Christopher Vose
The Calgary Roughnecks arrived in Vancouver brimming with confidence. Well, at least they did by their own somewhat lowly standards. Sure, times are rough. They lost their first five matches of the season. But they managed to score 26 goals over their last two outings. That had to help boost their confidence. And coming so close to getting that first victory, losing the last two by a single goal, has only made them hungrier still.
Vancouver must have looked to be about as juicy as it gets. The Stealth won their last match, but before that, they had lost three games on the trot. And after all, this is essentially the same club that finished 4-14 last year. The Calgarians knew that this was a very winnable night.
The Roughnecks raced out to an early lead thanks to a pair of goals by Garrett McIntosh and Jeff Shattler. Vancouver's Captain Curtis Hodgson pegged them back one, but it was only to see Matthew Dinsdale restore the visitor's two-goal advantage.
"Offensively we struggled a little bit from the start," added Corey Small, who scored one goal, and assisted on another four. But "our defence and transition kept us in there."
And then their offence came alive. On 'Hart Breaker' Night, it took the boys in black a mere 83 seconds for Tyler Garrison, Cliff Smith, Rhys Duch, and Tyler Digby to first overturn, and then reverse Calgary's two-goal advantage. The last two of which were scored with the man advantage.
"We got behind early, but we got a nice transition goal from Curtis, who got us going," said Vancouver Stealth manager Dan Perreault. "We just chipped away at it and when we got the lead, we never looked back."
The Roughnecks came out swinging, but the Stealth got the knockout blow.
"It was really important [that] we had a great, solid, team game two weeks ago, and it was a huge test coming in against a fantastic Calgary team that's struggling, but very dangerous, and hungry for a win," said Curtis Hodgson of the Stealth's 13-9 win. "It was important for us to step up and continue to follow the process that's going to make our team successful. Everybody played their roles, and at the end of the day we got the result we wanted."
To some extent, the Roughnecks tied their own noose. 26 penalty minutes meant that the hosts were far from innocent, but Calgary's 50 penalty minutes was simply amazing. "14 power plays against is pretty tough," said Calgary manager Curt Malawsky. "We're already 0 and 5, and fighting a deficit. It was like having a boxing match with your hands tied behind your back. It felt like we weren't able to punch back. Every time we tried to punch back we got penalised for it. I've never been in an NLL game where there's 14 penalties against."
Still, the penalties weren't as decisive as Malawsky made them out to be. Calgary scored the same number of power play goals as Vancouver, and did one better while shorthanded. With an equal number of players in the rink, Vancouver scored as many goals as Calgary did under all conditions.
Tyler Richards had another stellar performance, keeping the visitors to single digits. "He's one of the best in the league, and tonight he proved it," said Corey Small of his teammate. "When you got a guy like [Curtis] Dickson coming down, and you make a big save, it's phenomenal. He kept us in there early. He was the spark at the back-end. That's where it all starts."
Tyler Garrison starts the four-goal, 83-second landslide that buried the Roughnecks.
"We're to the point where we don't care who scores the winner, who gets the loose ball, or who makes the save,” added Perreault. "To get a win in this league [is] tough. You [have to] play hard, play as a team, and [you will] get rewarded for [that] hard work."
Malawsky liked tonight's game to a boxing match, and fortunately for him, he and his Roughnecks won't have to wait long for the rematch. Next Saturday, Vancouver will visit Calgary looking for their fourth win of the season, and their third at Calgary's expense.
After that, they return home where they'll host the Minnesota Swarm on Saturday, February 28th, 7:00 PM. As part of Vancouver's Hall of Fame Night, the first 1,000 supporters to arrive at the Langley Events Centre will receive a pack of Hall of Fame cards.
MATCH DETAILS
Man of the Match: Rhys Duch
Referee: Jason Wiswell
Attendance: 3,715
Bomber the Fox has 13 reasons to smile.
