Toronto wins second straight NLL title

  The Rock's No. 9 would take the last shot.

  He raised his stick into the overhand position and stared at the Knighthawks net and goaltender Pat O'Toole.

  Five, four, three, and Toth wound up.

  Two . . . the shot . . . and with one second remaining the ball lodged in the top left corner of the net, and Toronto had won its second straight National Lacrosse League championship.

  "From the game tapes we watched and from our scouting reports, we knew O'Toole might lean and give that corner," Toth explained when asked why he shot high. "All game I was pulling my shots and hitting him in the chest.

  "This time, I didn't put as much pull on my shot, and it went in."

  The 14,211 spectators rocked Maple Leaf Gardens as the Toronto players celebrated their 14-13 triumph.

  Toth had three goals and six assists. Dan Stroup scored five goals, including three in the fourth quarter, Kim Squire contributed three, and Colin Doyle, Jim Veltman and Glenn Clark had one each for the Rock.

  League rookie sensation John Grant Jr. led the Knighthawks with four goals and four assists. Duane Jacobs, Casey Powell and Tim Soudan had two goals each, and Jeremy Hollenbeck, Cory Bomberry and Curt Malawsky one each.

  Grant tied it 13-13 with 51 seconds left. Falling with Clark all over him and with his back to the net, the NLL's rookie of the year somehow swung his stick for an over-the-shoulder shot that beat goaltender Bob Watson.

  "I had my hands on him and I have no idea how he scored," said Clark. "He's so strong with his stick."

  Rochester coach Paul Day called time out when his team got the ball in the final minute. A play was devised so that Grant would get what Day hoped would be the winning shot. The Rock converged on Grant, forcing the ball to Soudan. His shot hit Rock goalie Bob Watson on the chest.

  With 16 seconds left, Rock coach Les Bartley called time out. Stroup would be fed the ball for the last shot, Bartley figured. But when the Knighthawks double-teamed Stroup, Colin Doyle passed to Toth 30 feet from the Rochester net. Toth was Bartley's safety valve.

  "When I saw Kaleb winding up, I knew it was in," said Stroup. "Well, I hoped it was in.

  "It's lucky we got the last shot. It could have gone either way."

  "Tother took a great shot," said Chris Gill. "I wasn't scoring and it's great when other guys can step up to the plate like that."

  Said O'Toole: "Bobby stopped our last shot, and I didn't stop their last shot. They win the championship."

  Toronto outshot Rochester 56-50.

  "We took them to the limit," said Rochester coach Paul Day. "We'll be back."

  With no air conditioning on an unseasonably hot afternoon, the Gardens was a sauna.

  "It's hot out there," Toronto defender Pat Coyle said at halftime, when Toronto led 7-4. "It's hard to keep this pace up."

  In the 1999 final, the Knighthawks trailed 7-5 at halftime and lost 13-10 in the Gardens. They were determined to win it all this time, and they nearly did.

  "Last year, people thought maybe we overachieved," said Veltman, Toronto's captain. "This year proves that last year wasn't a fluke.

  "We set our goal at the start of the year: we wanted another championship. This solidifies it -- this is a really good team."

  Toth completed a rare triple: he was on the Burnaby Lakers 1998 Minto Cup championship junior team, was part of the Victoria Shamrocks' Mann Cup senior title squad in 1999, and now has a pro championship ring.

  "I'm honoured to have been on three great teams," he said after taking a sip of champagne out of the championship trophy. "I couldn't be happier.

  "Being part of this organization is amazing. We weren't going to settle for anything less than the championship."

  It was the last NLL game in the Gardens, where the Rock went 15-1 in regular-season and playoff games in their two-year stay. While based in Hamilton in 1998 and called the Ontario Raiders, the team went 6-6 and missed the playoffs, so the move to the Gardens paid off in a big way.

  Ticket prices will not be increased at the ACC, the team announced.

  Expansion will be a main topic at board of governors meetings in Florida this week.

  Teams in Detroit and Columbus, Ohio, are expected to be added, swelling the NLL to 10 clubs. The Syracuse, N.Y., franchise might go elsewhere, too. An ownership group in Chicago plans to join for the 2002 season. The expansion fee was increased last Jan. 1 to $500,000 US from $250,000.

  "We've got a great future," says commissioner John Livsey.

  With games like this one, he's right.