Toronto Rock president Brad Watters, citing the need for change, announced today that Terry Sanderson has been fired as the team's head coach and general manager.

The move ends Sanderson's tenure of two and a half seasons in Toronto, beginning with an eight-game winning streak and ending with a subpar campaign this season.

In between, Sanderson's Rock won the 2005 NLL Champion's Cup with a 19-13 victory over Arizona.

"Terry has done exactly what we asked of him. He won a championship in 2005 and developed the talent within our organization, despite losing some key players to retirement and free agency," Watters said.

"We’re going to take our lacrosse operations in a different direction, and we’ll begin rebuilding immediately, starting with the search for a new head coach and director of player personnel."

Sanderson joined the Rock six games into the 2004 season, with the team struggling at 2-4 and attempting to overcome the sudden loss of longtime coach Les Bartley, who stepped down before that season to battle colon cancer.

The Rock responded to the new coach with an eight-game winning streak, finishing first in the Eastern Division but losing to Buffalo in the division final.

Last year, the Rock went 12-4 and cruised to its fifth NLL title, but this season was a different story, starting 0-4 and limping to an 8-8 record and a first-round exit from the playoffs.

Sanderson leaves Toronto with a 28-14 record in regular-season games and a 2-2 mark in the postseason.

Sanderson has coached in the NLL each of the last seven seasons, including stops with Albany (11-15 in 2000-2001), Montreal (8-8 in 2002), and Ottawa (4-12 in 2003).