Saturday night was country night in Vancouver and there wasn’t a more willing dance partner than the visitors from Cowtown. The Calgary Roughnecks took the lead early as the Warriors seemingly tripped over their own two left feet. When the dust settled, the boys from Stampede City two-stepped right outta of Van City with a 14-7 win. The only thing missing was the after party at Cowboys.
Much of the buildup for the game had been centred around Vancouver’s head coach Curt Malawsky facing the team he’d been with for the last 16 years. Although it was a compelling storyline, the bottom line was both teams needed a win. Calgary was looking to get back to .500 and Vancouver was looking to get the ship pointed back in the right direction after a 1-3 start.
The game didn’t begin well for Vancouver as two defensive miscues led to Jesse King and Josh Currier parading down main street for easy goals. Another tally by Haiden Dickson had Calgary out to an early 3-0 advantage. The teams exchanged goals, but two late ones by Ryan Martel and Kevin “Big Cat” Crowley had Vancouver to within one at 5-4.
Call it unlucky, undisciplined or just angry lacrosse gods, a disastrous second quarter sealed Vancouver’s fate. A natural hat trick by Calgary’s Tanner Cook, (aided by some fortuitous bounces), a Josh Currier goal from beyond the restraining line and a last second Vancouver fumble resulting in an empty net goal from Jeff Cornwall put the Roughnecks up 10-4 at the half.
Curt Malawsky addressed the second quarter to Vancouver’s media after the game.
“You’ve got to play clean lacrosse and you can’t beat yourself in those situations. When things don’t go your way, it’s not like the bus is in the ditch. We play like the bus hits the ditch and next thing you know we just can’t come back. That mental fortitude, I talk about it all the time, it’s like you have to play where your feet are. We come out in the second half and the game’s done.”
The game was indeed over as Calgary outscored Vancouver 4-3 in the second half. Tanner Cook scored twice more to lead the Roughnecks with five goals on the night. Reigning NLL MVP Christian Del Bianco was lights out surrendering just 7 goals on 55 shots. A crunching hit delivered by Reece Callies on Kyle Killen highlighted a dominate performance by the entire group of Roughneck defenders.
The Warriors offense struggled with consistency for most of the night. One of the more telling stats was the 28 shots Vancouver took that missed the net entirely. Ryan Martel, who has had a red-hot start to the season, led the way with two goals and an assist. On the defensive side of the ball, Brett Mydske scooped up 9 loose balls and caused an impressive 4 turnovers. Net minders Aaron Bold and Aden Walsh combined to make just 33 saves on 46 shots.
Week 8 in the NLL has Calgary (2-2) traveling to Colorado to take on the Mammoth (1-4) while Vancouver (1-4) hits the road for a game against the Saskatchewan Rush (1-3).
