Portland roughs up Calgary, 13-12

Published on March 31, 2007 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


PORTLAND, March 30, 2007 - The Portland LumberJax (3-10) snapped their 10-game losing streak tonight by beating the Calgary Roughnecks (6-6) at home in the Rose Garden Arena in front of 5,963 fans. The Jax were led by forward Ryan Powell who netted four goals and three assists for seven points. Forwards Matt Homan (3G) and Tyler Heavenor (3G, 3A) both added hat tricks as well.

Calgary opened the game with a goal at 3:11, but it was all about the Jax in the first quarter, scoring six unanswered goals and jumping to 6-1 lead. Powell started the run when he netted Portland's first goal at 5:13. The Jax scored three-straight, short-handed goals from Bruce Alexander (9:44; 1G), Richard Morgan (10:00; 1G, 1A) and Powell (10:33). When both teams were back to even strength, Jax forward Holman netted another goal for Portland at 13:53. To wrap up the quarter, Powell scored his third of the night for a first quarter hat trick (14:32) and a 6-1 Jax lead.

Powell continued the scoring run into the second by firing a point-blank shot past the goalie at 2:58. Calgary's Lewis Ratcliff ended Portland's seven-goal streak with a power-play score at 3:54. The Roughnecks forward Tracey Kelusky also found the back of the net at 9:57, cutting the lead to four goals. Portland's T. Heavenor scored the eighth goal of the night for the Jax at 11:34 off a power-play opportunity. Ratcliff netted one last score in the second to wrap up the quarter, but the Jax entered the locker room with a solid 8-4 lead.

The Jax began the second half with a power-play goal from T. Heavenor at 4:05. On a man advantage, Ratcliff netted a hat trick from ten yards out, bringing his team within four goals. Scott Stapleford (1G, 3A) scored Portland's fourth short-handed goal Jax tonight at 8:44, hitting the upper right corner of the net. Former Jax player and current Roughneck forward, Shawn Cable, scored another goal for Calgary at 9:40. Holman fired a shot from the restraining line at 10:10 and hit the back of the net to increase an 11-6 lead for Portland. Continuing to swap goals, Calgary tallied their seventh (11:17) and eighth (13:14) points of the night and ended the quarter 11-8.

Holman opened up the final quarter of the game by scoring a hat trick of his own at 3:10. Calgary added three more goals at 7:18, 9:45 and 10:01 to pull within one of the Jax. With five minutes left to play, T. Heavenor scored a hat trick at 11:57; however, Calgary's Nolan Heavenor answered his brother's goal by scoring eight seconds later. With both teams playing a man down, the ball was on Roughnecks' side of the floor with 40 seconds left on the clock. Calgary took one final last shot, but Dallas Eliuk's save secured the 13-12 LumberJax victory. Eliuk finished the game with 39 saves off of 51 shots faced.

The LumberJax continue their double-header weekend against the Roughnecks tomorrow night on the road in Calgary, Alberta. The Jax are still a playoff contender but must win the rest of their games this season. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. PST in the Saddle Dome.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from March 31, 2007


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