Edmonton Tops Defending NLL Champ Calgary
from press release
CALGARY, AB -- The Calgary Roughnecks had their
hopes of advancing further in the National Lacrosse League playoffs
spoiled by goaltender Matt Disher who stopped 60 of 67 shots he
faced to lead the Edmonton Rush to an 11-7 victory.
Forward Ryan Ward also had a strong outing for Edmonton with a goal
and eight assists, Dean Hill notched a hat trick and set up
another, while Gavin Prout and Andy Secore each had two goals and
three helpers. Corey Small chipped in with two goals for the Rush,
Jim Quinlan also scored, while Ryan Powell picked up four
assists.
Dane Dobbie led the Calgary scoring attack with a hat trick and a
helper, Tracey Kelusky scored once and set up two others, while
Josh Sanderson was held to just three assists.
The Roughnecks fought back from deficits of 3-0 and 7-3 to pull
within a goal on two occasions, but that’s as close as they
could get thanks to a solid performance in net by Disher.
Among the 10,388 fans in attendance were a large contingent of
Edmonton supporters, who will now await the result of Saturday
night’s game between the Washington Stealth and Minnesota
Swarm to find out who the Rush will play next weekend.
Scott Ranger also had a goal and an assist for the Riggers, who
finished the 2010 NLL campaign with an identical 10-6 record as
Edmonton, but earned the home playoff date due to winning two of
three games against the Rush in the regular season. Nolan Heavenor
and Kaleb Toth also scored for Calgary, while Craig Conn chipped in
with two assists.
Mike Poulin started in net for Calgary and stopped 23 of 33 shots
he faced before being replaced in the fourth quarter in goal by
Matt King, who made three saves in a relief appearance.
On an early penalty to Calgary’s Mike Carnegie for
cross-checking, the Rush put on some sustained pressure during
their power-play opportunity. Shortly after Ward hit the post with
a heavy shot from far out, Prout scored the game’s opening
goal when his low rising shot found its way past Poulin.
The Rush then built its lead up to 2-0 when Ward took a
behind-the-back pass from Prout and snapped a shot past Poulin.
The visitors then went up by three on a strange goal. Initially,
Poulin stopped a bounce shot fired by Hill, but the ball bounced
around in the crease before eventually trickling across the
line.
Despite outshooting the Rush by a 15-9 margin in the first quarter,
the ’Necks trailed 3-0 on the scoreboard.
The Riggers continued to pressure Disher early in the second
quarter resulting in goals by Dobbie and Ranger. Dobbie fought his
way past Edmonton defenders Brett Mydske and Ian Hawksbee before
flicking a one-handed shot past Disher, while Ranger parked himself
by the side of the net before depositing a feed from Sanderson into
the Edmonton goal.
Quinlan and Hill then responded with goals for the Rush to give
Edmonton a 5-2 lead heading into halftime.
Dobbie notched his second of the contest early in the third quarter
when he picked the top corner over Disher’s right
shoulder.
After Small and Prout scored for Edmonton, Kelusky took a
behind-the-back pass from Sanderson and wired a shot past Disher.
After three quarters Calgary trailed 7-4 but still led 47-27 on the
shot clock.
Just 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, Heavenor took a pass from
Curtis Manning and scored before Dobbie completed his hat trick 46
seconds later when he bounced a shot past Disher to cut the deficit
to just one goal.
Secore put the Rush back up by two with a power-play goal at the
three-minute mark of the final frame before Toth converted a nice
feed from Craig Conn to give the Riggers hope.
Once again, Secore responded for the Rush before Hill counted his
second of the game to give Edmonton a 10-7 lead. That prompted
Calgary coach Dave Pym to replace Poulin in goal with King.
Small then rounded out the scoring for Edmonton with a goal at
14:19 of the final frame.
