Stealth Win Season Opener
Published on January 7, 2017 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Vancouver Stealth News Release
Calgary, AB- The Vancouver Stealth (1-0) defeated the Calgary Roughnecks (0-1) by a score of 12-11 on Friday night inside the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Rhys Duch started the scoring off 26 seconds into the first quarter and the goals kept coming for Vancouver. The Stealth scored two goals in 40 seconds from Joel McCready and rookie Tommy McKee notched his first goal of his National Lacrosse League career. The Stealth added two more goals to end the first and chase Roughnecks' rookie goalie Christian Del Bianco from the crease not once but twice.
Corey Small and Rhys Duch both tallied goals early in the second while Keegan Bal and Logan Schuss helped close out a 9-6 lead for Vancouver at the half. In the third, defense took over as Vancouver scored two goals on 15 shots and increased their lead to 11-7. Keegan Bal recorded the only goal in the fourth for the Stealth, while the Roughnecks peppered goaltender Tyler Richards with 19 shots and scored four goals in the fourth including a Wes Berg tally in the final two minutes of play. The Stealth held on to a 12-11 victory with Keegan Bal scoring the game winning goal.
It was a banner night for Corey Small. He scored three goals and added five helpers to lead the Stealth passed the Roughnecks.
"I have been playing with Rhys (Duch) for five years now so a lot of this has become second nature. He is such a talented player and when you give him the ball you know there is going to be a good scoring chance," said Small after the game.
The Stealth were led by Small, while Rhys Duch (7 points), Keegan Bal (5 points), Logan Schuss (4 points) Tommy McKee (3 points) and Justin Salt (2 points) all had multi-point games. Tyler Richards had an outstanding performance in net, appearing in all 60 minutes making 36 saves including 15 in the fourth.
The Stealth will spend the evening in Calgary before a 6:00am flight into Denver, where they will take on the Mammoth (1-0) at 6:00pm PST Saturday night. Colorado is led by Callum Crawford who had 115 points in the 2016 season and scored 2 goals and 3 assists in the Mammoth's victory over Buffalo in Week 1.
The Stealth's Home Opener will take place on January 14, 2017 against the Calgary Roughnecks at the Langley Events Centre. Tickets are available at the Langley Events Centre Box Office at 604-882-8800 or visit Ticket Rocket.co or email support@TicketRocket.co.
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 7, 2017
- Knighthawks Rattle the Black Wolves - Rochester Knighthawks
- Rush Buzzed by Swarm in 2016 Season-Opener - Saskatchewan Rush
- Stealth Win Season Opener - Vancouver Stealth
- Roughnecks Come up Short in Home Opener - Calgary Roughnecks
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