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OSHAWA — After a century of history between the city and the sport, Oshawa finally got a taste of big-time lacrosse on Friday. And it was a success.
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Ethan Walker scored his second goal of the game on a mid-range shot with 52 seconds left to give the Oshawa FireWolves an 8–7 victory over the Toronto Rock in the first National Lacrosse League matchup for both teams.
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“This is an NLL game close to the end.” FireWolves head coach Glenn Clark spoke about representing Oshawa. “We were always going to attract lacrosse fans. The main thing is to find new fans.”
“When we introduce this type of product, they walk away wanting to come back for the next game.”
It took a while for the 5,100 spectators at the Tribute Communities Center to get anything going. C.J. Kirst, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, opened the scoring nearly 13 minutes into the game. Nick Czajkowski equalized for his team's new fans in the final minute of the first quarter.
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The scoring opened in the second, despite the NLL's two best players, Oshawa's Doug Jamieson and Toronto's Nick Rose, both performing at a high level. Taggert Clarke, Alex Simmons and Dyson Williams scored in the second. The final goal was special for Williams, who hails from Oshawa.
Chris Boushey got the chance to bounce off the board and get his first hit on The Rock. Late in the period, Challen Rogers scored on Toronto's first power play opportunity.
The Rock scored twice in the third to take a 5-4 lead. Kirst scored his second goal after some impressive moves close to the goal. Rodgers then added his second minutes later from Kirst's rebound.
Walker scored his first goal to open the fourth quarter. Owen Hiltz responded for Toronto with his first career NLL goal. After Simmons and Ty Kurtz gave Oshawa the lead, Hiltz, also selected by Toronto in the recent draft, scored his second goal to back up Walker's heroics.
The Fire Wolves travel to Halifax next Friday to take on the Thunderbirds. The Rock will play their first home game on December 13 at TD Coliseum against the Calgary Roughnecks. Toronto fans are looking forward to seeing Kirst get used to playing indoors again.
“My teammates and coaches helped me a lot with the transition,” Kirst said. “I’m just trying to get as many reps as I can and get my feet underneath me.”
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