Sting Outlasts Roughnecks 18-16
by Andrew Nordmeier
March 26, 2005 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting
In the offensive blitz of lacrosse, an acrobatic save by Arizona Sting backup goaltender Ken Montour in the final minute helped the Sting post a pulse-pounding 18-16 win Friday night at Glendale Arena.
Lindsay Plunkett put Arizona up 17-16 with 89 seconds left when he beat Roughnecks' goaltender Curtis Palidwor with a bullet. Calgary pulled Palidwor for extra attacker and put the heat on the Sting.
The Roughnecks used strong ball movement to keep Montour guessing as to where the shot was coming from. Eventually it swung around to Ted Dowling at the side of the net where he already scored a couple goals in the game.
This time would be different.
With Dowling preparing to sizzle the tying goal in, Montour dove from post-to-post, his body twisting around, and deflected the ball away with the handle of his stick. Sting defenseman Peter Lough scooped up the rebound, ran the length of the floor and put it in the empty net to seal the win. The win raises Arizona to 7-5 on the year and drops Calgary to 8-4.
"I don't know how I made the save. I couldn't tell you," Montour said, "I threw my equipment at it and I got lucky."
His coach, Bob Hanley was just as suprised at the save.
"The save at the end was unbelievable," Hanley said, "It really pulled us out of the fire."
He replaced Mike Miron with 6:50 to go in the third quarter and stopped nine of 13 shots to pick up his fourth win of the season. Miron gave up 12 goals on 27 shots while Palidwor stopped 43-of-60 in the losing effort.
The win brought the Sting on the verge of clinching its first playoff berth as well. If San Jose can beat Anaheim today, it will clinch a spot for Arizona. Anaheim would be too far back to catch the Sting while San Jose is on the short end of the tiebreaker with Arizona; the Sting won the season series 2-1 over the Stealth.
"We're not happy going into the playoffs with the last spot, Sting forward Dan Dawson said, "We want to host a playoff game."
Special teams also played a major role in the Sting's win. Arizona finished 5-of-9 with the man advantage while Calgary went 3-of-3. Arizona's discipline mitigated the damage the Roughnecks' top-ranked power play could have done.
"They beat us all three times last year," Hanley said, "and we had to come back and prove we could beat them."
Dawson led all scorers with eight points (three goals and five assists) and has 17 points in two games against Calgary this season. Defenseman Cory Bomberry added three goals and three assists while racking up four points on the power play for Arizona. Pat Maddalena finished with four goals on the night and newly-acquired Craig Conn potted a pair in his Sting debut.
Dowling and Kaleb Toth each scored four times for Calgary while Tracey Kelusky and Lewis Ratcliff picked up hat tricks in the losing effort.
Although Arizona struck first, Calgary responded with four unanswered goals in a four-minute span to seize a 4-1 lead. The Sting clawed back with a pair of goals in 29 seconds, the latter starting Maddalena's natural hat trick that kept the Sting close.
Calgary tried to pull away but the Sting kept pace and three-goal burst by Arizona in the final 3:36 of the first half gave the Sting a 9-8 lead at halftime.
Another three-goal run late in the third quarter gave the Sting a 14-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter but goals by Dowling and Ryan Sharp knotted the game at 14-14 and set up the back and forth finish.
Arizona still has a game left with Colorado as well and can still win the Western Divison.
"We're 1-1 (in the season series) with Calgary and 1-1 with Colorado; the ball's in our court." Dawson said, "We're going to run the table here and hopefully come up with two victories and the first spot."
This was an up-and-down, back-and-forth shootout but no one knows what is in store when these two teams meet again April 3 in Calgary.
Montour feels that in order to win when these two teams go head-to-head, Arizona "has to be better five-on-five, minimize mental errors and avoid getting caught in transition."
Three Stars
1. Montour-ARI Mind-boggling save in the final seconds to preserve the win.
2. Dawson-ARI Eight-point night made things rough for Calgary.
3. Bomberry-ARI Two goals and two assists on the power play as part of a six-point night.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from March 26, 2005
- Rochester Knighthawks Defeat Minnesota Swarm, 20-11 - Minnesota Swarm
- Rochester hosts Minnesota - Rochester Knighthawks
- Sting Outlasts Roughnecks 18-16 - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
- Stealth Snaps Seven-Game Losing Streak - San Jose Stealth
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
