Roughnecks Down Stealth in Season Opener
January 10, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release
San Jose, CA - Roughnecks' Kaleb Toth scored two goals against the San Jose Stealth to surpass Lewis Ratcliff in becoming the Calgary Roughnecks all-time leading scorer.
Toth's goals were only two of the 12 goals racked up by the Roughnecks to defeat the Stealth 12-10 in what turned out to be a power struggle between the two teams.
Getting off to a sloppy start, it appeared both teams were attempting to get over their initial jitters of the season.
Tom Johnson of the Stealth netted the first goal of the season with an assist from Colin Doyle and Eric Martin at 3:42 of the opening quarter.
The first penalty of the game went to Travis Gillespie of the Stealth for cross checking Roughnecks Dane Dobbie.
Josh Sanderson tallied the first goal of the season for the Roughnecks at 6:58 of the first on the man advantage.
With only four minutes remaining in the opening frame, teams began to look sharp and the power struggle for the lead began. Calgary had better transitions in the first quarter, but neither team was very effective at putting the ball in the net.
The beginning of the second quarter was dominated by the Stealth with three quick goals against Roughnecks' netminder Pat Campbell. Colin Doyle, who is ranked as the number one player in the league, helped lift San Jose to a 4-1 lead before the half-way mark of the second.
Roughnecks retaliated with four goals of their own 42 seconds later, with goals from Jeff Moleski, Tracey Kelusky, veteran Curt Malawsky and Dobbie. With two Roughneck goals in the last minutes of play the teams entered the second half with a 5-5 tie.
The momentum the Roughnecks had from the second quarter clearly carried over to the third, with the âNecks ending the quarter with five goals to San Jose's zero in the third. Toth scored both his goals in the third, making him the all-time leading scorer in Roughnecks' history with 211 goals.
Going into the fourth quarter, and down by five, the Stealth came back into the game and onto the board racking up four points within 11 minutes to bring the game within one point. Stealth rookie, Rhys Dush notched two of the goals.
Sanderson tallied a goal with only 1:23 left and the 50th shot of the night to give the Roughnecks the two-goal lead. But Frank Resetarits rallied back with his third goal to bring the game back to within a goal.
With barely any time left on the clock, Shattler makes a risky play to Ranger who takes the shot and clinches the two-goal lead for the Roughnecks as well as his first goal of the season. In return, Ranger took a dirty high-stick from Stealth keeper Matt Roik, who immediately retired to the bench.
In 60 minutes of play, both Kelusky (3g,4a) and Sanderson (2g,5a) tallied seven points, Scott Ranger recorded six (1g,5a), Toth (2g,2a) and Dobbie (2g,2) both notched four, Malawsky (1g,1a) and McBride (2a) both grabbed a pair, while Jeff Moleski (1g) and Shattler (1a) each put up singles.
The Roughnecks finished the game with a 12-10 win over the Stealth and return to Calgary Saturday to face-off against provincial rivals, the Edmonton Rush at 7:00 p.m. for their home opener.
Calgary Roughnecks season tickets and group tickets are on sale now. Call the Calgary Roughnecks office at (403) 294-9244 to find out more information or to purchase your tickets.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 10, 2009
- Mammoth drop home opener to Lumberjax - Colorado Mammoth
- Roughnecks win 10-9 over Rush - Calgary Roughnecks
- Jax Find Winning Combination In Colorado, 14-5 - Portland Lumberjax
- Wings Win First of the Year in Rochester 16-13 - Philadelphia Wings
- Bandits defeat Rock in home opener 8-6 - Toronto Rock
- NLL Commissioner Jennings Steps Down; George Daniel Named as Interim - NLL
- Roughnecks Down Stealth in Season Opener - Calgary Roughnecks
- Mammoth Slide Past 'Jax, 12-10 - Portland Lumberjax
- Mammoth Defeats Portland in Season Opener - Colorado Mammoth
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