as attacker Steve Sombrotto made the most of a 2-on-1 and beat Rock goaltender Bob Watson. The half ended with New York down by a goal, but you wouldn't know it from listening to the crowd.

New York goaltender Sal LoCascio didn't return for the second half, and was relieved by Greg Cattrano. Saints defender John Gagliardi was called for holding right out of the gate in the third period, and it didn't take long for the Toronto power play unit to convert on a still-cold replacement goalie. The Saints came roaring back, however. The momentum shift started with the transition game, as New York defender Pat McCabe fed the ball to Gordon Purdie, and the infamous Coliseum Carpet stuck Watson's feet to the ground, causing him to lay helpless in front of the crease as the shot entered the net. Jason Wulder tied it up for the Saints after that by beating his man clean, and faking out Watson. The teams traded another pair of goals, and were tied again when Ladouceur earned another round of negative attention. While Purdie was advancing the ball through the center of the floor, Ladouceur cross-checked him hard in the back, sending him face-first into the carpet. As he tried to get up, he caught another check just like it, and a slash after that as he virtually crawled back toward his bench under the force of the hits. Astoundingly, Purdie didn't drop the ball through his ordeal, and he received a generous round of applause as Ladouceur was led off to the sin bin for a double-minor penalty. As they started their power play, the Saints were caught sleeping on a long post-save pass from Watson to Veltman, resulting in a breakaway goal. After that, however, the power play unit scored twice with surgical precision to close out the third period, and that gave the Saints their first lead. Toronto then pulled Watson in favor of their backup, Rob Blaisdell.

Toronto needed two goals to go ahead at the start of the fourth quarter, and that's exactly what they got. Cattrano was strong in net during most of the second half, but was unable to stop Rock attacker Kim Squire from scoring and restoring the tie at 2-1/2 minutes into the final period. Both teams worked hard to score, and neither defense stopped fighting. But, Cattrano was called for Delay-of-Game with just under 8 minutes to go, and Dan Stroup sealed the fate of the Saints by scoring against a drained penalty killing squad. New York spent the rest of the period fiercely trying to score, and were kept in it by having a 2-on-0 goal called back for a crease violation. But, in the end, it was Toronto's defense - the gem of their game - that kept them on top. Blaisdell didn't see a quality shot for the entire period. The Saints pulled Cattrano in a desperation attempt to tie the game with less than two minutes left, but after two wide-angle saves by Blaisdell, the New York creaseman's attempt to squeeze past two Rock defenders with the ball led to him being sandwiched and forced into the crease, giving possession away with 28 seconds left.

Tonight, Toronto showed that they were worthy of the first place berth they had earned through strength and power, and the Saints were forced to accept yet another one-goal loss, ending their season just short of fourth place, and just short of a playoff berth, as they were just short of winning so many games this season. Although, as of this writing, there is an outside chance of New York backing into the playoffs, it is unlikely that this will happen. Make no mistake, the New York Saints are a very good team. But, they'll have to get just a little bit better next year if they want to make a convincing run at the NLL title.

Toronto will either host Philadelphia or (less likely) see New York again at Maple Leaf Gardens for the first round of the National Lacrosse League playoffs.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Toronto Rock (9-3)                5  0  3  2  --  10
New York Saints (5-7)             3  1  5  0  --   9

Player stats currently unavailable.