Toth sparks Roughnecks to 13-6 win over LumberJax
January 26, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Calgary Roughnecks News Release
CALGARY - Although he didn't score, Kaleb Toth did his best Dion Phaneuf impression to lead the Calgary Roughnecks to a 13-6 win over the Portland LumberJax Saturday night. With the score tied 3-3 in the second quarter, Portland goalie Matt King made a save and then decided to run up the floor when he was greeted along the side boards with a thunderous hit by Toth, much to the delight of the 10,413 fans in attendance at the Saddledome.
"Dion's got nothing on me," Toth said after the game with a grin.
Scott Ranger then picked up the loose ball and easily eluded two Portland defenders before depositing the ball into an empty cage to start a five-goal outburst by Calgary (2-2) and give the Riggers an 8-3 halftime lead.
Toth said he wasn't trying to injure his former teammate with the hit.
"Matty's a competitive guy and I'm a competitive guy," said Toth, who finished the game with two assists. "He ran out of the crease and he had his head down. I didn't try to take his head off. I just stood my ground. Unfortunately I think I rang his bell a little bit. You don't want to see a guy hurt, but you've got to take every opportunity to win a game."
Defence was then the name of the game in the second half as the 'Necks outscored the Jax 2-1 in the third quarter and 3-2 in the fourth quarter to win their second game in two nights.
In his first start of the season, goalie Ryan Avery stopped 38 of 44 shots he faced.
"We focus on not giving up anything in the second half," said Avery, who improved his record as a Roughneck to 5-0.
Lewis Ratcliff notched a hat trick and four helpers to continue his torrid scoring pace in the absence of Calgary captain Tracey Kelusky, who missed his third straight game with a concussion. Ranger also scored three times and set up three others for the Riggers, while Kelly Hall, who played eight games for Portland last season, had a hat trick and a helper.
"That's the key to an offence," said Ratcliff of Calgary's well-rounded scoring attack. "If we can have three goals from a bunch of different guys we're going to be next to impossible to stop."
Nolan Heavenor (2g, 2a) and Curt Malawsky (1g, 2a) also contributed to the win, while Greg Hinman scored his first goal as a Roughneck.
Derek Malawsky led the way for Portland with two goals and two assists, while Dan Dawson (2g, 1a), Ryan Powell (1g, 1a) and Scott Stapleford (1g) rounded out the scoring.
King made 14 saves in the first half for the LumberJax, while Dallas Eliuk came on in relief and stopped 18 of 24 shots he faced.
Calgary goalie Steve Dietrich earned a well-deserved rest after a 35-save performance the previous night as the Roughnecks downed the Stealth 16-13 in San Jose.
After back-to-back games, the Roughnecks have an extended break until they return to the Saddledome turf to face the Buffalo Bandits on Friday, Feb. 8.
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 26, 2008
- Toth sparks Roughnecks to 13-6 win over LumberJax - Calgary Roughnecks
- Lumberjax held off by Roughnecks, 13-6 - Portland Lumberjax
- Sellout crowd helps Mammoth silence Stealth - Colorado Mammoth
- San Jose Stealth drop 11-6 decision in Colorado - San Jose Stealth
- Bandits fall to Wings 14-15 in overtime - Buffalo Bandits
- Wings Remain Undefeated With 15-14 Overtime Victory Over Buffalo - Philadelphia Wings
- Titans lose to the Rock 14-10 - Orlando Titans
- Rochester Looks To Get Back To .500 With Win Against Swarm - Rochester Knighthawks
- Roughnecks avenge loss with 16-13 win over Stealth - Calgary Roughnecks
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