Sunday afternoon's regular season finale between the Toronto Rock and Calgary Roughnecks was supposed to little more than a dress rehearsal for the postseason.

Toronto, after all, had long ago clinched home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs, and Calgary had just backed into the Western Division championship with Arizona's loss the night before.

The game had all the makings of a pleasant little exhibition of the Creator's game, neither team pushing the envelope for an unneeded win.

Any other teams, and the game actually might have turned out that way. Not the Rock and Roughnecks, though.

What the assembled crowd of 11,311 at the Pengrowth Saddledome saw was spirited lacrosse played by two teams that had it out for each other, evidenced, for instance, by a brawl which resulted in four ejections, two of them to goaltenders.

Yup, it was that kind of game and more, as the Roughnecks clawed back from a four-goal deficit to crush the Rock, 20-12.

Tracey Kelusky, who reportedly was ill before the game and almost got scratched, exploded for eight goals and two assists, setting a new Roughnecks record with 45 goals this season.

Kelusky's first goal came just over two minutes into the game, tying the game at 1-1 after a Matt Shearer goal one minute prior.

Blaine Manning restored the lead a short time later, and after Kaleb Toth tied the match again, Toronto ran off three straight goals to end the first quarter.

A flurry of goals early in the second period resulted in an 8-4 Rock lead, but the Roughnecks countered with six straight to end the first half. Kelusky and Andrew McBride scored twice in the run, while Lewis Ratcliff picked up three assists.

Josh Sanderson pulled Toronto back within one, at 10-9, 32 seconds out of intermission, but the determined Roughnecks slapped back with six more goals -- this time, three Kelusky goals.

Midway through the run came the main event, a brawl which began with a fight between Kyle Goundrey and Jim Quinlan. That prompted Jesse Phillips into a lopsided bout with Toronto captain Jim Veltman in front of the Rock goal.

Toronto goaltender Bob Watson then stepped in, presumably because the referees wouldn't, bringing Andrew Leyshon in from the Calgary net -- and the two goalies had a go.

After the dust cleared, Phillips, Veltman, Watson and Leyshon were gone, Curtis Palidwor (who left the game at halftime) was back in goal for the Roughnecks, and Calgary scored three times before Colin Doyle could pull the Rock back within six, at 16-10.

The fourth quarter was no kinder to the Rock, outscored 4-2 and kicked around some more by the defending league champions.

"We were trying to send a message that, if they're going to play us, it's not going to be an easy win for them."

In addition to Kelusky, Ratcliff also tallied ten points (three goals, seven assists) for the Roughnecks. Doyle and Manning each had two goals and five assists for the Rock; Doyle's season total of 111 points gives Toronto its first-ever scoring champ.