Photo Courtesy NLL
Hiltz, English Secure NLL Championship
5/18/2026 1:42:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – For the first time since 2011, the Toronto Rock are the champions of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and two former Syracuse University men's lacrosse standouts brought the Rock back.
Owen Hiltz, who played for the Orange from 2021-25, and Sam English, a graduate transfer for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, helped Toronto lift the NLL Cup after sweeping a Syracuse-laden Halifax Thunderbirds team in the NLL Finals.
English was named as the Finals MVP after racking eight goals with 10 assists for 18 points during the playoffs. He accounted for 55 loose balls and caused three turnovers. English, who was a finalist for the League's Transition Player of the Year, is the first rookie to win Finals MVP since John Tavares (Buffalo Bandits) in 1992. English scored the game-winning goal, and an insurance goal with 17 seconds left, in Toronto's 13-11 win in Game #1 of the finals.
Across the six playoff games, Hiltz accounted for 10 goals and nine assists, including the final tying goal of Game #1 to make it 11-11 and sparking a three-goal Rock run. Hiltz picked up 21 loose balls during the playoffs and put 37 shots on goal as a forward.
Halifax made its first-ever NLL Finals appearance, led by a deep corps of veteran Orange in the League.
Cody Jamieson posted 25 points across six playoff games, scoring eight times and handing out 17 assists, including eight points on the power play. The hero of the 2009 NCAA Division I Championship added 22 loose balls during the Thunderbirds' run to the finals.
Brendan Bomberry played in all six playoff games for Halifax, racking a split 12 points on six goals and six assists. He scored once with the man advantage with a ledger of 28 loose balls and a caused turnover.
Warren Hill went 3-2 in the playoffs, playing in 333 minutes and 49 seconds in cage for Halifax this postseason. He made 211 saves at a 78 percent rate and a goals against average of 10.78.
Stephen Keogh played in four playoff games for the Thunderbirds, scoring three goals and adding an assist. He accounted for 12 loose balls along the way as well.
Randy Staats logged two playoff games, using that time efficiently and putting up seven points on two goals and five assists, including three power play points with a pair of tallies and a helper. He added five loosies along the way.
Owen Hiltz, who played for the Orange from 2021-25, and Sam English, a graduate transfer for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, helped Toronto lift the NLL Cup after sweeping a Syracuse-laden Halifax Thunderbirds team in the NLL Finals.
English was named as the Finals MVP after racking eight goals with 10 assists for 18 points during the playoffs. He accounted for 55 loose balls and caused three turnovers. English, who was a finalist for the League's Transition Player of the Year, is the first rookie to win Finals MVP since John Tavares (Buffalo Bandits) in 1992. English scored the game-winning goal, and an insurance goal with 17 seconds left, in Toronto's 13-11 win in Game #1 of the finals.
Across the six playoff games, Hiltz accounted for 10 goals and nine assists, including the final tying goal of Game #1 to make it 11-11 and sparking a three-goal Rock run. Hiltz picked up 21 loose balls during the playoffs and put 37 shots on goal as a forward.
Halifax made its first-ever NLL Finals appearance, led by a deep corps of veteran Orange in the League.
Cody Jamieson posted 25 points across six playoff games, scoring eight times and handing out 17 assists, including eight points on the power play. The hero of the 2009 NCAA Division I Championship added 22 loose balls during the Thunderbirds' run to the finals.
Brendan Bomberry played in all six playoff games for Halifax, racking a split 12 points on six goals and six assists. He scored once with the man advantage with a ledger of 28 loose balls and a caused turnover.
Warren Hill went 3-2 in the playoffs, playing in 333 minutes and 49 seconds in cage for Halifax this postseason. He made 211 saves at a 78 percent rate and a goals against average of 10.78.
Stephen Keogh played in four playoff games for the Thunderbirds, scoring three goals and adding an assist. He accounted for 12 loose balls along the way as well.
Randy Staats logged two playoff games, using that time efficiently and putting up seven points on two goals and five assists, including three power play points with a pair of tallies and a helper. He added five loosies along the way.
Players Mentioned
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