Roughnecks suffer first defeat of the season with 13-12 OT loss to the Mammoth.

By Tom Frank, Lacrosse Inside the Game correspondent
Photos by Marcelo Saguez

Scotiabank Saddledome – Colorado Mammoth captain, Gavin Prout, scored 45 seconds into the extra quarter to keep his team undefeated (3-0) and give them sole-possession of first place in the NLL’s West Division. Calgary dropped to second.

The Riggers’ Shawn Evans was called for tripping 29 seconds into overtime as he attempted to recover a dropped ball. This led to Prout’s opportunity, and game winner, on the ensuing power play.

Scott Ranger had the chance to win the game for Calgary with 2.2 seconds in regulation, but his shot ricocheted off the crossbar into the stands.

Colorado opened the scoring, 47 seconds into the match, as John Grant Jr. found Sean Pollock all alone in front of the net. The teams traded goals before Calgary rattled off 4 straight markers to take a 5-2 lead. The Mammoth scored with just over a minute remaining in the quarter to cut the Riggers lead to two. Grant’s assist on the goal marked his 1,000th point in his 12 year career.

Calgary looked tentative in the opening frame, but gained momentum as time progressed. Shots on goal favoured the Necks 22-10.

The Mammoth tallied three straight goals to start the second quarter as they took advantage of Calgary’s penalty woes and regained the lead 6-5. At 1:20, Kaleb Toth was called for Delay of Game. Twenty seconds later, Dane Dobbie was called for Unsportsmanlike Conduct and the Necks were called for Illegal Substitution. This allowed Grant to score on a penalty shot and Prout potted his first power play marker.

Calgary recovered and battled back to reclaim their two goal lead finishing the half 9-7.

Geoff Snider dominated the face-off circle, winning all 15 draws in the first half.

There was a much faster pace in the second. The Riggers used their possession time effectively and Mike Poulin was sharp in net.

Ball possession went back and forth to start the third frame until Evans found the back of the net at 7:27 on the powerplay. Calgary had a four goal lead at one point 11-7, but Grant grabbed a short-handed goal and Hopcroft scored his second of the game to stay within two of the Necks 11-9.
Curtis Manning scored on a breakaway at 3:03 of the fourth to give Calgary a three goal lead. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hang on and the Mammoth fought back to tie the game on a power play goal by Adam Jones.

With 1:58 remaining, Colorado thought they had scored the go ahead goal, but it was ruled “No Goal” after video review. Peter McFetridge was stopped on his breakaway attempt with one minute left, by former Roughneck goalie, Chris Levis.

The Roughnecks host the Toronto Rock (0-2) next Saturday for their second meeting of the season, while the Mammoth entertain the Rochester Knighthawks (1-1) at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

OTHER NOTES:

Daryl Veltman lead Calgary scorers (3, 3); Shawn Evans (2, 3); Scott Ranger (2,1).

Colorado’s Grant lead all scorers (4, 6); Adam Jones (3, 3); Gavin Prout (2, 4).

John Grant Jr. became the fifth player in the NLL to reach 1,000 points. The milestone came with his assist on Derek Hopcroft’s goal, late in the first quarter.

Other members of the 1,000 point club include – John Tavares, Gary Gait, Colin Doyle and Josh Sanderson.

The Calgary Roughnecks and Edmonton Rush have reached an agreement with Sportsnet to televise all four of their head-to-head match-ups this season.

The dates are:
Sat. Feb 18 7pm MT SN (West /Pacific)
Fri. Mar 9 9pm ET SN One
Sat. Mar 10 7pm MT SN (West /Pacific)
Sat. Apr 21 9pm ET SN One

For more pics from last nights game, check out the LITG Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lacrosse-Inside-The-Game/205095451553

January 22, 2012
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: 2 Comments

(Philadelphia, January 14)… The Rochester Knighthawks used one of the best offensive efforts in their 18-year history tonight in a 22-12 victory over the Philadelphia Wings. Jordan Hall tied his career-high with nine points in a game that also featured over 200 penalty minutes. It was a milestone night for a handful of Rochester players, as three Knightawks had nine-point nights. 

Hall scored twice and added seven assists, while Cody Jamieson set career bests in assists (five) and points (nine). Mike Accursi joined the nine-point club with a three-goal, six-assist night. Cory Vitarelli scored a career-high five goals in a six-point effort. Meanwhile, Travis Hill got into the goal-scoring column with a career-high two goals. The 22-goal effort was just two goals short of tying the team record of 24 set in 2002.

