Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Angela Burger
The Calgary Roughnecks (1-6) hosted the Saskatchewan Rush (7-1) at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday January 30, 2026, for their second meeting of the season. Although Calgary came out of the gates swinging putting up a quick two in the first 60 seconds and their second 7:36 in, the wheels came off and they would allow the Rush to go on a seven-goal run, they were shut out in the second and would go 26 minutes without a goal. They have dropped three in a row and their problems continue. The game looked more like a fight club than a lacrosse game as tempers started to flare on the Roughnecks side of the floor and frustrations mounted. Final Score: Rush 14—Roughnecks 8.
Calgary would win the opening draw and had good ball control. After a couple changes of possessions, Frank Scigliano (26 saves on 34 SOG, .765 Sv%) would get caught off guard, and Brayden Mayea (2g) fired a shot into the open side of the net with the shot clock at 1 second to get them on the board 35 seconds in. It only took 22 seconds for them to find twine for the second time. Riley Loewen (1g, 1a) split the defenders with a jab step to the middle and put it far side down low and it was 2-0. The Rush would continue to fire on cage, but the posts were having none of that as they couldn’t find the back of the net. The scoring drought was halted seven minutes later. The Roughnecks had good off ball movement, Tanner Cook (3g, 1a) got the feed from Tyler Pace (4a), he faked left and put his shot down low and they were up 3-0. Once more, the track meet continued with neither team finding twine for another five and change until the Rush broke it open after taking 16 shots with no goals. Levi Anderson (1a) fed to Robert Church (2g, 6a), he cut to the net, pinged it off the pipe and it ricocheted in with 1:38 in the frame and the final tally in the first. The clock would wind down and the buzzer sounded. Score at the end of one: Roughnecks 3—Rush 1.
The wheels fell off for Calgary in the second as they would be shut out. The Rush would score two of their own in less than 60 seconds to start the frame. Church put up his second just 24 seconds in with an overhand shot short side and it was 3-2 Calgary. The next came 20 seconds later. Austin Shanks (4g, 5a) got Aden Walsh (49 saves on 63 shots, .777 Sv%) leaning the wrong way and his twister shot stung the corner 44 seconds in and we were knotted at 4. Two minutes later, Calgary would challenge what Bench Boss Josh Sanderson thought was a good goal and his challenge was overturned causing them to lose a very important time out. The Rush had some fantastic east to west ball movement on the next possession allowing Zach Manns (4g, 3a) to get out in front and his high-to-low shot went over the shoulder, hit the cross bar and dropped in behind Walsh giving them a 4-3 lead which they would not relinquish. At this point, Calgary was slow to get their defense off the floor, which in turn gave their offense limited time to get into any type of rhythm and the Rush took advantage. Manns would put up his second in a row four minutes later. On the pick and roll with Keenan, he headed to the rack, double clutched and finished in tight with 4:54 left in the frame and they were up 5-3. The Roughnecks would be nabbed with an illegal crosschecking penalty giving Saskatchewan their first of five power play opportunities on the night. After two passes, Manns, with the no look feed to Shanks on the backdoor put it under the armpit just 10 seconds into the man up and they had doubled up Calgary 6-3. The final tally in the quarter came when Ryan Keenan (2g, 5a) saw an opening and bounced a shot five-hole short side with 1:30 to go putting them up by four. The Roughnecks would attempt a 6 on 5 with 12.8 seconds on the ticker but couldn’t get set up as the clock wound down to end the frame. Score at the end of two: Rush 7—Roughnecks 3.
Calgary needed to push the reset button in the second half as they only had 13 shots on goal in the first 30, had not scored for 22:26 and were blanked in the second.
