The Toronto Rock had too much speed, grit and Brandon Miller for the New England Black Wolves in their 18-10 NLL East semifinal victory.

“It was a hell of a game, maybe our best game of the year,” Rock owner and general manager Jamie Dawick said.

Speed: Damon Edwards, Brodie Merrill, Jesse Gamble and Jeff Gilbert are primarily checkers, yet they ran the floor as if shot out of cannons in contributing six fast-break goals Saturday.

“We feel it’s one of our strengths,” head coach Matt Sawyer said of Rock transition breakouts. “Transition is a tricky thing. It’s tough to create transition plays if you’re not playing strong defense. Our transition doesn’t come from cheating or leaking out of the defensive zone. It comes from defensive stuff. The stronger we are in our own end, the better our transition game is.”

Grit: Take Black Wolves forward Kevin Crowley’s word for it.

“We got outworked,” Crowley said. “They were the better team. They executed their game plan really well.”

Miller: When New England went up 5-4 on its 11th shot on starting Rock goalie Nick Rose late in the first quarter, Brandon Miller was summoned from the end of the bench to replace Rose. Miller’s total floor time during the regular season was a mere 64 minutes, yet he played with an agility that showed he was in top form. He was sensational. A 10-2 Rock run buried the Black Wolves.

“The last few practices I’ve been feeling really good,” said Miller, who turned 38 two days before the game. “I was able to come in and continue to do the things I’ve been working on in practice.”

Hip problems ruined Miller’s 2016 season and surgery delayed his return in 2017.

 “I have to play an active game to be effective,” he said. “Before I had the surgery, it was tough to get up and down. Now it’s not in my mind anymore and I’m able to do the things I could do 10 years ago. It was fun to contribute, for sure.”

The Rock open the division finals at home against the No. 1-seeded Georgia Swarm at 7 p.m. ET Saturday. The teams play in Georgia the following Saturday. If they split, an immediate 10-minute mini-game will decide things.

Tom Schreiber led Rock scoring with four goals and three assists.

“It was a solid game from everyone — transition, defense, B stepping in in the net, and the offense did some good things,” Schreiber said. “It was the definition of a team win.

“On the offensive side, a lot of credit goes to our vets. We’re a mix of veterans and rookies. Steph Leblanc, Brett Hickey, Kasey Beirnes — guys who have been around — have done a phenomenal job just kind of keeping us calm and sticking to what we know. It paid off in Buffalo [the previous weekend] and we’re riding that high now.”

Leblanc, Hickey and Beirnes scored two goals each.

It was the second weekend in a row that the Rock offense lit up the scoreboard.

“Great game, great team win, 60 minutes,” Hickey said. “Next week we’ve just got to mimic this. We have to focus on the little things. We got a lot of loose balls and second chances, our defense was stellar, B played unbelievable. We play like that, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

Toronto won the second quarter 4-0 and the third quarter 3-1, while Miller stopped 19 of 20 shots on goal in the two quarters. New England lifted Evan Kirk with seven minutes left and the Rock up 15-8.

“We were hopeful that we would end up with this result,” Sawyer said. “We felt we were going to be able to create some offense against New England and we felt our transition game would pay dividends if we stuck to it through the full 60 so. I can’t say we anticipated that final score, but we felt we were going to be able to do some things against them.”

Sawyer’s decision to put Miller on the Air Canada Centre floor when he did proved correct.

“He came through when we needed it, ” Sawyer said. “Nick has been struggling a little bit. He’s one of the reasons we got to this point and had this opportunity, but when you get to this point in the season, you need to make those decisions — sooner rather than later.”

AT LONG LAST

In nine appearances in the West semifinals since winning the NLL championship in 2006, Colorado was a loser every time. But not this time. A 13-12 Mammoth road win set up an NLL West finals clash with Saskatchewan in Denver this Saturday.

“It feels great, I’m not going to lie,” captain Dan Coates said of erasing the stigma of past playoff disappointments. “For myself, Cam Holding, Joey Cupido, we’re the longer-tenured members who have been here. Just to get that out of the way is great.”

Goals capping transition breakouts were as important to the Mammoth as they were to the Rock, as Cupido, Jordan Gilles and Brad Self combined for five. Forwards Callum Crawford and Eli McLaughlin added three and two, respectively. Goalies Dillon Ward of the Mammoth and Tye Belanger of the Stealth both played well. They had the best save percentages in the league going in. Ward made eight more saves than Belanger.

Corey Small scored three of his six goals in the last five minutes to give the Stealth a chance to pull out a victory, but they fell short.

“That’s a gutsy win,” Coates said.

Colorado jumped to a 3-0 lead and never trailed. All the goals in transition helped that happen.

“When we’re scoring from the back, I think it takes a bit of weight off the offensive guys,” head coach Pat Coyle said. “We know that we’re going to get goals from both ends, so that was big.”

