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There will not be an undefeated team in the National Lacrosse League this winter. The Toronto Rock made sure of that Saturday night.

A 3-1 game-closing run gave the Rock a statement victory against their rivals from the south, with the 12-10 result handing the Buffalo Bandits their first blemish of the year. The Rock, winners of three straight in the division, handled Buffalo erasing a four-goal halftime deficit to get revenge on a Bandits squad that doubled them up earlier this season.

The Rock defense was stellar, led by first star and former Bandit Mitch de Snoo, while Nick Rose made 37 saves in holding Buffalo to its lowest scoring output so far.

“We were pretty good there 5-on-5 defensively,” Toronto coach Matt Sawyer said. “We have been for the last month or so. That goes hand-and-hand with your goaltender. Rosie’s playing real well. We’re limiting the quality chances, which is always the goal.”

Rob Hellyer and Tom Schreiber each had six points with mirrored stat lines — Hellyer with two goals and four assists and Schreiber with four goals and two assists — while Reid Reinholdt was close behind with five points.

“It feels great,” de Snoo said. “They’re undefeated. They’re the class of the East right now. So I think that’s a big statement for us.”

GAINING GROUND

Buffalo dropped into a tie in the loss column with Halifax and San Diego after the Thunderbirds and Seals took care of business over the weekend.

Halifax, playing its final home game away from Nova Scotia, scored the final three goals for a come-from-behind 10-8 victory against the Philadelphia Wings Sunday afternoon. Stephan Leblanc got the go-ahead goal with just 23 seconds to play after Brad Gillies equalized about a minute earlier.

Leblanc and Cody Jamieson each had five goals in a matchup that saw neither team take more than a two-goal advantage.

San Diego’s triumph wasn’t nearly as nail-biting, as Wes Berg accounted for six points in a 10-4 win over Panther City Lacrosse Club. The Seals held Panther City to a lone second-half goal after exiting the break tied at 3.

Austin Staats, Tre Leclaire and Jeremy Noble all added four points for the West-leading Seals. They tied a franchise record with a sixth-straight victory.

ROUGHNECKS UPEND HOT MAMMOTH TEAM

The Rock weren’t the only team to cool off a red-hot divisional foe. The Calgary Roughnecks pulled off the biggest upset in the West, ending the Colorado Mammoth’s four-game win streak with a 9-7 result. The Riggers snapped their three-game skid in the process and won for the first time since Dec. 11.

Tyler Pace and Zach Currier scored in the closing minutes of the third quarter to force a tie at 7, then Jesse King and Currier finished off a game-closing 4-0 spurt to complete the comeback. Christian del Bianco, who allowed one second-half goal, shut out the Mammoth for the final 20 minutes.

“I think this weekend they committed to each other,” Roughnecks coach Curt Malawsky said. “We had a good team meeting. They sorted some things out, and I could tell that there was different bounce in their step and there was a lot of trust and belief. I’ve said it for years, if you get trust and belief, you get resiliency, and if you get resiliency, you get results.”

Despite its frustrating run of late, the Roughnecks sit alone in fourth in the West and within striking distance of a playoff spot.

KNIGHTHAWKS WIN SHOOTOUT

The Rochester Knighthawks provided another upset in the East thanks largely to an eight-assist performance from Shawn Evans. He facilitated the offense, often finding Turner Evans and Holden Cattoni in the K-Hawks’ 15-13 meeting with the Albany FireWolves.

Curtis Knight was also charitable, totaling five assists. The five points put him into a tie for second on the team with Cattoni and Turner Evans. Albany got within a goal three minutes into the fourth quarter, but Rochester always had an answer.

“Tonight, we were there as a team,” Knighthawks goalie Rylan Hartley said. “Everyone was working together. Everything was clicking. It was nice to see everyone get their share.”

WARRIORS KEEP ROLLING

Hopes of a return to form from the Saskatchewan Rush after a win against Panther City in their last outing came crashing back down to earth this weekend. The Rush, the biggest surprise of the NLL this season, dropped to 2-5 and fifth in the West with a 13-7 loss to the Vancouver Warriors.

The Warriors, meanwhile, won for a second straight time since losing star Mitch Jones to injury. On Friday, it was Logan Schuss picking up the offensive slack with six points, while Riley Loewen and Keegan Ball added four.

SWARM HANG ON

It has been a season of close but no cigar for the New York Riptide, who dropped to 1-7 after a late Georgia run. Larson Sundown got the Riptide within striking distance when he cut the Swarm advantage to 9-8 with about 3 minutes remaining in the third. Georgia responded with three straight, two coming off the stick of Shayne Jackson, to survive for a 13-11 victory.

Lyle Thompson had seven points and Jackson had six for a Swarm team that’s now one game below .500.

NOTEWORTHY

The Thunderbirds, who relocated home games to Hamilton, Ontario, due to COVID-19 restrictions in Halifax, announced Thursday they’ll be returning to the Nest for their Feb. 19 contest against Georgia. … Toronto goalie Nick Rose passed Matt Disher for 10th all-time in minutes played. His teammate Tom Schreiber reached 300 goals. … Vancouver’s Reid Bowering, who had 17 loose balls last week against Panther City, snagged 14 loosies against Saskatchewan. … Panther City played without coach Tracey Kelusky and assistant Dan Teat due to COVID protocols. General manager Bob Hamley joined Steve Toll on the bench. … The FireWolves got Andrew Kew back from IR but replaced him with Jordan Durston.

POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s rankings in parentheses:

1. San Diego Seals (2)
2. Halifax Thunderbirds (4)
3. Buffalo Bandits (1)
4. Toronto Rock (5)
5. Colorado Mammoth (3)
6. Vancouver Warriors (7)
7. Georgia Swarm (9)
8. Albany FireWolves (6)
9. Philadelphia Wings (8)
10. Rochester Knighthawks (12)
11. Calgary Roughnecks (13)
12. Saskatchewan Rush (10)
13. New York Riptide (11)
14. Panther City Lacrosse Club (14)

UP NEXT
ALL TIMES EASTERN

Friday

FireWolves at Bandits, 7:30 p.m.
Warriors at Roughnecks, 10 p.m.

Saturday

Swarm at Thunderbirds, 6 p.m.
Rock at FireWolves, 7 p.m.

Sunday

Rush at Mammoth, 5 p.m.
Roughnecks at Panther City, 5 p.m.