TORONTO - Bob Watson earned the MVP honours in his final pro lacrosse game as the Toronto Rock edged the Washington Stealth 8-7 in the NLL's title game Sunday afternoon.

"This goes right to the top," the 41-year-old Watson replied when asked where his and the team's sixth championship ranks. "This is a special moment. I'll cherish this for the rest of my life."

Garrett Billings and Kasey Beirnes scored two goals each for the Rock and Rob Hellyer, Blaine Manning, Glen Bryan and Stephan Leblanc got one each in front of an Air Canada Centre crowd of 14,488.

Lewis Ratcliff led the Stealth with three and Rhys Duch, Jeff Zywicki, Cliff Smith and Paul Rabil got one each, and Tyler Richards was outstanding in the nets. Washington rallied from a 7-2 halftime deficit to set up a thrilling finish.

Bryan had opened the scoring with a breakaway bouncer 1:54 into the game, Smith tied it with an overhand shot over Watson's right shoulder at 5:14, and Beirnes darted to the front of the crease to take a Doyle pass and pick a top corner at 8:47 to put the Rock up 2-1.

After a video review backed up a referee's decision to disallow a Doyle goal off an acrobatic leap from behind the Stealth net, Beirnes again struck from the edge of the crease, this time on a power play, at 13:03 to make it 3-1, and that's how the first quarter ended.

Billings made it 4-1 when he eluded his check to take a Leblanc pass and shoot over Richards' left shoulder 30 seconds into the second quarter.

The Stealth couldn't score during a three-minute manpower advantage after Kyle Ross was penalized for a high hit on Kyle Sorensen. Watson was frustrating shooters time and again. Luke Wiles couldn't believe it when, with an open side of net to shoot at, he watched a falling Watson flip up his stick to snare the ball.

Hellyer fired in a bouncer at 6:16, Watson got a shoulder in front of a breakaway shot by Zywicki, and Manning made it 6-1 with yet another bounce shot at 12:13.

Ratcliff got a loose ball in front of Watson and put one in at 12:52 but Billings followed with an over-the-shoulder gem with his back to the net at 14:00, and it was 7-2 with Toronto up 35-23 on the shots-on-goal counter at the halftime break.

Toronto's record when leading at halftime this year was 13-1 so only a total collapse would deprive the Rock of a sixth title in the franchise's 14-year history. But the Stealth weren't out of it by any means. They'd rallied to beat Toronto 15-11 in the 2010 final and were going to try and do it again.

They got a good start on it by scoring the only two goals of the third quarter. Duch evaded two checks to bounce a shot past Watson at 1:07. The Stealth couldn't score during a two-man advantage and Ratcliff was looking skyward after Watson robbed him of what looked like a certain goal, but things turned their way again when Ratcliff fired in sidearm shots at 14:10 of the third quarter and at 1:23 of the fourth.

At 7-5, given the way Richards was playing, Ratcliff and his teammates were gaining confidence by the minute.

Billings had a shot go off a post, Watson stuck out his stick to steal a goal away from Wiles, Hellyer had a shot go off the Washington crossbar, and then Bryan was penalized. Zywicki swung his stick from the side of the net to sneak the ball past Watson at 5:00 on a power play, and now it was 7-6.

Leblanc leapt from the side of the crease to stuff the ball behind Richards at 6:59 -- Toronto's first goal since Billings' with one minute left in the second quarter -- and Rabil countered with a long shot that knocked Watson down at 7:12. It was 8-7.

Watson and Richards kept it that way.

Washington had possession of the ball when it took a time out with 32.5 seconds remaining to plot a last shot. They never got to take it. A pass to Wiles went wild and Cam Woods gathered in the loose ball. Woods ran it into the Stealth end and killed the clock.

Rock players flew off the bench to pile on Watson when time expired.

Toronto had its first NLL championship since 2005.

The final shots-on-goal count was 58-53 for Toronto.

NOTES: On power plays, Washington was 1-for-4 and Toronto was 1-for-2 . . . Watson finishes his career with a 16-4 all-time record in NLL playoffs . . . Duch was the only player in the game named to the first all-pro team by the NLL last week. Ratcliff and Leblanc were on the second all-pro team . . . The last time the Rock won the title, in 2005, current players Watson, Doyle, Manning, Sandy Chapman, Pat Merrill and Phil Sanderson were on the floor . . . Toronto defeated the visiting Arizona Sting 19-13 in that one. One Stealth player, Craig Conn, was with Arizona back then . . . It was the first time since the 1999-2000 seasons that the same two teams met in the title game.