HALFTIME STATS:
Saskatchewan Rush—SOG 34; Saves 10; Sv% .770; FO 9-12; PP 1-1; PIM 0; LB 39; TO 14
Calgary Roughnecks—SOG 13; Saves 27; Sv% .794; FO 3-12; PP 0-0; PIM 2; LB 25; TO 18
The Roughnecks would win the opening draw to start the third and after a couple changes in possession, they’d finally break that scoring drought. With some good inside ball movement, Pace fed back to a cutting Haiden Dickson (1g), he headed to the crease, lept and slam dunked it over the right shoulder 3:38 in and it was 7-4 still in favor of the Rush. Less than two minutes later, it was late in the shot clock, and Brock Haley (1g, 2a) with an off-ball cut and roll, moved through the middle and finished far corner and they had doubled up Calgary 8-4. It took two minutes for the Roughnecks to erase that goal and get to within three. Cook was all alone, headed to the crease, jumped up and bounced a shot that went five hole but in turn, as his foot touched the turf, he crashed into Scigliano and fists started flying. After the men in stripes broke up the fisticuffs, Cook and Bobby Kidd III both headed to the box for two, however Cook was called for two penalties causing them to go down on a five on four for at least two minutes. With the Rush on their second power play opportunity, they wasted no time scoring. Shanks sent a BTB feed to Haley, who fed to Manns who put a bounce shot into the cage 10 seconds into the man up for his hat-trick and it was 9-5. After the ensuing face-off, Mathieu Gautier and Jake Boudreau tossed their buckets and went to blows near midfield. After about 30 seconds, the zebras pulled them apart and sent both to the sin bin for five minutes for “fighting” with 5:50 left in the third. Again, the Rush wasted no time in putting up another. Thirty-one seconds later, Mike Messenger (1g) tucked it back short side, went airborne and put it far side and they had doubled up Calgary yet again 10-5. But the Roughnecks weren’t done and would end up closing out the third with 3:24 on the ticker. Pace fed to Brett McIntyre (1g), and he finished on the front door down low. Score at the end of three: Rush 10—Roughnecks 6.
The fourth would start out slow with Calgary going man down 2:43 in off an unsportsmanlike call on Walsh. It took 12 seconds for the Rush to notch another power play marker. Church with the BTB feed to Shanks who fired a twisting floater that painted the far pipe, and it was 11-6. Manns would tally his fourth two minutes later. Keenan shot on cage, the ball went off the pads of Walsh and as Manns was running at the crease, he scooped the rebound and buried it inside pipe and dare we say it…they had doubled up the Roughnecks again 12-6. It was obvious that Calgary’s offense was lackluster at best and their defense wasn’t giving Walsh any protection allowing the Rush offense to use him like a shooting gallery. The Roughnecks would finally get their first man up opportunity with 5:29 left in the contest and would tally their only power play goal on the night. They went strong righty, Mayea got the dish from Pace, he saw an opening and bounced it five hole just 14 seconds into the power play and it was 12-7. In the last two minutes, the Rush would tally two in a matter of 30 seconds. Manns fed to Shanks and his quick stick found an opening near pipe with 2:10 to go to make it 13-7. The next goal to hit twine was a bouncer from Keenan who was left all alone on the backside and he put it far side with 1:50 remaining 14-7 Rush. With two more penalties coming for fighting, the teams would go four-on-four for the last 60 seconds and Calgary would get one more before the ending buzzer. Cook fired a side arm shot past Scigliano with 7.6 seconds left. Final Score: Rush 14—Roughnecks 8.
Stars of the Game:
Tanner Cook—Calgary Roughnecks: 3g, 1a
Zach Manns—Saskatchewan Rush: 4g, 3a
Austin Shanks—Saskatchewan Rush: 4g, 5a
GAME STATS:
Saskatchewan Rush—SOG 63; Saves 26; Sv% .765; FO 19-26; PP 3-5; PIM 11; LB 76; TO 26
Calgary Roughnecks—SOG 34; Saves 49; Sv% .777; FO 7-26; PP 1-1; PIM 19; LB 24; TO 29
NEXT UP:
The Calgary Roughnecks (1-6) will head to Ontario to face the Ottawa Black Bears (4-4)*** at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday February 7, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Saskatchewan Rush (7-1) will head to Pechanga Arena to face the San Diego Seals (4-3) on Saturday February 7, 2026, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can catch the game on both TSN and TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Record at the time of the article