Marcelo A. Sagüez, Correspondent Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Candice Ward
On St. Patrick’s Day 8,590 Calgary fans saw their Roughnecks (4-6) host the Saskatchewan Rush (3-9). The Roughnecks have struggled to put a solid winning season together and their record of 4-6 leaves them sitting fourth place in the Western division.
Thursday night’s efforts would put the Roughnecks in the win column, outscoring the Rush in regulation time at the Saddledome. Final Score: Roughnecks 14—Rush 12.
Calgary came out firing scoring on the first shot 30 seconds into the game. From there the game became a back-and-forth scoring battle. The Roughnecks outscored the Rush in three of the four quarters for the win. Zach Herreweyers earned his first career hat trick (3g, 1a) and he also scored the game winner.
A solid showing by Christian Del Bianco between the pipes, helping on the score sheet with four assists and 48 saves. This is an important little stat; Ascent Consulting has partnered with Del Bianco in support of the ‘KidSport Calgary’. https://kidsportcanada.ca/alberta/calgary . With each assist Del Bianco gets, Ascent Consulting will donate $500.00. Last night’s performance raised a total of $2,000.00 for the charity. KidSport Calgary provides grants to help cover costs of registration fees, as well no-cost equipment to kids under the age of 18.
“We always have some pretty good crowds in Calgary. I think we really feed off that. Double header weekend, we’ll be feeding off of that. Hopefully we’ll get the fans back out here (on Saturday). It’s great. There’s not really any place in the NLL like it to play in front of.” – Del Bianco
This win is far from where they want to be as a team and in the standings, at times making minor lacrosse-type errors. Mismanagement of the shot clock, line changes, and penalties to name a few. Playing as a cohesive unit is still off in the distance but gaining ground. The missing catalyst is a dedicated couple of guys to step into the leadership role.
What they have going in the right direction is spreading the scoring duties and not relying on one or two players to carry the team on the scoreboard. Curtis Dickson is a threat on the right side as the defence reacts by double-teaming the Roughneck’s Captain. They also have a solid goaltender who can toss a long ball breakaway with accuracy at any given time during the game.
STATS:
Saskatchewan Rush—SOG 60; Saves 32; Assists 18, LB 73; Face-offs 12-30; PP 3-5
Calgary Roughnecks—SOG 46; Saves 48; Assists 22; LB 58; Face-offs 18-30; PP 1-2
Scoring for Calgary:
Jesse King (3g, 3a); Tyler Pace (2g, 2a); Tanner Cook (1g, 1a); Curtis Dickson (1g, 5a); Zach Herreweyers (3g, 1a); Kyle Waters (1g, 2a); Tyler Burton (1g); Zach Currier (1g, 1a); Dan Taylor (1g, 1a)
Scoring for Saskatchewan:
Robert Church (4g, 4a); Austin Murphy (3g. 1a); Mark Matthews (1g, 3a); Ryan Keenan (1g, 1a); Dan Lintner (2g); Josh Currier (1g, 1a)
UP NEXT:
The Calgary Roughnecks (4-6) will play host to the Panther City Lacrosse Club (4-8) tonight March 19, 2022 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. The fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Saskatchewan Rush (3-9) will host the Rochester Knighthawks (3-8) at the Sasktel Centre, game time 9:30 p.m. EST. The fans in the USA can catch the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Marcelo A. Sagüez, Correspondent Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome©