Photo Credit : Vancouver Warriors Twitter
The Vancouver Warriors fell 13-10 to the Toronto Rock Friday at Rogers Arena. The Warriors had come into this game having won three games in a row and six of their last seven. Friday’s game against the Rock was Vancouver’s third game in seven days after playing in Las Vegas last Friday and San Diego Sunday. Forward Jesse King, who had two goals and three assists on the night, spoke on the physical challenge of playing three games in a short span.
“ It’s definitely tough, but it’s not an excuse for us. When we get to the playoffs we’re going to have to do the exact same thing. So we are going to have to figure out a way to rebound and play a little bit better in (these) scenarios.”
The Warriors were definitely feeling the effects of playing three games in seven days as they weren’t able to get in rhythm offensively. Star goaltender Christain Del Bianco struggled mightily from the get-go as he was unable to cover the ball, almost leading to a pair of Rock goals. Vancouver allowed six goals on 16 shots in the first quarter, the most they’ve allowed in the opening frame all season. They went into halftime down 10-3.
“ They’re physical, they packed it in… they were able to clog those shooting areas (and) clog the middle of the floor where we like to get, so it made it more difficult for us. Said King on the challenges of facing the Rock defense.
Some people might say that it’s expected for a team that has played a lot during the week to be worn out. But I have to give the Warriors credit—they didn’t give up. Not that any team coached by Curt Malawsky would, but whatever he said at halftime worked and his team started the second half out swinging, scoring four goals and cutting the deficit to only three with a lot of time left.
Unfortunately, the Rock went on a three-goal run to close out the quarter, including scoring two goals 12 seconds apart in what seemed to be a back breaker for the Warriors.
Heading into the final frame, facing a six-goal deficit was too large a feat for this Warriors squad. Even though they battled till the end, they fell short with a final of 13-10, falling to 9-4 on the season.
To no one’s surprise, head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky wasn’t happy with his team’s play in the first half, but much liked their fight in the second.
“ We missed the net over 20 times, which is absolutely unacceptable, and then we only missed the net eight times in the second half. You want to keep it below 20 for an overall game. So that was the tough part about that, and then we cheated a couple times out our back end and I thought that that hurt us.”
“ I did like the resiliency, I liked the pushback, and then at the end we just had some chances that didn’t fall.” added Malawasky
The Warriors’ brightest star Friday was Marcus Klarich by far. Klarich finished the game with five goals and one assist. When the Warriors were down he was the one providing the spark and keeping them in the game.
Malawasky had some high praise for Klarich post game.
“ He got to the middle of the floor, he played tough, and I’m pretty hard on that kid. It’s only because I love him and I think he’s a great kid and he’s got a lot of potential.”
Even with the loss, the Warriors are still third in the NLL and head to Georgia next week to face the fourth-place Swarm before returning home on March 20 to face the Ottawa Black Bears.
