Sports stats



Eliuk saves the day as Jax roll Roughnecks, 18-16

May 10, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


CALGARY, AB - All week long talk surrounded the best way to shut down Portland LumberJax forward Dan Dawson. Whatever scheme the Calgary Roughnecks (7-9) used to try and slow down the All-Star, it went to no avail as Dawson still recorded five goals and five assists as the Jax (6-10) beat the Roughnecks, 16-12 in front of 9,327 at the Pengrowth Saddledome Saturday night and now advance to the Edge National Lacrosse League Championship next Saturday, May 17 at 4:30 p.m. PST against the Buffalo Bandits at the HSBC Arena..

Playing in relief of goalie Matt Disher, who went down with a strained MCL early in the second quarter, goalie Dallas Eliuk stopped 35 of the 43 shots he faced. Showing his uncanny ability to step in cold, Eliuk helped erase an early Roughneck fourth quarter lead as the Jax scored seven of the 10 fourth quarter goals en route to victory. Like Batman saving Gotham City from evil, Eliuk stepped in and stuffed the Roughnecks.

"What can I say about Dally," said Head Coach/General Manager Derek Keenan. "He played huge and the team really responded around him."

Forwards Ryan Powell (4 goals), Peter Morgan (4 goals, 3 assists) and Derek Malawsky (1 goal, 7 assists) were just three of the seven Portland players to record multi-point scoring games in Portland's first ever victory in Calgary.

"We played extremely well tonight," added Keenan. "We shot well, defended well and now it's onto Buffalo."

It took only one-minute, six-seconds for Dawson to get hot as he buried the game's first goal. After a Calgary goal knotted the game at one, the Jax took their second lead as defenseman Richard Morgan (1 goal, 1 assist) scored on a two-on-one fast break with 12:27 left in the first quarter. Collecting one of his trademark loose balls, defenseman Brodie Merrill (1 goal, 2 assists) ignited the break, hitting R. Morgan in stride for the 2-1 lead.

Portland continued its run as goalie Disher blocked a Calgary shot, collected the loose ball and fired a pass to defenseman Mike Kilby. Kilby opened up the floor before hitting Dawson for his second goal of the game with 9:04 left in the first quarter to give the Jax a 3-1 lead.

Calgary would end Portland's 2-0 run as Tracey Kelusky scored with 8:18 left to cut the lead to 3-2.

Portland again answered as P. Morgan scored on the power play with 5:17 left to make it 4-2. The power play was made possible by defenseman Ray Guze, who drew an interference penalty on Roughneck forward Josh Sanderson.

The plethora of goals continued as P. Morgan made it back-to-back goals with 4:29 left in the first quarter to extend the Portland lead to 5-2. Dawson and rookie phenom Peter Jacobs (3 assists) were credited with assists on P. Morgan's second goal of the game.

The Roughnecks again ended Portland's 2-0 as they scored with 4:11 left, but Portland countered to take a 6-3 lead into the second quarter. With 1:49 left in the first, P. Morgan sent a no-look pass to Dawson, who buried his third goal in the first 14-minutes to make it 6-3.

Calgary cut into Portland's lead by scoring the first two goals of the quarter to cut the lead to 6-5. Early in the second quarter, Disher went down after an awkward save and future-hall-of-fame goalie Dallas entered. The Jax gave him a little breathing room as they scored two straight goals to take an 8-5 lead.

First Malawsky collected a loose ball in mid-flight and snuck a goal past Roughnecks goalie Steve Dietrich with 8:03 left in the half. Then, Dawson scored after another ill-timed Calgary penalty with 3:16 left to give the Jax an 8-6 lead.

Calgary added a late goal to cut the Portland lead to 8-6 at the half. The momentum carried into the third quarter as the Roughnecks scored the first two goals of the quarter tie the game at eight.

Scoreless for over 17-minutes, forward Powell finally broke Portland's silence as he scored with 1:08 left in the third to give Portland a 9-8 lead. However, the lead was short lived as the Roughnecks tied the game 16-seconds later.

Calgary took its first lead of the game with 11:05 left in the fourth quarter as Kaleb Toth beat Eliuk. Calgary's lead was short lived as P. Morgan scored off assists from Malawsky and transition player Scott Stapleford with 10:36 left to tie the game at 10.

Portland regained the lead as Powell scored with 9:51 to go to make it 11-10. Then, the real fun began.

P. Morgan scored with 7:59 to go, Powell scored twice and then Merrill scored with 5:41 to play to give the Jax a 15-10 advantage they would not soon surrender.

Calgary would score two more goals, but Dawson would score an empty net goal with one-minute left to give the Jax the 16-12 win and the franchise's first ever appearance in the NLL Championship.

• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...

National Lacrosse League Stories from May 10, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Portland Lumberjax Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central