TORONTO -- Kevin Croswell made an impressive return to the National Lacrosse League on Saturday night. The Washington Stealth announced on Thursday that theyd signed the 26-year-old free agent from Peterborough, Ont., to sub for injured goaltender Tyler Richards, he participated in his first practice with his new teammates Saturday morning, and then he went out and played a starring role in a 14-9 victory over the Toronto Rock. "I got thrown right in there and I guess theres no better way to do it than get right in there and get it done," said Croswell, who claimed not to feel rusty in his first regular-season NLL start since last spring. "You just go in there and do your thing." Washington held quarter leads of 3-1, 7-4 and 10-7 and outshot Toronto 57-49. Jeff Zywicki, Dean Hill, Eric Martin and Lewis Ratcliff scored two each and Athan Iannucci, Brett Bucktooth, Cliff Smith, Mike Grimes, Justin Salt and Curtis Hodgson got one each for Washington, 2-6. Stephan Leblanc scored four goals and Garrett Billings, Josh Sanderson, Stephen Hoar, Ryan Sharp and Bill Greer one each for the Rock, who slipped to 4-4 in front of an Air Canada Centre crowd of 10,530. Toronto retained a share of first place in the East Division because Philadelphia also is at 4-4 after losing 11-8 at home to Rochester. Sharp and Croswell are former teammates so the Rock defenceman was well aware of Croswells attributes. "He practices hard and plays hard," said Sharp. "He studies the game. "Hes been around. He was in Minnesota with me for four years. He studied Nick Patterson and when he got in there he played well, and he played well tonight." Both teams were missing all-star forwards -- Washingtons Rhys Duch and Torontos Colin Doyle -- but the return of Zywicki to the Stealth lineup after being out since Jan. 19 gave his team a big lift. "It was awesome to be back and I felt great," said Zywicki. "It feels even better now that we got the win. "I thought I played pretty well but the big thing was that the team played a lot better than weve played all year." The two goals he scored from the edge of the crease to the right of the Toronto net were trademark Zywicki effort from extremely difficult angles. "Ive been doing those for a long time," he said. "When youre not the biggest guy out there, youve got to find different ways to score. Those tough angle ones, I work on them in practice." Zywicki wasnt the only Washington returning to action. The return of Kyle Sorensen and Chris McElroy strengthened the back end. "The defence played solid," said Croswell. "They allowed me some good looks on outside shots." This looked more like the team that barely lost the Champions Cup final, 8-7, in Toronto last May than the injury-riddled one that fell to 1-6 after a lopsided loss to Minnesota last weekend. "We finally feel as if were on the right track," said defenceman Jeff Moleski. "Our goal tonight was to outwork them and outsmart them and I think we did that. "Weve made a few changes lately and decided to get back to basic lacrosse. Thats what we did tonight. We outran them and outhustled them." It was the second game with head coach Chris Hall behind the bench following his treatments for throat cancer. "We got some stops, finally, in goal," said Hall. "Croswell was outstanding -- great early to get us rolling. "Sorensen was back to lead the defence and to bring us some motivation and grit and, of course, it was special to see Zywicki back. Those three made a big difference for us." Duch is probable for next weekends game in Denver against West leader Colorado, said Hall. That reality and the win over the Rock has Stealth confidence at a seasons high. "Maybe we can climb out of the hole were in and get back in it," he said. "Weve got some goaltending, weve got some leadership back, Zywicki was big up front and weve injected some youthful energy in Justin Salt, so theres absolutely something for us to build on." Toronto coach Troy Cordingley says Doyles bruised shoulder should be better by next weekend, which should allow him to suit up for a home game against Philadelphia. That positive development helps offset some of the negativity of yet another home loss. "We had a team come into our rink that was 1-6 and I dont think we took them lightly," said Cordingley. "They played more like the team that went to the final the final the last two years. "We started slowly. We couldnt keep up. They dominated. We have to find that drive, that passion, that is going to get us over this inconsistency -- play one good game and take two off type of thing." Matt Roik started in goal for the Rock but was replaced by Pat Campbell when Washington went ahead 9-4 in the third quarter. "We got outworked by a hungry team," said Rock defenceman Bruce Codd. "I dont know why we didnt come out and match their intensity. We knew they were going to be hungry but we came out flat and got behind and never had the lead at any point in the game. It was just a disappointing effort." The next game is key to Torontos hope of finishing first in the East. Toronto and Philadelphia split two previous meetings so the third and final one will give the winner the tiebreaker should the two clubs end the 16-game schedule tied. "We have confidence in our guys," said Cordingley. "We just need to find that fire that is going to motivate us to play consistent lacrosse like we have for the last two years. Guys should be ready off the young guys in our lineup. I thought they Jesse Gamble, Scotty Johnston and Damon Edwards were our best players tonight. Those kids played hard." NOTES: Washington outshot Toronto 57-50 . . . Bob Snider won 19 of the 27 faceoffs he took for the Stealth . . . Toronto was 1-for-4 and Washington 0-for-3 on power plays . . . Besides Doyle, Toronto also deleted D Phil Sanderson and D Glen Bryan . . . Besides Duch, Washington scratched F Brett Hickey and D Kyle Ross . . . D Drew Petkoff has gone on injured reserve with what the Rock describe as an upper body injury. Johnston took his place and fought Smith in the second quarter of his first NLL game. Cheap NFL Jerseys .J. Green, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and Tennessee Titans kick returner Darius Reynaud have been named the AFCs top players for the month of September. Wholesale Jerseys . Thome, a member of the 600-homer club, had been sidelined with a lower back strain since April 29. Hes just 2 for 18 in limited appearances, mainly as a pinch hitter. http://www.cheapjerseysnflwho... ., despite the recent firing of one of their coaches. 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