Who doesn’t love some Sunday afternoon lacrosse? The final game of week two came to you from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas as Panther City Lacrosse Club hosted the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. This game certainly didn’t disappoint, as Las Vegas won an overtime thriller, 11-10. Back-and-forth doesn’t even begin to describe this one.
The back-and-forth started right away as we were deadlocked after one. Callum Crawford and Mathieu Gautier got the scoring started for PCLC, but were answered by Connor Kirst and Jonathan Gagliardi. Jason Knox regained the lead for PCLC, but Rob Hellyer answered back in the waning seconds of the quarter. 3-3 after one.
PCLC surged forward in the second, but not before giving up the first goal of the frame to Casey Jackson. Here comes that surge in the form of three-straight. Crawford got his second and third, and Jonathan Donville got his first. In the blink of an eye, PCLC had a 6-4 lead going into halftime.
“We can still be better,” said Crawford. “We’re not getting great shots all the time. The score would be very different if the offense got off the floor.”
Both goaltenders were rock solid in the first half. Nick Damude stopped an unreal 24 of 28, while his counterpart, Landon Kells, stopped 18 of 24.
Las Vegas came out in the third quarter with a vengeance and tied it right back up. Excuse me, Hellyer tied it back up as he tallied his second and third of the game. Donville broke the tie with his second of the game, but was quickly answered by Dylan Watson. Ryan Sheridan scored for PCLC with under a minute left to give them an 8-7 lead going into the fourth.
The start of the final frame saw a bit of a scoring drought. The first goal of the quarter wasn’t until the 6:21 mark courtesy of Phil Caputo on the power play. You’d think that would be a dagger to Las Vegas. Think again. Goals from Jack Hannah and Jackson on the power play tied it right back up. The last three minutes of the game were fast and furious. With under two to play, Will Malcom gave PCLC the lead back. Then the unthinkable. Las Vegas pulled Kells with six seconds left and charged into the PCLC zone. Sean Westley was up top and fired a bullet that bounced over the line AS TIME EXPIRED. To overtime we go, tied up 10-10.
Overtime only took just about three minutes. Las Vegas found themselves with the ball and after a few slick passes, Zack Greer charged in and fired a low bouncer that beat Damude. Your final, 11-10 Desert Dogs.
Players of the game for PCLC were Crawford (3+3), Donville (2+5), and Malcom (1+3). Damude was a wall all game, but faltered late. He made 44 saves on 55 shots for the game. For Las Vegas, Hellyer (3+2), Jackson (2+1), and Hannah (1+3) led the way. Kells was big time coming down the stretch, making 46 saves on 56 shots.
“That’s a big one for us,” said Greer after the game. “Guys just gutted it out and found ways to get it done when we needed to.”
Las Vegas (1-1) looks to build off their first win of the season. They travel back home as they host Saskatchewan (0-2) Friday night at 10pm. PCLC (1-1) has time to shake this one off, as they don’t play until December 22nd at home against Toronto (1-0). Faceoff in that one is 8pm.