The battle of the top picks in the NLL went to the Knighthawks as Johnny Powless scored three times and added two assists and Stephen Keogh netted two goals and chipped in two assists. Keogh was the second overall pick, while Powless was the fifth selection. The No. 1 overall pick was Kevin Crowley, who led the Wings with three goals and five assists.

Dan Dawson (6+1) and Mike Hominuck (2+3) each had big games offensively. Goalie Brandon Miller was pulled after 36:06 minutes of play and was replaced by Kurtis Wagar, who posted 26 saves on 39 shots. The game was the first of three meetings between the two teams. The Knighthawks now lead the series with a 24-15 record.

Rochester came soaring out of the gate with the first two goals of the game to take a quick 2-0 lead. The first came from transition man Jordan Hall at 2:02 and the second came from Cody Jamieson assisted by Jarrett Davis at 5:38 on a shot that sneaked past the stick side of Philadelphia goalie Brandon Miller.

Philadelphia put its first point of the board at 5:49 on a breakaway goal for Max Seibald. Rochester continued its momentum after Seibald’s goal, scoring the next four with two coming from rookies Keogh and Powless. Keogh scored his first regular season NLL goal, increasing Rochester’s lead to 3-1 as he came across a pick and went five-hole on Miller. Next, Powless seared a shot from the left point scoring top shelf. Hill then scored making it 5-1 Knighthawks. The last goal of the first quarter came from Vitarelli at 14:51 as he one-handed a shot past Miller for a 6-1 lead.

The tables quickly turned in favor of Philadelphia as the Wings started the second quarter with five straight goals to tie the score at six. After Drew Westervelt opened the quarter with a quick strike just 22 second in, the Wings strung together four more goals. The rally was fueled by a five-minute cross-checking penalty by Hall. Crowley had two of the goals, while Hominuck and Dawson netted single tallies. Rochester then regained the momentum with three straight goals. The first was a power-play goal by Jamieson at 8:29, which was followed by a goal by Mike Accursi at 9:24, and a power-play goal by Keogh at 13:14.

The Knighthawks will host the Buffalo Bandits (1-0) in their home opener at 7:30 p.m. at The Blue Cross. The Knighthawks will honor their Millionth Fan on Saturday, January 21st with a trip for two to Las Vegas (hotel, airfare and $2,000 cash). The Knighthawks will raffle off a second trip to Vegas (hotel and airfare) between the third and fourth quarters. Fans have until halftime to register at the Guest Services Booth. The first 5,000 fans will receive a T-shirt. Knighthawks individual tickets are on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, and at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office or by calling 1-800-745-3000.–

January 15, 2012
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: Leave a Comment

Manning Out Indefinitely

Buffalo – The Toronto Rock are now 0-2 on the season after a 14-10 loss to the Buffalo Bandits on Saturday night south of the border at First Niagara Center.

The Rock opened with a goal from Colin Doyle and carried a heavy advantage in ball possession time in the opening minutes but failed to cash in on some great looks. The Bandits responded with a pair of their own taking a 2-1 lead. Just as quickly, Kasey Beirnes scored on the powerplay followed by Sandy Chapman just seconds later off the ensuing faceoff to give the visiting Rock the lead back 3-2. Before the end of the quarter, the Bandits knotted the score at 3-3.

The two teams exchanged goals early in the second quarter as the Rock built their biggest lead of the opening 30 minutes, going up 6-4. Kevin Buchanan scored shorthanded for the Bandits late in the first half drawing Buffalo to within one goal at the half.

Buffalo rattled off three straight to surge ahead 8-6, but the Rock broke that up with a quick pair of goals coming from Doyle and Bill Greer. Seemingly just as quick, the Bandits again answered the pair of Rock goals with two more of their own to take a 10-8 lead through three quarters.

Buffalo extended their run to 5 goals and held a 13-8 lead. The Rock buried a couple of goals to draw to within three goals late in the fourth quarter. Numerous attempts to score with the goalie pulled and an extra attacker on the floor failed and the Bandits added another one into the empty net to seal the 14-10 win.

Leading the way offensively for the Rock was the Captain Colin Doyle scoring 4 goals and adding an assist. Garrett Billings also put up five points in the loss with a goal and four helpers.

Doyle played in his 187th consecutive game drawing him to within one game of the NLL’s all-time consecutive games played streak of 188, a record held by former Toronto defender Steve Toll.

Blaine Manning played in his 162nd consecutive game – the all-time record for most consecutive games with one team – but left in the first half after breaking his collarbone and will be sidelined indefinitely. Overall including playoffs Manning had played in 177 consecutive games.

