In their first of two matchups this year, the Vancouver Warriors (5-7) will play the Toronto Rock (4-8) in the highly anticipated St. Paddy’s game set to take place at Rogers Arena on Friday night.
It was a busy week for the Warriors’ front office with the trade deadline taking place on March 10th. Some big moves were made, the most notable being the acquisition of 2023 NLL MVP Christian Del Bianco from the Calgary Roughnecks. To secure the star goaltender, the Warriors traded defenceman Brayden Laity, two first-round picks, a second-round pick, as well as future considerations.
It was also announced Monday that the Warriors acquired a first-round and second-round pick in the 2026 NLL Entry Draft, as well as the rights to forward Kiel Matisz from the Ottawa Black Bears, in exchange for forward Johnathan Peshko and a fourth-round pick in the same draft.
The Warriors then traded the rights to Matisz, along with a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NLL Entry Draft to the Buffalo Bandits in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2028 NLL Entry Draft.
Prior to the trade deadline, the Warriors had just returned from San Diego after falling 13-11 to the Seals. Ryan Martel was back in the lineup Friday and led the scoring for Vancouver with three goals and two assists. Alec Stathakis netted his first-ever NLL goal, while Marcus Klarich, Keegan Bal, Adam Charalambides, and Owen Grant all added to the score sheet.
Connor O’Toole had his opportunity between the pipes midway through the third quarter, stepping in for Aden Walsh and stopping nine straight shots before the Seals’ Wes Berg and Rob Hellyer closed it out for San Diego.
That same night, but on the East Coast, the Toronto Rock were able to snap a three-game losing streak with a 15-12 victory against the Halifax Thunderbirds. The Rock’s Corey Small (4G), Josh Dawick (3G, 2A), and Chris Boushy (2G, 2A) all found the back of the net multiple times. Zach Kearney managed five assists, and Tom Schreiber tallied one goal and four assists on top of that.
That strong offensive push across all 60 minutes—paired with a strong performance from goaltender Troy Holowchuk—propelled the Rock to victory. Holowchuk started in net for the first time in his NLL career, also picking up his first-ever NLL win, after Nick Rose was traded to the Calgary Roughnecks in late February.
Like the Warriors, Toronto has plenty of local talent to draw from when building their roster. Due to this, Challen Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C., is the only Rock player born in British Columbia.
Rogers started out playing four seasons for his hometown team, the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs, before being selected 2nd overall by the Toronto Rock in the 2016 NLL Draft. Rogers has an impressive resume across his professional career, being named NLL Transition Player of the Year twice and making the All-League First Team twice.
Last season, the Rock defeated the Warriors 9-5, where former Toronto goalie Nick Rose turned aside 45 shots for a 0.900 save percentage. Veteran forwards Tom Schreiber and Mark Matthews made the biggest dent on the score sheet with 11 combined points. In the last four games between the two teams, Schreiber has been the top overall point scorer with 28 points (10G, 18A). For the Warriors, Keegan Bal leads with 13 points (6G, 7A) in five games.
Join us at Rogers Arena on Friday March 14th for a St. Paddy’s Day celebration, featuring green beer, and live entertainment from The Shenanigans, the Blarney Stone’s house band. Tickets are available on the Warriors website, and the game will be broadcast live on TSN 1 and 4, as well as NLL+.
