Hot Start Lifts Roughnecks Past Rush
by Joshua Chalmers | NLL.com
The Calgary Roughnecks ended a three game slide with a 13-8 win
over the provincial rival Edmonton Rush in front of 10, 724 raucous
fans at the Pengrowth Saddledome. The win improves the Roughnecks
record to 2-3, while the Rush fell to 3-2 on the season.
"It was good to get the ball rolling back in the win column," said
Roughnecks defenseman Andrew McBride. "We talked about it all week.
We weren't happy with the first four games. We knew if we played
our lacrosse the way we could, we should come out with the W and
that's exactly what we did today."
Looking for more effort out of his players, Roughnecks Head Coach
Dave Pym got what he wanted.
"The guys talked about their actions speaking louder than their
words and they really delivered on that promise to their
teammates," said Pym.
The Roughnecks came swarming out of the gate, pulling away to a 3-0
lead. With the teams third goal being spectacular individual effort
by Scott Ranger, part of a five point night for the forward. Ranger
shook off three Rush defenders before putting the ball over Rush
goalie Matt Disher's shoulder with some quick hands.
Pym emphasized the importance of the quick start.
"Last year, (when the team won the NLL championship), we had a lot
of quick starts." Pym said. "When we have quick starts it gets the
guys focused and energised."
The Rush responded to Calgary's early lead with two straight goals
by forward Ryan Powell, who missed last week's game between the two
teams in Edmonton because of commitments to Team USA. On the second
of his goals, 'Necks goalie Matt King looked to have stopped the
threat, but gave up a rebound that left him way out of
position.
The Roughnecks had a dominating second quarter, outscoring the
visitors 5-0 in the frame. The squad regained a two goal lead when
Scott Ranger grabbed his own rebound from in tight and proceeded to
completely undress Disher. The goalie lay on the ground as Ranger
popped the ball into a virtually empty net.
The quarter was highlighted by specialty teams with the Riggers
scoring one goal on the powerplay and two short-handed. The first
goal came from the hands of Josh Sanderson during a five minute
major to Rush defenseman Brett Mydske. Four seconds after the
expiration of the penalty, and with the Rush on a five on three
powerplay, Tracey Kelusky backed Ian Crashley almost into his own
crease before spinning around and putting the ball in the net. A
minute later Jeff Shatler potted the second shorthanded goal, this
time the Rush were up by a man after the expiration of one of the
Calgary penalties.
The third quarter saw a slow down in scoring with the Roughnecks
getting a quick goal off the stick of Shattler. The Rush scored two
in the frame but never put together the string of unanswered goals
necessary to overcome such a daunting lead.
The fourth quarter featured three fights. The Roughnecks Jeff
Moleski dropped the gloves with Derek Suddons after Calgary took an
11-5 lead, adding insult to injury Moleski slammed the Rush player
to the carpet to conclude the fisticuffs. The second saw Rush
defender Brodie Merrill split open Mike Kilby just above the left
eye as Merrill fed haymaker after haymaker to Kilby's face. The
third happened with just over a minute remaining and looked to be
over before it started as Calgary's Scott Carnegie and Rush player
Jim Quinlan tumbled to the ground quickly, only to get back up and
provide an entertaining slugfest.
"We had some key guys drop the mitts and that's huge for the squad,
to see us bond together," said McBride.
Roughnecks forward Kaleb Toth played in his second straight game
after sitting out the first three of the season.
"The hamstrings still bothering me, but I still had lots of
opportunities," Toth said. "I'm trying to play a little smarter
with old age and with injuries."
Toth, who was held goalless on the night, said the offensive
production will come back.
"You go through training camp and get in real good shape and you're
timing's good. Then all of a sudden you hurt yourself right before
the first game and you sit out for almost a month. It's tough to
get that timing back. I've got a feeling it's going to come back
real soon. I'm happy with the outcome. I don't really care if I
score goals as long as we keep winning that's the big picture."
The Roughnecks were led by Sanderson (3g,3a), Kelusky (2g,3a), Dane
Dobie (1g, 4a), Ranger (2g, 3a) and Shattler (2g, 2a). While the
Rush got major contributions from Gavin Prout (2g,3a), Merrill
(3a), Powell (2g, 1a) and Ryan Ward (2g).
Shots on the night were 54-41 in favor of the Riggers. The
Roughnecks capitalized three times in seven chances on the
powerplay while the Rush scored two in seven tries. Calgary
dominated the face-offs holding a 17-8 advantage.
Next up for both teams is the Toronto Rock with the Rush heading to
the Air Canada Centre on Friday, while the Rock visit Calgary for a
Valentine's Day clash on Sunday.
