It is a big day for the Halifax Thunderbirds as they try to fend off defeat in the National Lacrosse League Final.
Halifax’s lacrosse squad returns Sunday to the Scotiabank Centre for Game 2 after falling to Toronto Rock by 13-11 on the road Friday night.
Thunderbirds forward Jason Knox carried the lead in that game with a hat trick for Halifax, while Cody Jamieson struck twice and Casey Wilson, Jake Withers, Mike Robinson, Clarke Petterson, Stephen Keogh and Wake:Riat BowHunter also scoring.
But it was not enough to beat Rock’s veteran netminder Nick Rose, who made 38 saves for the win.
Fans are hoping the Thunderbirds bring the lacrosse championship to Halifax for the first time but they will need to win the next two games in the best-of-three series to take the title.
It’s the first time in 11 years that two Canadian teams have met for the NLL championship.
It has been an inspiring underdog story for the Halifax Thunderbirds after sneaking into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season with a win, before stealing the first playoff round in a storied comeback win against the Vancouver Warriors.
In that April 24 quarterfinal, Halifax defeated the top-seeded Warriors 10-7 after trailing 7-1 at halftime, scoring nine unanswered goals.
In last weekend’s semi-finals, Halifax Thunderbirds defeated the visiting Georgia Swarm 15-11 on Sunday to win that best-of-three series 2-1.
Opening face-off for Game 2 of the NLL Finals is at 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Centre.
With files from The Canadian Press