By: Marcelo Alfonso Sagüez,
Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
The Colorado Mammoth (8-3) arrived in Calgary (5-7) on March 19 for the second of three meetings in the 2016 NLL season. Despite the quick start for the Mammoth it was the acrobatics of goaltender Mike Poulin (#30) that gave the Roughnecks the 13-9 win.
It was a Mammoth attack with a goal from Jordan Gilles (#23) to open the scoring during a Roughneck penalty Mike Carnagie (#24) for crosschecking. During the man down, Wesley Berg (#14) tied the game at one, with a shorthanded goal. An unassisted goal by Mammoth’s Greg Downing (#4) places Colorado in the lead with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter. Team captain Dan Coates (#37) adds another Mammoth goal only a minute apart making this a 3-1 game for Colorado. Callum Crawford (#98) increased the Mammoth lead by scoring their third straight goal against Mike Poulin 4-1. Rounding off the first quarter Roughnecks Curtis Manning (#10) scores to cut Mammoth lead 4-2.
Calgary’s Curtis Dickson (#17) opens the scoring in the second quarter inching closer to the mammoth lead 4-3. Evening the score Roughneck’s Wesley Berg (14) scores his second of the night on Colorado’s Alex Buque (#27). Seconds into the power play, Curtis Dickson (#17) gives Calgary the 5-4 lead. A short lived lead for the Roughnecks as John Grant Jr. (#24) ties the game at five, and how this meeting went into the half. Shots on goal were 30-23 in favor of the Roughnecks.
Going into the third Calgary increased the pace with a goal from Dane Dobbie (#44) to regain the lead. After a no-goal challenge was upheld for Colorado, score was again tied at six by diving through the crease goal Callum Crawford (#98). The back and forth scoring continues as Tyler Digby (#23) and Eli McLaughlin (#51) would keep things tied at seven. Three minutes remaining in the third Karsen Leung (#21) scores over the shoulder on Roughnecks breakaway, taking the lead 8-7. Jeff Shattler (#77) and teammate Tyler Burton (#7) score sixteen seconds apart, increasing Calgary’s lead to 10-7 heading into the fourth.
To complete the his hat-trick Curtis Dickson (#17) opens the fourth quarter followed by Jeff Shattler’s second of the game extending the Roughnecks lead to 12-7. Callum Crawford scores his third, Calgary still lead by four making this a 12-8 game. Completing his own hat-trick Jeff Shattler (#77) gets the five goal lead with three minutes to go in the game. Mike Poulin’s efforts were front and center with acrobatic saves and long passes to breaking teammates off the bench. Chris Wardle (#17) put one by Poulin late in this game and that would be all the Mammoth could do in Calgary, as they are defeated 13-9 in regulation time.
Calgary (6-5) head to Infinite Energy Arena on March 25 to face the Georgia Swarm (4-7) then head to Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth (8-3) at the Loud House.
Marcelo Alfonso Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
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