Sting Lose 14-12 In Calgary
April 9, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
CALGARY, ALBERTA --- The Arizona Sting were outgunned by the best in the West Saturday night, as the Calgary Roughnecks avenged last season's Divisional Finals loss with a 14-12 victory at the Pengrowth Saddledome. After falling behind by a score of 10-5 over the course of the opening three quarters, the Sting scored three unanswered goals in the opening four minutes of the fourth, but were ultimately unable to succeed in their comeback attempt, as each team scored four goals over the course of the game's final 11 minutes. With the loss, Arizona is now 6-8 on the season while Calgary improves to 9-5 with the win. Lewis Ratcliffe, who scored five goals in the game, led the Roughnecks' offensive charge while Sting forwards Pat Maddalena and Dan Dawson each registered hat tricks in the match.
"This is always a tough building to play in," said Dawson. "Those guys played really hard and we weren't quite able to pull out the win tonight. We're still very much in the running for a playoff spot though, so we have to regroup and focus on our remaining games. It's hard, but we have to stay positive right now."
Kaleb Toth opened the game's scoring for Calgary, beating goaltender Rob Blasdell with a low shot 90 seconds into the first quarter. Toth netted another goal 3:25 later to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Roughnecks. Dan Dawson cut the Calgary lead in half with 5:12 remaining in the first period with a hard shot that beat goaltender Curtis Palidwor high. Lewis Ratcliffe responded for the Roughnecks, netting a goal at the 11:15 mark of the first. Tracey Kelusky gave Calgary a three-goal advantage with a well-placed shot that beat Rob Blasdell over his left shoulder with 1:50 remaining in the opening period. With Blasdell pulled in favor of an extra attacker during Arizona's final possession of the frame, Jeff Moleski launched a shot from his own zone that entered the vacant Arizona net with 6.8 seconds on the clock to make the score 5-1 in favor of the Roughnecks as the first quarter came to an end.
With a pair of Sting players sitting in the penalty box, Calgary's Jason Wulder scored a quick goal off of a pass from Kyle Goundrey to open the second quarter. The Sting scored a power play goal of there own off the stick of Pat Maddalena with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. Lewis Ratcliffe tallied his second goal of the night shortly thereafter, however, giving Calgary a 7-2 advantage in the process. Pat Maddalena scored his second goal of the game at the 11:12 mark of the second, blowing past Roughnecks defender Taylor Wray with an explosive burst of speed and finishing the play off with a high shot that beat Curtis Palidwor. Kyle Goundrey then fired a shot past Rob Blasdell at the 13:01 mark of the second quarter to put Calgary up by five goals. Neither team was able to score in the first half's final two minutes, and Calgary entered the mid-game intermission with an 8-3 advantage.
Pat Maddalena carried his strong first half play into the second half, as he completed his hat trick 2:24 into the third quarter. Lewis Ratcliffe put the finishing touches on a hat trick of his own 2:09 later to restore the five-goal Calgary advantage. Scott Self scored his first goal of the season near the midway point of the third period to pull Arizona back to within four goals of the Roughnecks's lead. With 5:50 remaining in the frame, however, Jeff Moleski scored his second goal of the match to make the score 10-5 in Calgary's favor. Both goaltenders made several big stops over the course of the final five minutes of the third quarter, with neither team scoring to keep the five goal gap in tact as the period expired.
The Sting's special teams opened the fourth quarter in style, with Peter Veltman scoring his sixth goal of the season on the power play in the first minute of the period and Chris McKay netting his first of the year short-handed in the second. Team Captain Peter Lough then scored at the 3:36 mark of the fourth to pull his team to within two of Calgary's lead. The Roughnecks responded with a goal by Tracey Kelusky with about eight minutes remaining in regulation. Dan Dawson scored his second of the night a minute and a half later, with Bruce Murray providing the primary assist on Dawson's 26th goal of the year. Lewis Ratcliffe and Kaleb Toth then scored back-to-back goals to make the score 13-9 in Calgary's favor. With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, Dan Dawson scored his third of the night and was promptly dealt a cheap shot by Ryan McNish, who was assessed a five minute major penalty as a result. On the ensuing power play, Matt Brown scored a goal, which he followed up quickly with another to pull Arizona to within a single goal of Calgary with one minute remaining in regulation. Lewis Ratcliffe then scored his fifth goal of the night to cement the Roughnecks victory and send the 12, 173 fans in attendance home happy.
Assistant Coach Rick Wilson was disappointed in the result of the game, but hopes his team will be able to continue the unrelenting fervor they demonstrated in the fourth quarter into next weekend's pair of games against San Jose.
"This team never gives up," said Wilson. "We were down by a half a dozen goals in this game and were one away from tying it up in the fourth. We've always played well against San Jose, so they'll have there hands full next week, that's for sure."
Arizona will host the Stealth on Friday, April 14, at the Glendale Arena prior to playing Saturday night in San Jose at the HP Pavilion. The two teams are currently battling in the standings for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NLL's West Division. Next weekend's home-and-home affair will determine which of the two teams earn a berth in the post-season.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 9, 2006
- Stealth Lose In Overtime To Swarm, 9-8 - San Jose Stealth
- Sting Lose 14-12 In Calgary - Arizona Sting
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