The final game of the Week 6 slate featured two teams who desperately needed a win. The hometown San Diego Seals only had one win in the young season and needed to get rolling. On the other end, the Calgary Roughnecks were still searching for their first win. Both teams are very capable of going on a run, so this was set to be a doozy.
With 26 total goals, 48 combined penalty minutes, a fight, and a boatload of physicality, this game lived up to all the hype. Calgary buried five goals in the fourth quarter to successfully get their first win of the season, beating San Diego, 15-11. To Pechanga Arena we go.
As the visiting club, the Roughnecks started the game perfectly, scoring the first three goals. Those were buried by Noah Manning on the power play, Haiden Dickson, and Harrison Matsuoka. Corey Small finally got the Seals on the board with his first on the power play, but Tyler Pace got it right back for Calgary. 4-1 Roughnecks after one.
There were six total goals scored in the second quarter, three per side. Four of them were power play goals, so you can imagine that the physicality ramped up significantly. Dickson buried his second to kick it off but was quickly answered by Wesley Berg. Calgary rattled off two-in-a-row, one from Tanner Cook and the other from Brayden Mayea. San Diego answered right back with two, courtesy of Tre Leclaire and Berg. 7-4 Roughnecks at the break. At the 3:55 mark of the second quarter, tempers finally boiled over as Eli Gobrecht and Justin Inacio dropped the mitts and discussed dinner plans in the form of their fists.
San Diego made things very interesting in the third quarter, as the offense finally woke up. At one point, the Seals scored three goals in a matter of 21 seconds, which resulted in the game being tied for a moment. Dickson, once again, got the scoring started with his third on the power play, but was quickly answered by Pat Kavanagh. Mayea buried his second, and here came the Seals in response. San Diego scored four-in-a-row, three of which were the aforementioned onslaught in a mere 21 seconds. Those four were scored by Leclaire twice, Connor Robinson, and Trevor Baptiste. Manning tallied his second in the waning seconds to regain the lead for Calgary. This was getting juicy. 10-9 Roughnecks after three.
The fourth quarter began, and Calgary did just enough for the final 15 minutes to keep San Diego at an arm’s length. Cook opened the scoring but was answered by Berg. How did Calgary respond? With two-straight, one from Cook and the other from Riley Loewen on the power play. Matthew Wright registered the final goal of the evening for San Diego, and Mayea and Pace each scored again to finish it off for the Roughnecks.
Players of the game for Calgary were Cook (3+6), Mayea (3+6), and Dickson (3+1). Aden Walsh faced a flurry of shots and withstood the storm. He stopped a staggering 50 of 61 in total. For San Diego, Berg (3+2), Leclaire (3+1), and Small (1+3) led the way. Both goaltenders saw some time for the Seals, not exactly looking comfortable for an extended period of time. Christopher Origlieri stopped 24 of 32 in 32:37, while Cameron Dunkerley stopped 13 of 20 the rest of the way.
“We left it all out there tonight and got rewarded”, said Cook about the team getting their first win. “We knew it was going to take everybody, and I think everybody bought in. We’re going to build off it, keep building that chemistry and move right into next weekend.”
Building off this win is exactly what Calgary will look to do. Their next crack at it is back on their home floor against Vancouver. That game is Friday January 9th at 9:30pm. San Diego looks to bounce right back. They also are back on their home floor on Friday as they welcome in Toronto. Faceoff in that game is at 10:30pm.
