Roughnecks trounce LumberJax 21-11
March 31, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release
CALGARY, AB - The Calgary Roughnecks shook off a rough start and rebounded to thump the Portland LumberJax 21-11 Saturday night. The win avenged a 13-12 loss the Roughnecks suffered to the LumberJax in Portland one night earlier and improved Calgary's record to 7-6.
Nolan Heavenor paced the Calgary scoring attack with five goals and three assists, while Lewis Ratcliff (3g, 5a) and Kaleb Toth (3g, 3a) each had hat tricks. For Toth, it was his 99th game as a Roughneck and he marked the occassion by wearing jersey No. 99. For Ratcliff his performance propelled him past the 400 point mark in his National Lacrosse League career.
Tracey Kelusky and Jeff Shattler also had a strong games with two goals and five assists each. Devan Wray scored twice, including a breakaway goal on which he made a spectacular move to deke out Portland goalie Matt King. Kyle Goundrey and Taylor Wray each had a goal and two assists, while Jeff Moleski and Scott Ranger chipped in with a goal and an assist each.
Ryan Avery started in net for Calgary and responded with a solid effort as he stopped 42 of the 53 shots he faced for his first career win as a starter and second overall. He also added two assists.
Scott Stapleford did most of the damage for the LumberJax by scoring six goals, while Matt Holman had three goals and two assists.
Calgary got into some early penalty trouble in the game and Portland took advantage to jump out to a 3-1 lead on a trio of power-play goals by Stapleford.
It took the Riggers until the 8:30 mark of the opening quarter to register their first shot on net by Kelusky. Shortly afterwards Ratcliff bounced a shot past King to get the Roughnecks on the scoresheet.
From there, Devon Wray, Toth, Shattler and Heavenor scored to stake the Riggers to a 5-3 lead after the opening quarter.
Calgary continued to apply pressure in the second which resulted in Ratcliff's second goal of the contest. After Darren Reisig replied with a breakaway goal for Portland, Kelusky scored to regain Calgary's three-goal lead.
At the same time as Kelusky's goal, both Jesse Phillips and Ryan McNish were penalized for roughing. The LumberJax capitalized on the ensuing power play as Stapleford notched his fourth goal of the game.
At 7:56 of the second, Shattler scored his second power-play marker of the night for Calgary before Holman scored for Portland 62 seconds later. Kelusky then picked the top corner past King at 10:20 of the second to put Calgary up 9-6.
That prompted Portland coach Derek Keenan to replace King in the net with backup goalie Dallas Eliuk. Moleski welcomed Eliuk to the game by deking out the Portland netminder to score his team-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the season with 55 seconds to go in the first half.
In the third, Stapleford counted his fifth of the game before Matt Holman notched his second to pull Portland within a pair of goals.
That set the stage for a highlight reel goal by Ratcliff at 5:32 of the third. Ratcliff knocked the ball away from Brodie Merrill before he picked it up, cut into the slot and fired a quick shot past King, who returned between the Portland pipes for the remainder of the game.
Ratcliff then set up Toth for his second of the contest before Ranger, Heavenor and Devon Wray scored to put Calgary up 15-8 with one quarter left to play.
In the fourth, Calgary outscored Portland 6-3 which included three goals from Heavenor much to the delight of the 11,915 fans in attendance at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Roughnecks will round out their home schedule with a game against the Edmonton Rush next Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from March 31, 2007
- Roughnecks trounce LumberJax 21-11 - Calgary Roughnecks
- Mammoth improves to 11-3 with victory over Swarm - Colorado Mammoth
- Wings Clipped By Rochester - Philadelphia Wings
- Titans Win 11-10 at Home in Final Seconds - Orlando Titans
- Portland roughs up Calgary, 13-12 - Portland Lumberjax
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