Sting look to continue winning ways in Calgary this weekend
March 23, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
The Arizona Sting and Calgary Roughnecks will do battle for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday night, as the two perennial rivals will hookup for what will likely be a hard-fought and entertaining contest at the Pengrowth Saddledome. The Sting defeated the Roughnecks last Friday by a score of 14-10 at Jobing.com Arena, strengthening their hold on second place in the NLL's West Division in the process. Arizona (7-3) now leads Calgary (5-5) by two games in the standings as the 2007 NLL season enters its home stretch.
In their three-plus year history, the Sting have won only once on Calgary's home floor - a 19-15 victory in the 2005 West Division Championship Game, a win that propelled the Sting to their first ever appearance in the Champion's Cup Final.
Assistant Coach Bob McMahon is expecting a difficult match for his team on Saturday.
"We're definitely anticipating another tough game in Calgary this weekend," said McMahon. "We haven't had a lot of success in their building during the regular season, and we know that they'll be well prepared for us. We'll have to stay focused on executing well on both sided of the floor in order to come out of there with a win."
Sting forward Dan Dawson, who matched his career high by registering nine points (2G-7A) against Calgary last weekend, is looking forward to a second tilt with his team's archrivals.
"This game is definitely going to be a big test for us," said Dawson. "The Saddledome is a tough building to play in and we know that the Roughnecks will be looking to get back at us after last week's game."
Jeff Dowling, who made his head-coaching debut last Friday with the Roughnecks, will be looking for his team to play with enhanced consistency in Saturday's contest, as Calgary will be looking to avoid falling below .500 for the first time since February '06.
"We took a lot of low percentage shots last weekend," said Dowling. "Against a goalie like Rob Blasdell, you really need to work on getting quality looks at the net, because he's way too good to let in any weak shots. We had a couple of defensive breakdowns last week as well, and the Sting really made us pay for those. If both teams play to their potential, I fully expect a very close game that might need overtime to decide a winner."
Game time on Saturday is set for 6:30pm Arizona Time. Fans can catch the action live by logging onto B2 Networks (www.b2live.com).
THE MATCH-UP:
ARIZONA STING (7-3) @ CALGARY ROUGHNECKS (5-5)
SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2007 - PENGROWTH SADDLEDOME
TOP SCORERS:
CAL: Lewis Ratcliff (10GP-27G-30A-57P); Tracey Kelusky (10GP-19G-26A-45P); Kaleb Toth (10GP-18G-25A-43P); Scott Ranger (10GP-15G-12A-27P); Kyle Goundrey (9GP-8G-18A-26P)
ARZ: Dan Dawson (10GP-33G-37A-70P); Craig Conn (10GP-14G-38A-52P); Lindsay Plunkett (10GP-24G-16A-40P); Derek Malawsky (10GP-10G-23A-33P); Curt Malawsky (10GP-13G-14A-27P)
GOALTENDERS:
CAL: Andrew Leyshon (4-5 record, 12.98 G.A.A., 74.4 % save percentage); Ryan Avery (1-0 record, 11.94 G.A.A., 79.2% save percentage)
ARZ: Rob Blasdell (7-2 record, 10.06 G.A.A., 78.1% save percentage); Mike Attwood (0-1 record, 16.47 G.A.A., 66.7% save percentage)
STING FORWARDS VERSUS ROUGHNECKS (Career):
Player GP G A P GPG APG PPG
Dan Dawson 11 24 29 53 2.18 2.63 4.81
Derek Malawsky 7 10 19 29 1.43 2.71 4.14
Curt Malawsky 8 12 17 29 1.5 2.13 3.63
Craig Conn 8 14 12 26 1.75 1.5 3.25
Lindsay Plunkett 7 9 13 22 1.29 1.86 3.15
Matt Brown 4 4 7 11 1.0 1.75 2.75
Andy Secore 1 0 1 1 0.0 1.0 1.0
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National Lacrosse League Stories from March 23, 2007
- Toronto Rock swat the Minnesota Swarm on the road - Toronto Rock
- Sting look to continue winning ways in Calgary this weekend - Arizona Sting
- Knighthawks travel to New York looking to clinch playoff berth - Rochester Knighthawks
- Rush to take on Stealth - Edmonton Rush
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