Marcelo A. Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome
Photo Credit Featured Image: Candice Ward/Calgary Roughnecks
Friday night lights, the Calgary Roughnecks (1-1) hosted the Vancouver Stealth (0-2) in their home opener at the Scotiabank Saddledome. After losing to the Knighthawks last weekend by a wide margin, Calgary was determined to redeem themselves at home in front of 9,708 fans. Final Score: Roughnecks 15—Stealth 12.
Before the opening face-off, the Roughnecks gathered in the crease surrounding net minder Frank Scigliano, and Alternate Captain Curtis Dickson (17) passionately barked out last minute instructions motivating his team.
Calgary needs to swing the ball around allowing more touches; and creating more scoring opportunities from various players. The Calgary pressure on both sides of the line is also a factor if they want to last the entire game. The use of decoys, Dobbie and Dickson draw defensive attention each time they get possession of the ball, leaving gaps for scoring opportunities. Defensively, Calgary’s goal-tending needs to figure out what must be done to stop the long shot.
As the first quarter began, Calgary was fired up taking advantage of any scoring opportunities. Riley Loewen opened the night’s scoring by finding the lane and driving to the net; followed by Dane Dobbie scoring on a surprise behind the back shot fooling Vancouver tender (31) Tye Belanger. The Roughnecks set the tempo for this game while surprising the Stealth with an early lead 6-4 at the end of the first. Shots favored the Roughnecks 20-17.
First Quarter Summary
Roughnecks: (89) Loewen; (44) Dobbie; (23) Tyler Digby all with one apiece; and (19) Holden Cattoni 3G giving him the hat-trick.
Stealth: (32) James Rahe 1G; and (18) Logan Schuss 3G giving him the hat-trick.
The second period started with coincidental minors and moments later a questionable “checking from behind” on new Roughneck Captain (3) Dan McRae gave Vancouver a 90 second advantage. Calgary with the two-man advantage late in the second quarter pushed the Stealth to play a tight triangle to prevent the quick stick at the crease. Rounding off the half Vancouver’s captain (2) Matt Beers was hit with his second “illegal cross-check”. Score at the end of two: Calgary 8—Vancouver 6.
Second Quarter Summary:
Roughnecks: (17) Dickson 2G, one a short-handed point and the other with an assist.
Vancouver: (63) Brandon Clelland; and (44) Tony Malcom with one apiece.
Heading into the third Vancouver had the man advantage scoring with 13 seconds remaining in the power play. It was a surprise long shot beating Scigliano low glove side. A highlight goal by Schuss squeezed the ball between the pads of Scigliano and the post as he dove into the crease. The goal brought the Stealth to within one, making it 9-8 still in favor of Calgary. The “Dunk” scored by Roughneck’s rookie (77) Zach Currier changed the momentum back to the Roughnecks; Wes Berg, Tyson Bell with a short-handed goal and Loewen would combine for three goals in under 20 seconds. Score at the end of three: Calgary 14—Vanouver 9.
Third Quarter Summary:
Roughnecks: Wilde; Currier; (14) Berg; and (94) Bell with one apiece; and Loewen with 2G giving him the hat-trick.
Vancouver: (81) Ryan Fournier 1G; and Schuss with two more putting him at five on the night.
Vancouver had 15 minutes to make a come-back of five goals. They’d start the scoring in under 30 seconds off Schuss giving him the sock-trick. MacDonald stood tall for the Stealth shutting down the Roughnecks and allowing his teammates to chip away at the four goal lead. Clelland came back scoring for Vancouver bringing them to within three. But Dickson, with his acrobatics dove through the crease and snuck the ball over MacDonald’s shoulder for the point. Almost seven minutes would come off the clock before the last point would go on the board. It was a jump shot from the point as Rhys Duch beat Scigliano down low glove side. Vancouver would out score Calgary in the final quarter, but fell short on the comeback. Final Score: Roughnecks 15—Vancouver 12.
Fourth Quarter Summary:
Vancouver: Schuss; Clelland; and Duch with one apiece.
Calgary: Dickson would be the only one to score in the final frame.
The Roughneck’s (1-1) have a bye next week and will host the Colorado Mammoth (1-0) December 29 at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 9:00 p.m. EST. Vancouver (0-2) will head to Mohegan Sun Arena on December 29 to face the New England Black Wolves (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Marcelo A. Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome