Good buddies reach 500-point plateau together as Roughnecks win 14-12
March 24, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release
CALGARY, AB - Both Tracey Kelusky and Kaleb Toth passed the 500-point milestone in their National Lacrosse League careers as the Calgary Roughnecks downed the Arizona Sting Saturday night.
Kelusky had a hat trick and added four assists, while Toth scored twice and had four helpers to help the Roughnecks avenge a 14-10 loss to the Sting in Phoenix just eight days earlier. Calgary now sits at 6-5, while Arizona fell to 7-4.
"To be honest with you, I just wanted to get this win," Kelusky said afterwards. "This win is huge for us. We're still chasing second place right now."
Nonetheless, Kelusky enjoyed passing the 500-point plateau during the same game as Toth.
"The big thing is to reach it with one of my best buddies Kaleb," Kelusky said. "It's really nice."
Toth agreed with the sentiment and added that it was nice to get the win for new coach Jeff Dowling in his second game behind the Calgary bench.
"It's just a bonus that Tracey and I got 500 and J.D. got the win, so it was nice," Toth said.
For Dowling, getting the win in front of an announced crowd of 12,768 fans at the Pengrowth Saddledome was special.
"It feels great," he said. "It's definitely a load off my back. They made it a little interesting for me at the end there, but it was good."
Calgary's Lewis Ratcliffe also recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, to go with three assists, while Jeff Shattler had two goals and two assists. Taylor Wray had two goals in the contest, while Kyle Goundrey had a goal and three assists and Scott Ranger had a goal and two assists.
It didn't take long for Calgary to jump out to a 1-0 lead as Goundrey opened the scoring 1:11 into the game when he bounced a shot past Arizonta netminder Rob Blasdell.
The Sting tied the game just 43 seconds later when Lindsay Plunkett fired a shot past Calgary goalie Andrew Leyshon while falling to the floor.
The Roughnecks had a glorious opportunity to take the lead a short time later, but Kelusky's hard shot rang off the post. Calgary then reeled off a pair of goals within 28 seconds to take a 3-1 lead. First Ratcliffe beat Blasdell before Kelusky fought his way in front of the net and snuck a behind-the-back shot past the Sting goalie.
At 9:47 of the first quarter, Kelusky counted his second of the contest to give the Riggers a three-goal lead. The Calgary captain then assisted on a power-play marker by Ratcliffe to record his 500th career point.
The Roughnecks continued to apply the pressure in the second quarter which resulted in goals by Shattler and Taylor Wray just 10 seconds apart to put Calgary up 7-1.
That prompted Arizona coach Bob Hamley to replace Blasdell in net with back-up netminder Mike Attwood. The move seemed to give the Sting some bite as Dan Dawson and Plunkett scored shortley thereafter. The Sting didn't stop there though as Curt and Derek Malawsky scored goals 53 seconds apart to pull Arizona within a pair of goals.
Just 17 seconds into the third quarter, Shattler took a nice feed from Ratcliffe and fired a quick shot past Attwood to put Calgary up 8-5. Derek Malawsky and Peter Veltman then counted goals for Arizona just 14 seconds apart to pull the Sting within one.
Kelusky completed his hat trick during a Calgary man advantage at 9:08 of the third when he picked up a rebound and snapped it past Attwood. Before the end of the quarter, Curt Malawsky replied with a power-play goal for Arizona to set up an exciting fourth quarter of action.
At 1:43 of the final frame, Derek Malawsky tied the game at 9-9 with a power-play marker. Just 48 seconds later, Kelusky set up a goal by Ranger to give Calgary the lead once again before Dawson scored with the Sting enjoying another man advantage.
After Taylor Wray scored his second of the contest, Toth got in on the action as he counted his first of the game to give him 500 points in his NLL career. Just 16 seconds later Dawson completed his hat trick for Arizona before the Riggers regained their one-goal advantage 21 seconds after that as Ratcliffe scored to give him a three-goal performance as well.
Toth rounded out the scoring for Calgary with just 1:05 left in the contest before Derek Malawsky added one last goal for Arizona with 18.5 seconds left on the clock. But it was too little, too late as the Roughnecks held on for the victory.
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 24, 2007
- Good buddies reach 500-point plateau together as Roughnecks win 14-12 - Calgary Roughnecks
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