Falling behind by four in the fourth quarter was a dagger in the back for the Stealth.

“We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole getting down by four and gave up too many transitions, which we identified before the game was going to be something we had to work on to not allow and we allowed it,” Vancouver coach Jamie Batley said. “That is frustrating, because we know how to stop it, and we didn’t stop it.”   

Keeping Rhys Duch from scoring a goal for the first time in 27 games was another key to Colorado’s win.

“You have to find a way to go on a run and we just couldn’t,” Small said. “Too many times exchanging goals and when we did get on a run it just wasn’t enough.”

PACKIN’ IT IN

So, New England and Vancouver are done.

The Black Wolves had what head coach Glenn Clark described as “kind of a strange up-and-down season.”

“We had some highs and some lows. It was a bit of a grinder — kind of like this game. We were chasin’ all year. We were 0-3, 3-6, it felt like we were always a step behind. It’s tough. But you come out stronger at the other end. We’ll regroup. We’ll debrief and figure out what the next steps are.”

After making it to the division finals a year ago, it was a disappointed pack of Black Wolves that trudged out of the ACC.

As for the Stealth, making it to the playoffs for the first time in their four years in suburban Langley is an emphatic stamp of approval on their 2017 campaign. The discipline with which they played the semifinal was impressive in that they were not assessed a penalty. They had the ball and called timeout with 17 seconds remaining. Ward stopped a Logan Schuss shot in the dying seconds that would have forced overtime.

“In my mind, I was thinking anything you can do to get that ball in the net,” Small said. “They were smart. They shut some guys off. I know we just ended, but I am just so eager to get out there and get another shot at it.”

“We did our best to not let Corey Small get that last shot,” Coyle said. “We said we are going to be damned if we let him get seven on us.”

 A pair of tweets by Stealth general manager Doug Locker merit repeating:

Congratulations to @MammothLax - all the best moving forward. @NLL is a remarkable product - the athletes are simply amazing #warriors

— Doug Locker (@DougLocker1) May 7, 2017

Best group of players Ive had the privilege to be around in some time - love this special group of warriors @StealthLAX #headshigh #battle

— Doug Locker (@DougLocker1) May 7, 2017   

THE ENFORCER

Rock fans were not expecting Kieran McArdle to fight. American players just don’t do that. Or do they?

In the fifth minute of the fourth quarter, McArdle and Zac Reid were pushing and shoving and then eyeing each other up and down menacingly. The gloves came off and fists flew.

“He’s the enforcer,” said his buddy, Schreiber. “Kieran has always played with an edge. In outdoor, there’s no fighting, but I think he’s led MLL in penalty minutes by attackmen the last few years.”

In the press box, it was deemed a unanimous decision for McArdle.

“That sparked us,” Schreiber said. “We went on a little run from there.”

“That’s something Keiran felt he had to do,” Sawyer said. “It was good to see him come out on the right side of that. It’s not something we encourage. To be honest, I was yelling for him to come to the bench. But, yeah, we had a lot of guys step up. That’s what happens at this time of year and that’s what you need to be successful.”

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

It is impossible to exaggerate Damon Edwards’ positive impact with the Rock. The 6-foot-1 defenseman missed all of last season rehabbing from knee surgery. Playing with a brace on the knee, he has been dynamite in 2017. When he scored on a breakaway thanks to a long Nick Rose pass to put his team up 2-0 in the sixth minute, it was clear that the Rock were going to use their speed to outrun the Black Wolves. He scored again late in the first quarter to tie it 5-5.

“Damon has been great,” Sawyer said. “He’s got more to his game than just playing defense. It’s good to see him rewarded like that. He’s deadly in transition. He’s got a couple of different shots in his bag. He doesn’t miss many. We encourage him to take as many shots as he can.”

ULTIMATE LEADER

 “I’ve said it time and again: Brodie Merrill is our best player,” Sawyer said. “He’s our leader. This team follows his lead. He has a history of stepping up when it’s needed most and you saw that [Saturday]. You see what he does on the floor stats-wise and defensively, but Brodie contributes in a lot of ways kind of behind closed doors. He’s one of the best players in this league. He’s certainly our best player. He’s a Hall of Famer whenever he decides to stop playing.”

Merrill, 35, is in his 12th NLL season but has yet to slip on a championship NLL ring.

“It was a great win,” Merrill said. “It was closer than the score would indicate, because it was really tight. We were able to get a lot of timely goals, which allowed us to get some separation. It was everything you’d expect from a playoff game. Very intense. We feel good about getting through and advancing.”

 Merrill agreed that cashing in on transition breakouts was a big factor.

“That’s been our focus all year,” he said. “It’s a fickle thing, because sometimes in transition you’re getting opportunities but not finishing. We were able to capitalize on a few of those chances, and they’re big momentum swings. That continues to be a big part of our game.”

After missing the playoffs a year ago, it’s a great feeling for Merrill and his teammates to be in the division finals.