Scoring Summary:
3' - CGY - Garrett McIntosh (Mike Carnegie)
8' - CGY - Jeff Shattler (Shawn Evans)
20' - VAN - Curtis Hodgson (Tyler Burton, Tyler Richards)
22' - CGY - Matthew Dinsdale
23' - VAN - Tyler Garrison (Ilija Gajic)
23' - VAN - Cliff Smith (Mitch McMichael)
24' - VAN - Rhys Duch (Johnny Powless, Corey Small)
24' - VAN - Tyler Digby (Rhys Duch, Johnny Powless)
30' - CGY - Curtis Dickson (Shawn Evans, Dane Dobbie)
30' - VAN - Tyler Digby (Johnny Powless)
32' - VAN - Joel McCready (Corey Small, Tyler Digby)
33' - CGY - Shawn Evans (Curtis Dickson, Dane Dobbie)
34' - CGY - Mike Carnegie (Dane Dobbie, Peter McFetridge)
36' - VAN - Corey Small (Cliff Smith, Justin Salt)
42' - CGY - Curtis Dickson (Daryl Veltman)
42' - VAN - Rhys Duch (Tyler Digby, Corey Small)
44' - VAN - Rhys Duch (Corey Small, Johnny Powless)
50' - CGY - Dane Dobbie (Shawn Evans, Curtis Dickson)
56' - VAN - Tyler Garrison (Rhys Duch, Tyler Hass)
57' - VAN - Rhys Duch (Tyler Digby, Chris ODougherty)
59' - CGY - Shawn Evans (Jeff Moleski, Daryl Veltman)
60' - VAN - Ilija Gajic (Curtis Hodgson)
Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 69 - Calgary 62
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 51 - Calgary 46
Saves: Vancouver 38 - Calgary 37
Penalty Minutes: Vancouver 26 - Calgary 50
Tyler Garrison asks the lacrosse gods what's going on with all these penalties?
Minors:
5' - VAN - Joel McCready
5' - CGY - Greg Harnett
5' - CGY - Jon Harnett
8' - VAN - Rhys Duch
9' - CGY - Jeff Shattler
12' - VAN - Tyler Burton
12' - CGY - Dane Dobbie
13' - VAN - Ilija Gajic
14' - CGY - Greg Harnett
14' - CGY - Greg Harnett
15' - VAN - Justin Salt
15' - CGY - Curtis Dickson
16' - CGY - Peter McFetridge
17' - VAN - Conrad Chapman
24' - CGY - Geoff Snider
24' - CGY - Geoff Snider
25' - VAN - Conrad Chapman
27' - CGY - Peter McFetridge
29' - VAN - Johnny Powless
33' - VAN - Ilija Gajic
37' - VAN - Tyler Burton
39' - CGY - Andrew McBride
41' - VAN - Justin Salt
44' - CGY - Shawn Evans
49' - VAN - Conrad Chapman
52' - CGY - Peter McFetridge
58' - VAN - Rhys Duch
58' - CGY - Jon Harnett
Majors:
57' - CGY - Dane Dobbie
60' - CGY - Garrett McIntosh
Ejections:
57' - CGY - Dane Dobbie
Vancouver Stealth
00. Tyler Richards; 4. Chris O'Dougherty; 5. Cliff Smith; 6. Curtis Hodgson; 7. Tyler Digby; 8. Tyler Hass; 10. Rhys Duch; 15. Ilija Gajic; 19. Justin Salt; 23. Conrad Chapman; 24. Rory Smith; 32. Mitch McMichael; 45. Corey Small; 55. Joel McCready; 61. Eric Penney; 77. Tyler Burton; 91. Tyler Garrison; 93. Johnny Powless
Calgary Roughnecks
3. Dan MacRae; 4. Geoff Snider; 6. Garrett McIntosh; 10. Curtis Manning; 11. Greg Harnett; 14. Jeff Moleski; 15. Shawn Evans; 16. Mike Carnegie; 17. Curtis Dickson; 30. Mike Poulin; 33. Jon Harnett; 36. Daryl Veltman; 37. Andrew McBride; 44. Dane Dobbie; 61. Matthew Dinsdale; 77. Jeff Shattler; 80. Peter McFetridge; 92. Frankie Scigliano