NLL Panther City Lacrosse Club

Panther City Lacrosse Clubs Loses OT Battle to Las Vegas

Published on December 10, 2023 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Panther City Lacrosse Club News Release


FORT WORTH, TX - The Panther City Lacrosse Club fell in a heartbreaker in their home opener, 11-10 (OT) against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Sunday afternoon at Dickies Arena. Las Vegas tied the game at 10 with 0.08 seconds remaining and then sealed the victory with a Zack Greer goal 2:55 into the overtime period.

Panther City was led by Jonathan Donville who finished the evening with seven points (2G/5A), and with his sixth point of the evening eclipsed 100 career points for his career in just his 20th NLL game. Callum Crawford was the leading goal scorer for Panther City as he recorded a hat trick and also added three assists to bring his tally to a six-point evening. Crawford also set a few personal records himself as with his second point of the evening became the eighth player in NLL history to record 1,200 career points and with his first goal of the evening claimed sole possession of 10th place all time in NLL history for goals scored with his 461st goal of his career.

Neither team ever gained more than a two-goal lead and Panther City let Las Vegas hang around all game. Panther City jumped out to an early two-goal lead as Crawford and Mathieu Gautier scored in the first 49 seconds and 2:10 of the game, respectively. Vegas would answer right back with two goals of their own and the first quarter ended tied at three goals apiece. Rookie Jason Knox added his first career NLL goal nearly 14 minutes into the first and finished the evening with four points (1G/3A).

Panther City took a 6-4 lead into halftime as Crawford netted two more goals in the second quarter, for a first-half hat trick and also added two assists. Goalie Nick Damude finished the first half having stopped 24 of the 28 shots he faced (.858 SV %)

Vegas awoke in the second half and scored six goals, three in both the third and fourth quarters, while Panther City only netted four goals, two in each quarter. Panther City led 9-7 with four minutes remaining, but Vegas was able to score on the power play with just about three minutes left in regulation. Sean Westley tied the game at 10 with 0.08 seconds remaining on the clock to send the game into overtime.

Each team had their chances in the overtime period, but Vegas capitalized on their chances as Zack Greer put one past Damude to seal the victory for the visitors.

Vegas was led by their captain, Rob Hellyer, who finished the evening with five points (3G/2A).

Panther City has an off weekend next weekend and then returns home to face the Toronto Rock for the first time in franchise history on Friday, December 22 at 7 p.m. CT at Dickies Arena.

POST GAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH TRACEY KELUSKY

On the tough outcome... "Any loss is a tough loss. I think from my perspective it is about maybe grounding our guys a little bit. I don't know if maybe we thought we had arrived and guys were happy where they were. That is not our M.O. and is not how we have operated our two years. It is certainly not how we are going to operate moving forward. There was something eerie about today. The whole game guys were walking around and I don't want to say comfortable, but maybe looking at our opponent, but more so than anything not being who we are. Which is blue collar and working for everything we get. There were a lot of really good things we did out there from time to time. I just don't know if the urgency was there on either side of it consistently all game."

On the success of the power play and penalty kill units... "It is a huge determining factor for wins and losses in this league. Special teams and transition. If you can win those games, more times than not you are going to win lacrosse games. We have put an emphasis on it. We know our short-man has done an exceptional job. Your best short-man player is your goalie and Nicky [Goalie Nick Damude] has been good. Great? I think he has had glimpses of greatness, but our short man has been good and our power play - guys are urgent with it and understand the importance of making sure that we capitalize on opportunities within that. Those are two areas I am happy with. I am frustrated with the lack of urgency from both sides. Consistently throughout the game."

On guys achieving personal milestones today... "I am sure [Crawford] will have time to relish in that when he is done playing. I know that is not part of Callum's M.O. I don't think that is any of our guys' M.O. with the personal stats and pats on the back. We are not in this industry to do that. Our guys are certainly not like that. Huge honors. Huge milestones for these guys, but again, they will be the first to say that is not why they play. We are excited about what they have done and accomplished, but my post-game [speech] was, 'I don't care.' Until you have sipped from that [NLL Championship] cup or shown that you can consistently win then who are you? Contentment to me is the poison that infects greatness. Sometimes I think we are content."

On the mindset heading into the bye prior to facing Toronto... "What I love about [our] group - they have a 'give a crap' mentality. You know - 'give a sh*t' mentality. The guys care and I know they care. It is going to eat away at them, no different than how it will eat away at me, Toller [Defensive Coordinator Steve Toll], Gounds [Offensive Coordinator Kyle Goundrey] and our General Manager [Bob Hamley]. It is going to eat away at us for a couple of days here. That is going to be the fuel that fires us to get going here. Maybe it is a good thing to lose early. I am going to give credit to Vegas. They never went away. They had a great game plan and they came out and that is what we talked about. We are not going to get outworked in our building and we can't get outworked to survive in this league. Give credit where credit is due. They showed up and never went away. The mindset for me and our group is that it should eat away at you and we will turn the page when we need to turn the page, but let's fester in this a bit and then get back to reality."

DEFENSEMAN MATT HOSSACK

On the feeling in the locker room... "It never sits well with you and it is not going to sit well with this group. It is not the way we are wired. Guys do not want to lose that way in heartbreak and I felt we had spurts of where we were really, really good and it is just some of that compete and urgency throughout the game. The full consistency wasn't there. It was there for moments and you see it and the guys care about it. They care about that stuff. We have two weeks to sit on it and it will drive us crazy."

On the penalty kill... "Part of it is we have had the group together for a while now, so guys are more familiar and on the same page. We did a better job of communicating and recognizing sets of plays early. That has been the game plan for our man down and being on the same page and working as one has worked really well. Toller is masterminding that with some of the looks we are given. Nicky is making saves and making saves for us when we need it. That is ultimately the biggest part."

On facing Toronto for the first time... "The prep work is going to be a lot more. It always is when we have more time to prepare for it. We are going to have to do a lot more homework. There are probably some guys our guys haven't seen before or played against or are not as familiar, so film will be important to familiarize ourselves with tendencies and not be a stranger or be shell shocked when we see what some guys do. Having that ready and being able to visualize and knowing what to expect and recognize some of the looks helps us prepare."

Check out the Panther City Lacrosse Club Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



National Lacrosse League Stories from December 10, 2023


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.

OurSports Central