Plots » with the Brazilian striker causing Elches defence trouble

Montreal, QC – The Toronto Rock defeated the Rochester Knighthawks 15-7 in a Sunday afternoon exhibition game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec in front of 4,820 fans. As part of the promotion of the exhibition game, organizers selected a member of the Quebec Lacrosse Federation to play in the game. Trevor Wagar, a player with Vermont in the Quebec Senior B Lacrosse League, was chosen to play for the Rock. After Brandon Benn spotted the Rock a 1-0 lead on the powerplay, Wagar bounced a shot by Rochester starter Matt Vinc to bring the crowd at the Bell Centre to their feet. Benn tallied his second of the quarter, following a Rochester goal to give the Rock a 3-1 edge. Toronto’s Rob Marshall took a major penalty for an illegal crosscheck that put the Rock down a man for the remainder of the opening 15 minutes. Cory Vitarelli took advantage on the powerplay with just 0.6 seconds remaining to close the gap to one goal, 3-2. “It was pretty exciting, I didn’t expect it to come that early,” said Wagar of his goal just over 8 minutes into the game. “I think after halfway through the warmup, I was feeling it. I have played this game for 27 years and I hope I showed something. I feel I can play at this level. It just felt like lacrosse out there, good and fast.” With the Knighthawks still on the powerplay to begin the second quarter, Craig Point tallied to tie the game 3-3. The Rock went on a four-goal run, all at even strength to surge ahead 7-3. Rochester was able to come up for air with Vitarelli’s second of the game, but it wasn’t for long as Wagar notched his second of the game followed by goals from Scott Johnston and Brett Hickey to lead 10-4. Gavin Prout scored a late shorthanded marker, making the score 10-5 at the half in favour of the Rock. The first half wasn’t without its share of venom. Rock rookie Jordan Robertson was the recipient of a crosscheck above the shoulders from Knighthawk Jean-Guy Thouin, who was ejected from the game after receiving a major penalty and a game misconduct. Thouin was the local player selected to play for Rochester. Robertson left the game and did not return. “We don’t want to get involved in coming to teammates aid in the offensive end and I don’t think you can make a distinction,” Rock head coach John Lovell said of Rob Hellyer who was the first on the scene after the high hit. “We are going to be a team in every sense of it. I liked what I saw from our team in those situations.” Brandon Miller continued his strong play in the third quarter, slamming the door for 15 minutes on the Knighthawks offence. Toronto got goals from Kasey Beirnes, Benn (his 3rd) and Brodie Merrill to lead 13-5 after three quarters. The Rock scored twice, sandwiched between a pair of Rochester goals to lead 15-7 just past the midway point of the fourth quarter. A Paul Dawson major penalty late in the game put the Rock on the powerplay for nearly the final five minutes of the contest, however Toronto was unable to score. “I thought we were a pretty good package here today,” said Lovell. “We don’t get any points for this, but it was a good team building game.” Rock goal scorers: Benn 3, Wagar 2, Beirnes 2, Ross 2, Sanderson, Merrill, Robertson, Brett Hickey, Rob Hellyer, Scott Johnston. Miller went the distance the Rock, making 32 saves on 39 shots. Rochester’s Matt Vinc allowed 10 Rock goals on 24 shots in his 30 minutes of work. Angus Goodleaf played the second half, surrendering 5 goals on 20 shots. “We made some changes to how we want to play defence, it was more of a face up approach and a supportive group,” said Lovell. The Rock still have one more exhibition game on the schedule. Saturday, December 20th, the New England Black Wolves will be the opponent at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ontario. Admission is free, and fans are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Kerr Street Ministries food bank. 2015 Toronto Rock Season Tickets, Flex Packs, the Upper Bowl Season Pass and single game tickets are also all on sale now. For more information, please visit torontorock.com or call 416-596-3075 to speak with a ticket representative and get your hands on the BEST ticket in town. Deion Sanders Jersey .twitter.com/xBTpoAKLJk — Daryl Zerr (@darylzerr) May 29, 2014 @BarDown I give to you the @SquirrelsNCHL aka the Fighting Squirels. 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He considered undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy to fix his arm, but announced in August his decision to have Tommy John surgery.We analyse Rafael Benitezs first game in charge of Newcastle after his reign began with a 1-0 defeat by Premier League leaders Leicester… There was no winning start for Rafael Benitez as Shinji Okazakis first-half bicycle kick kept Newcastle one point adrift of safety. But amid the gloom of a 10th defeat in 13 games, there were signs that the new manager is already putting his stamp on the team ahead of their Super Sunday showdown with Sunderland.Benitez described commitment as the main attribute he wanted to see from his Newcastle players in the build-up to their trip to the Midlands, and the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager will certainly have taken encouragement from how they started at the King Power Stadium. Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez focused on the positives following his first game in charge against Leicester Moussa Sissoko set the tone by sprinting 50 yards to close down Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the opening 20 seconds, and Newcastles aggressive approach immediately put Claudio Ranieris side on the back foot.In the Monday Night Football studio, Southampton manger Ronald Koeman was impressed. They showed really good mentality from the start in the game, he said. Ayoze Perez, Jack Colback and Sissoko had presentable scoring chances in the early stages, and after 20 minutes Newcastle had already had as many shots (five) as in the whole of their last away game against Stoke. Carragher on Newcastle Carra says Toon squad lacks quality The attacking intent was a welcome sight for the travelling fans, and there was also evidence of improved defensive organisation. If I had to think of Newcastle in the Premier League era, it would be madness, people running all over the place and getting caught out of position, said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher before kick-off. But while Benitez had only had three days to work with his new players, he had clearly managed to get some of his ideas across. Newcastle lined up in two tight banks of four when Leicester had possession, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic also helping out from more advanced positions.You never associate Newcastle with being a compact team, but thats everything Rafas about, added Carragher, who played under the Spaniard for six years at Anfield. Thats really tight, and very difficult to beat. Thats what they were doing - they were really frustrating Leicester. Newcastle were compact when Leicester had possession, with striker Alleksandar Mitrovic positioned not too far away from the back four With Benitez a typically animated figure in the dugout, Newcastle succeeded in limiting Leicesters scoring opportunities.dddddddddddd You could see what Rafa had worked on in his first two or three days, added Carragher. It took me back to what we were doing at Liverpool. Very difficult to play through, very compact and very organised. Hard-working Newcastle Newcastle covered 110.96km at the King Power Stadium compared to Leicesters 109.73km. Leicester did occasionally find space to attack Newcastles makeshift defence, but it took Okazakis moment of magic to find a way through. The stats highlighted how effectively the visitors contained the hosts, with the winner coming from the Foxes only shot on target.It was the first time all season that Leicester have only mustered a single shot on target over the course of a Premier League fixture, and their overall total of four efforts on goal was way down on their average of 10.17 per game. Newcastles Vurnon Anita and Leicesters Jamie Vardy in action Newcastle were ultimately undone by a failure to defend a set piece, but Koeman and Carragher felt they were unlucky to fall behind - especially with questions of offside over Jamie Vardys positioning in the build-up to the goal. The goal came out of nothing, said Koeman. Newcastle were making it very difficult and Leicester didnt create anything.Benitezs men continued to stifle the hosts for most of the second half, but they couldnt find the cutting edge in attack to match their new-found defensive solidity. Their struggles in front of goal were summed up by a mis-hit effort from substitute Siem de Jong in the 84th minute, and Carragher felt a lack of quality up front should be Benitezs biggest concern.A perception of Newcastle is that they have too much quality to be in this position, and that maybe its an attitude problem, he said. But I think there is a lack of quality there. Only bottom side Aston Villa have scored fewer goals than Newcastle this season, and only seven of their 28 have come away from St James Park. I think the goal record shows that there arent enough good players and thats why theyre in this situation, added Carragher. We didnt see that quality in front of goal. Its difficult against Leicester but the goal record tells you everything.Benitez will need to find a remedy to Newcastles goalscoring travails ahead of Sundays vital Tyne-Wear derby, but he can take heart from other aspects of their performance against Leicester. With games against fellow strugglers Sunderland, Norwich and Aston Villa still to come, the Magpies might yet be able to fight their way out of trouble. Get Sky Sports Alerts Breaking news, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - direct to your mobile Also See: Okazaki sends Foxes five clear Benitez focused on positives Arsenal, City out of title race Ranieri hails fantastic spirit ' ' '