Marcelo A. Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome
On Saturday, February 10, the fans at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary watched a low scoring affair between the Colorado Mammoth (5-2) and the Calgary Roughnecks (3-5). Dillon Ward (Colorado) and Christian Del Bianco (Calgary) put on a goaltending clinic to keep some big offensive weapons in check. Twenty-year-old Del Bianco won the duel in the end, holding the Mammoth offense to under 10 goals and giving the Roughnecks their third win in a row. Final Score: Colorado-9, Calgary-13.
The pace of the game started rather quickly with possession going back and forth right from the opening faceoff. Just over five minutes in, Calgary broke the scoreless tie. The shot from Wesley Berg (1G, 3A) surprised Ward. Over seven minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed. With just over two and a half minutes remaining, Jeremy Noble (2G, 2A) tied the game at one with a power play goal. The score beat Del Bianco low on the stick side. Both teams exhibited stingy defense in the first quarter and at the end of one, Colorado and Calgary were tied at 1-1.
Calgary took an early penalty in the second quarter, but a broken play allowed them to take the lead with a shorthanded goal. Dane Dobbie (4G, 3A) scored to break the tie 1:50 in. 41 seconds later, Colorado’s Eli McLaughlin (2G) took advantage of the man advantage and again the game was tied. Colorado won the ensuing faceoff but couldn’t get a good opportunity. On the fast break going the other way, Zach Currier (2G) scored from the off side. This time, Calgary would not relinquish the lead. Dobbie scored two in a row, with the second coming on a power play, opening up a three-goal lead. lead. With 3:20 remaining in the half, Jacob Ruest (3G, 1A) got Colorado one goal closer with his first of the game. In the closing minutes, both teams would have goals over turned after review. At halftime, Calgary led Colorado 5-3.
Calgary did not let the late Colorado goal ruin their momentum coming out of halftime. Curtis Dickson (3G, 2A), who was the recipient of countless double teams in the first half, finally broke free 1:52 into the second half extending the Calgary lead to three goals. 31 seconds later, Dobbie got his second assist, feeding Holden Cattoni (2G, 1A). Calgary made it a three-goal run when Del Bianco fired a pass to a breaking Mitch Wilde (1G) who easily beat Ward one on one. Noble temporarily stopped the onslaught, scoring with 2:58 left, but off the next faceoff, Currier ran all the way in for an unassisted goal to bring the lead back to five. At the end of three quarters, Calgary led Colorado 9-4.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Colorado was outshooting Calgary 41-36, but Del Bianco’s brilliance was not allowing the advantage to translate to a lead. Needing an excellent fourth quarter, they did score first. Stephen Keough (2G, 2A) found the net 4:30 in, but they could not string two together. Dickson scored next, to make it a hat trick on the night. Just 40 seconds later, Ruest gave Colorado another breath, but Calgary answered again with a goal from Cattoni 28 seconds after. Keough then scored his second of the quarter shooting while falling, and finally Colorado got a run together as Ruest beat Del Bianco on the power play. With only 3:26 left, Colorado found themselves down three. Dickson answered the call and fired a laser over the shoulder of Ward. With little time left, Colorado pulled the goalie in favor of the extra attacker. Unable to get anything going, Dobbie was able to score the empty-netter. McLaughlin scored on the power play, but it was too little, too late for Colorado as the goal came with only seven seconds left. Final Score: Colorado-9, Calgary-13.