The Rock have a rare week off before playing back-to-back games at the end of the month. Friday, January 27th Toronto returns home to face the Rochester Knighthawks at Air Canada Centre. The following night, the Rock travel to Calgary to face the Roughnecks. Both games can be seen live on TSN2.

January 15, 2012
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: Leave a Comment

as reported from the comforts of the home couch

The Toronto Rock and Calgary Roughnecks opened up their 2012 season on Sunday night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It was a special evening for all Rock players, and fans as they hoisted the 2011 Championship banner prior to the game.

And the Rock opened up the way they ended their 2011 season; simply put, on fire! Toronto made the first quarter their own scoring five times, while Calgary was held scoreless. Of course as we have seen so many times in past seasons, the Roughnecks returned the favour in quarters two and three, scoring seven of the next eight goals of the game en route to a 12-9 road win.

Toronto held leads of 5-0 after one quarter, and 6-3 at the half. Calgary then took over the second half tying the game at 8-8 after three, and outscoring Toronto 4-1 in the final frame for the win.

Matt Roik started in net for Toronto, stopping 32 of 44 shots. Mike Poulin who was in net for Calgary stopped 21 of 30 shots.

Dane Dobbie was huge on the night for Calgary scoring 3 and assisting on 3 others.Newly acquired Shawn Evans scored twice as did Scott Ranger. Singles went to Scott Ranger, Cory Conway, Daryl Veltman, Mike Carnegie and Curtis Dickson. Dickson would also add 4 assists.

For Toronto, nine different players scored once each; Sandy Chapman, Colin Doyle, Stephen Hoar, Garrett Billings, Dan Carey, Blaine Manning, Phil Sanderson, Josh Sanderson, and Kasey Biernes. Doyle also added 3 assists.

It ended up being a see saw affair, but was one that the Rock looked to put away early. Calgary showed grit and determination battling back to take a very raucous Toronto crowd back out of the game as they were flying high early on.

Other Notes:

- LITG was denied Press access this season to the Rock home games, therefore all game recaps this season will be done from the remote couch (thanks to TSN). However, we will still be in Calgary reporting from all of the Roughnecks home games.

January 8, 2012
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: 2 Comments

It is New Year’s Day 2012 and in the coming month, we have not just one, but three lacrosse leagues slated to start.  Or at least that is the plan. 

Most everyone knows about the National Lacrosse League.  Moreso, anyone in Ontario or even Canada knows about and followed to some degree, the Toronto Rock and their latest Championship in 2011.  The Rock will be raising that banner this coming Sunday January 8th at 6pm in their Home Opener at the Air Canada Centre.

But while the party will be taking place in the big city, two more leagues are to get underway this month as well.  First, the newly created Canadian Lacrosse League, aka CLax appears all set to go this coming Saturday with a triple header set up in Six Nations, Ontario.  And in a couple of weeks, the North American Lacrosse League (NALL) looks primed for a January 19th start.

The lacrosse addicts are in their element.  But the big question remains; will these leagues work and will they survive?  The one thing that there is no shortage of is players to fill rosters.  I think the bigger question is, will they be able to put paying butts in seats?  This has always been the problem with lacrosse when compared to hockey, or baseball, or football.  Many non-believers call lacrosse a niche sport, a sort of cult if you will, that only those die hards that have grown up in it or around it, will ever love.

There was an announcement just today that the NALL was going to suspend operations this year.  These rumours were quickly squashed and the NALL has confirmed that they will indeed play……albeit a modified schedule.   This must raise an eyebrow of concern.

One has to wonder in both cases (CLax and NALL) if they will get the revenues to survive.  In the end it all comes down to money.  These leagues need sponsorships, ticket sales, and merchandise sales to survive or they will not be around long. Remember just a few expenses include players / coaches salaries, insurance, and facilities rental. And these facilities cannot be cheap.

So while it is a great thing for lacrosse that more players have the opportunity to play, there is so much more required for these these leagues to survive.

In the CLax example there are a numer of recognizable lacrosse folks getting involved. But there are also a number of recognizable lacrosse folks that are not. Are the nay sayers just not willing to expand the game? Or are they just not sold?

Time will tell…..

January 2, 2012
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: Leave a Comment

Seven Goal Outburst In The 3rd Quarter Fuels Win

Toronto – After dropping their first two pre-season matchups, the Rock again started slowly but ten second half goals powered the defending NLL champions to a 15-13 win over the Minnesota Swarm on Sunday evening at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Six Nations, Ontario.

Toronto found themselves down 5-2 after one quarter and then trailed 6-2 late in the second quarter. Garrett Billings, Kasey Beirnes and Stephan Leblanc then combined to rattle off three straight goals in 2:14 to close the gap to 6-5 at the half.

The third quarter belonged to the Rock. Nick Patterson replaced Tyler Carlson in the Minnesota cage and saw seven Toronto shots get by him as the Rock led 12-8 after three quarters. Captain Colin Doyle scored three goals in the quarter to lead the surge.

Minnesota rallied in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough as despite outscoring the Rock 5-3 in the final fifteen minutes, the Swarm could never close to within fewer than two goals.

The game featured five fights as well as Rock Head Coach Troy Cordingley being ejected from the game just two minutes into the fourth quarter.

“The blatant high stick that was missed,” remarked Cordingley when asked about what set him off in the fourth quarter. “The Minnesota player went right for our players’ head and there’s no room for those kind of hits to the head in our league. There has been a heightened awareness for hits like these and it’s a focus call. We’ll wait and see what the league has to say, however, I thought it was disgusting.”

Doyle added four assists to his three goals for a seven-point game. Billings also had a hat-trick to go with a pair of helpers for five points. Matt Roik got the win in the Rock goal allowing 11 of the 13 Swarm goals in 58 minutes of work. Pat Campbell gave up two goals in two minutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Campbell exited the game when he was given a game misconduct after he left his crease and made his way down the floor to get involved in an altercation.

“We will not be taken advantage of,” said Cordingley. “We’re team tough. I like how we responded to the different situations that we were put in this evening. When two of our leaders in Blaine Manning and Colin Doyle are stepping up to take care of matters, it speaks volumes.”

“We played extremely well,” Cordingley went on to say. “Their goalie Tyler Carlson was sensational in the first half. We had numerous quality chances but he kept closing the door. We got better as the game went along and we certainly battled hard.”

The Rock staff will now make their final decisions on just who the 23 players will be that start the season on the active roster. The roster deadline is Thursday, December 22nd and 12noon ET. Each team also has 3 practice roster spots to fill if they choose to.

On Sunday, January 8th at Air Canada Centre, the Rock will open their 2012 campaign and defence of the Champion’s Cup. The opponent will be the Calgary Roughnecks and the game will be broadcast live on TSN at 6pm ET. Season Tickets, Single Game and Group Tickets are on sale now. For more information please visit www.torontorock.com or call the Rock office at 416-596-3075 and speak with a ticket representative.

December 19, 2011
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: Leave a Comment

Fourth Quarter Comeback By Washington Leads To Victory

Langley, BC – The British Columbia lacrosse community filled the Langley Events Centre on Saturday night to see the Washington Stealth defeat the Toronto Rock 14-13 in overtime.
 
After falling behind 3-1, the Rock rattled off 3 goals in just over a minute as Rob Hellyer, Blaine Manning and Stephan Leblanc scored in succession to give Toronto a 4-3 lead after one quarter. Colin Doyle got the Rock scoring started in the first quarter.
 
Washington struck quickly to open the second quarter scoring and from there it was back and forth with several lead changes throughout the frame.  Highlight reel goals came from the sticks of Colin Doyle and Kasey Beirnes who cashed in on a 70 foot bounce pass from Garrett Billings that had the crowd on their feet.
 
Dan Carey scored a pair of power play goals early in the third quarter to stretch the Rock lead to 10-7.  The two teams exchanged goals with Colin Doyle firing home his third of the game giving the Rock an 11-8 lead through three.
 
The Rock built a 12-9 lead and looked in control and ready to close it out when the Stealth scored three straight goals to tie it 12-12.  Langley native Garrett Billings put the Rock ahead 13-12 only to see Rhys Duch tie it moments later forcing overtime.
 
Just 31 seconds into overtime, Lewis Ratcliff spun and fired a shot that beat Matt Roik to give the Stealth the 14-13 overtime victory.
 
The Rock will continue training camp next weekend in Six Nations, Ontario.  On Sunday, December 18 Toronto will play their final exhibition tune up against the Minnesota Swarm.  Game time is 4pm at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Six Nations and there is no charge for admission.
 
On Sunday, January 8th the Calgary Roughnecks will visit Air Canada Centre as the Rock open up their 2012 season and raise their 2011 championship banner to the rafters.  Season, Single Game and Group Tickets are on sale now.  For more information, please contact the Rock office at 416-596-3075 or visit www.torontorock.com.

December 11, 2011
Categories: Inside The Game, NLL . . Author: marksy . Comments: Leave a Comment