“We feel pretty good about where we are, but we’re not satisfied,” Merrill said. “We’re going to give it our best shot.”

UNSUNG HERO

Jeff Gilbert is one of Toronto’s unsung heroes. The 6-foot-4 defenseman got a rare turn in the spotlight when he scored a goal Saturday. In 17 regular-season starts, he scored none. It was his third goal in his 16 career playoff games.

Gilbert was asked to sum up the night’s happenings.

“It was a total team effort,” he replied. “It’s the playoffs. Everybody stepped up. It’s good to see. We’re not satisfied. We’ll celebrate it, but then will look forward to next weekend. I do think we match up well with [Georgia]. We’ll do our homework and get a good practice in. We’re really looking forward to it.”

WORDS OF WISDOM

Kasey Beirnes had his own take on why the Rock won.

“We grinded them out,” Beirnes said. “We didn’t get high, we didn’t get low. We stayed an equal medium right across the whole thing. We were trying to do that the last four games and weren’t successful other than last week in Buffalo. In this league, you have to stay as medium as you can. You don’t need highs and lows. Stay at a medium level and you’re going to be successful.”

AIR MILES

Crowley doesn’t get less busy now that his Black Wolves’ NLL season is over. He gets busier.

Crowley will be in the MLL lineup of the Charlotte Hounds in Rochester, N.Y., on Thursday. He lives in Philadelphia. In July, he’ll move to the West Coast to play indoors for his home-city New Westminster Salmonbellies. He’ll commute from there to Charlotte’s weekend games.

The distance between the two cities in which he will play home games: 2,825 miles.

“It looked good on paper,” he said with a grin. “We’ll see how the flights go.”

DIVISION FINALS

SATURDAY

Georgia at Toronto, 7 p.m. ET

Who will the Rock start in goal? It is an intriguing question.

 Rose got them where they are but Miller played so well in the elimination of New England that it will be tempting to stay with him.

“Any time you have that luxury where you can have a guy like [Miller] step in and have a dominant performance like that you know you’re in good shape,” Schreiber said. “This team has full confidence in Rosie. If we need to go with B, we have that as well. It’s a huge advantage for our squad.”

Dawick was asked about Miller’s exceptional performance in relief of Rose for the second weekend in a row.

“He’s been chompin’ at the bit to get in there,” Dawick said. “Rosie has been awesome this year. I know Rosie would have liked to have had a few more saves early. I don’t put that all on him. The defense had to be better. B Miller is not here for no reason. We believe in both of them. We’ve always said that’s one of our luxuries. And they’re all team guys. Rosie will be happy for B, who is no spring chicken. That’s two weeks in a row. He was real good.”   

Georgia was first in the division and overall at 13-5 in the regular season. Toronto went 9-9.

“We know Georgia well,” Sawyer said. “We had them twice and they were two great games. I would say they were two of the better games in the National Lacrosse League this year. So fans should be in for a treat. We’ll have our hands full. They’ve got too many weapons to count, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

Both regular season meetings were settled in overtime. On Feb. 17 in Toronto, Georgia eked out a 13-12 win on a Johnny Powless goal 46 seconds into extra time. On March 24 in Georgia, Brett Hickey scored five goals and Toronto won 12-11 on a Reid Reinholdt goal 44 seconds into extra time.

“They are as good as it gets,” Schreiber said of the Swarm. “But I think our team can beat anyone on any day.”

“They are very explosive, high powered,” Merrill said. “It’s going to take our best.’’

“Any team is beatable,” Beirnes said. “We all know that. This is the NLL.”

Toronto is 5-4 on the road this year, while Georgia is 7-2 at home.

Saskatchewan at Colorado, 9 p.m. ET

Dillon Ward vs. Aaron Bold. Should be quite the goaltending show.

If the Mammoth can take space away from Rush star Mark Matthews, they have a chance at knocking off the two-time defending NLL champions.

Saskatchewan won the division with a 12-6 record, while Colorado was third at 9-9.

“We’re excited about the group we have in the locker room,” Coates said. “We made some great acquisitions through trades and in the offseason and we owe that to our management and coaching staff.”

Saskatchewan won the season series 3-1, but the games were close. All three Rush wins were by one goal.

On Feb. 18, Jeff Cornwall’s goal with 13 seconds left lifted the Rush to an 8-7 home win that included a 64-34 dominance in shots on goal. On March 11, the Rush again won at home 12-11 thanks to Chris Wardle’s five goals and Ben McIntosh’s goal 1:24 into overtime. On March 25, Jeremy Noble, Zack Greer and Callum Crawford scored three goals each in a 14-11 Mammoth home win. And on April 28, McIntosh scored three goals and the Rush survived a three-goal Mammoth charge in the last four minutes to escape with a 10-9 victory in Denver.

Colorado is 5-4 at home this year, while Saskatchewan is 4-5 on the road.