NLL Calgary Roughnecks

Roughnecks rally to beat Knighthawks

April 5, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release


CALGARY, AB - The Calgary Roughnecks rallied back from a 7-1 deficit to beat the Rochester Knighthawks 12-9 in National Lacrosse League action at the Pengrowth Saddledome on Saturday night.

With the win, the Roughnecks (10-3) clinched at least a tie for top spot in the NLL's West Division. Only Portland can catch Calgary now, and the Riggers will wrap up the division title if the LumberJax lose a late Friday night contest to the Colorado Mammoth.

Calgary's leading scorer Josh Sanderson led the way with two goals and six helpers, while Captain Tracey Kelusky fired four goals and set up one. Jeff Shattler had his best offensive performance of the season with a hat trick and a helper, while Kaleb Toth (2g, 2a), Dane Dobbie (1g, 1a), Scott Ranger (3a), Devan Wray (2a) and Curt Malawsky (2a) also had multiple-point performances.

In a relief appearance, Calgary goalie Pat Campbell stopped 31 of 36 shots to improve his record to 5-3 this season.

Shawn Evans had two goals and five assists for the Knighthawks (6-7), who beat the Colorado Mammoth 12-8 in Denver last night. Shawn Williams scored twice and had four helpers, while Dean Hill (1g, 2a), Craig Point (1g, 1a), Andrew Spack (1g), Jason Henhawk (1g) and Jamie Rooney (1g) also scored.

Rochester goalie Pat O'Toole finished the game with 38 saves, including 13 in the first quarter to help his squad jump out to the early lead.

In their first-ever visit to the Pengrowth Saddledome, the Knighthawks built up a 4-0 lead in the early going on goals by Hill, Henhawk, Williams and Evans.

After the goal by Evans, Calgary coach Troy Cordingley decided to replace starting goalie Matt King in between the pipes with Campbell. King stopped five of the nine shots he faced up to that point.

Shortly afterwards, Kelusky finally scored on a wraparound effort at 8:34 of the opening frame to get the Riggers on the board.

In the second quarter, Rochester built up its lead to 7-1 as Spack, Point and Rooney scored before the Knighthawks got into a bit of penalty trouble. On one sequence, Regy Thorpe took an interference penalty while Kyle Laverty was sent to the sin bin for slashing to give the Riggers a two-man advantage for a full two minutes.

Kelusky made Rochester pay as he fired back-to-back power-play goals 24 seconds apart. Shattler then scored a highlight reel goal in the final minute of the first half when he took a pass from Nolan Heavenor before side-stepping a check from Rochester defender Chris Schiller and tucking a shot under O'Toole's right arm.

After the break, the Riggers dominated the third quarter as they outshot the Hawks 17-5 and scored five times to take a 9-7 lead into the final frame. Toth fired two goals in a 43-second span before Kelusky, Sanderson and Dobbie bulged the twine behind O'Toole much to the delight of the 10,098 fans at the 'Dome.

"We just came out a little harder and we were moving our feet," Dobbie said in regards to Calgary's better performance in the second half.

After Williams scored during a Rochester man advantage early in the fourth quarter, Shattler counted his second of the contest before Sanderson bounced a shot past O'Toole to put the home squad up by three goals. Shattler then extended the lead to four with some more nice moves to get past Thorpe before flicking a low shot behind a bewildered O'Toole.

Evans rounded out the scoring with a power-play goal at 7:54 of the fourth quarter, but the Hawks couldn't get any closer as the 'Necks held on for a huge come-from-behind triumph.

Next up, Calgary will host Portland in a West Division clash at the Saddledome on Good Friday (April 10 at 7:30 p.m.).

Check out the Calgary Roughnecks Statistics



National Lacrosse League Stories from April 5, 2009


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