About the author:

Gordon Anderson
I'm just a small time sports guy looking to get to the big time...

Tags:

lacrosse (8), Toronto Nationals (8)

Related articles:

• Long Island Lizards edge out Toronto Nationals in lacrosse duel
• Toronto Nationals move into first with decisive win over Washington
• Denver beats Toronto for sixth consecutive win

Share this article:

It was an explosive home opener for the Toronto Nationals field lacrosse team.

Before an announced crowd of 5,144 the Nationals scored eight second half goals en route to a 15-11 win over the Chicago Machine at BMO Field on Friday night.

Coming off a 17-16 win over the Washington Bayhawks last week, the Nationals waited 2:17 into the first quarter to answer another Toronto sports trivia question.

Who would score the Nationals’ first home goal?

The Major League Lacrosse (MLL) player of the week, Merrick Thomson, answered that when he dove through the air and threw the ball between the legs of Machine goalie Mike Gabel.

There are six teams in the MLL and the Nationals (2-0) have a one game lead over the Long Island Lizards and the Machine.

With a compressed 12-game schedule the importance of winning every game takes on added significance.

“I think that’s the way this league has pretty much been,” Nationals attacker Gary Gait said. “Every game is important. You’ve got to show up and you have got to be ready to play. You can’t give any away (games) or it will hurt you in the end.”

Toronto led 4-2 after the first quarter and 7-4 at the half.

Chicago (1-1) got back-to-back goals from Kevin Leveille to make the score 7-6 but the Nationals responded with five consecutive to lead 12-6 after three.

The Machine outscored Toronto 5-3 in the fourth to finish off the scoring.

“They (Chicago) are a bunch of American all-Americans,” Nationals midfielder Geoff Snider said. “We had a good game plan for them but they are all good shooters and good athletes.”

They can break down a defence pretty well and they pick their spots. They played a pretty good game.”

With six players having represented Canada at international competitions in the past, the Nationals are essentially an all-star team.

They were clearly superior to the Machine in terms of speed, physicality, set plays and technical prowess to execute tight passes near the net.

“We are in the second game of the season,” Snider said. “We have a lot of great personalities and a lot of chemistry and we are continuing to learn and grow as a group. That’s the bottom line.”

Thomson followed up his seven-goal performance in the regular season opener with three goals and one assist and took player of the game honours.

“He’s (Thomson) going hard to the net and he’s getting good shots and he’s burying them,” Gait said.

He’s getting around people, he’s getting the shots off while he’s falling or being checked and the ball is going in for him.”

Former Toronto Rock standout Colin Doyle chipped in with two goals and two assists.

Leveille scored six goals and assisted on one for the Machine.

Rob Scherr made six saves in 10 shots in the first half for Toronto and was replaced by Brett Queener for the second. Queener stopped seven of 14 shots and got the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.

Gabel played the full 60 minutes and stopped 12 shots in the 27 he faced.