Facing a critical double-header weekend with their post-season hopes largely hanging in the balance, the Calgary Roughnecks got the start they needed and defeated the Saskatchewan Rush 14-12.
Going into a rare Thursday night game (which coincided with St. Patrick’s Day), head coach Curt Malawsky held a morning video session and challenged his Roughneck players to be better.
“We had some honest conversations in there. It’s not easy to do the right thing all the time, especially when it’s tough and things kind of stray to the side to the left and right. Our guys committed to doing what they said in the morning and that’s the result they get.”
One of the Riggers that rose to the challenge was lefty forward Zach Herreweyers. Herreweyers posted his first career hat trick which included the game-winning goal and third-star honours. With the November departure of Ryan Martel, the coaching staff opened the door for the 6’0” foot 210 pounder from Strathroy, Ontario.
“It’s taken a long time to climb over the two-goals. I’ve done it a couple of times and never been able to get the third one. It’s pretty exciting for me personally and it was actually a big goal too,” said Herreweyers after the game. “We’re excited for this one, this is a big one. We knew this was a tipping point of the second half of our season.”
Both Saskatchewan and Calgary let Tuesday’s NLL trade deadline pass without making any moves, (save one for Calgary), making it clear that both teams were intent on riding with the guys in the dressing room. Not surprisingly, this must-win game was a tightly contested, gritty affair. At no point did either team lead by more than two goals during the entire game. Entering the fourth quarter, Saskatchewan held a slim 11-10 lead, but it was Calgary that was finally able to shake their 4th quarter woes and score four times to Sask’s single goal.
A surprising addition to the Calgary lineup was their former third round pick from 2015, Kellen LeClair. LeClair had played the 2016 season for the Roughies before suddenly having to retire due to a heart condition. The tall, rugged defensemen joined his brother Liam on Calgary’s back end to form yet another Roughneck brother-brother defensive duo (the Carnegies and Harnetts come to mind).
When asked about adding LCclair back to the team, Coach Malawsky had some emotional thoughts.
“It puts life into perspective. You look at the game of lacrosse and we’re so enthralled in it and it’s in our fabric. Then you look at a guy that gets a second chance at life really, like to be able to train and be out there with his brother. He’s one of the nicest guys in the world. They’re going out there for the second half and I just seen 23 and 15 walk together and being a father it was just a pretty special thing. We’re very happy to have him here and we love him and he’s going to play himself into where he was a couple of years ago.”
The Rush got a standout performance from Robert Church who netted four goals and added four assists. Austin Murphy chipped in with a hat trick and an assist while Eric Penney stopped 32 of 46 shots. As a unit, the Saskatchewan defense generated a whopping 20 turnovers.
For the Roughnecks, Zach Currier continued his sensational MVP calibre season. Every time he stepped on the floor, Currier was a force to be reckoned with. By the end of the game, Currier had amassed a monster stat line: 16 loosies, a goal, an assist, 3 CTO’s and 3 faceoff wins.
Calgary (4-6) gets right back on the floor for the back half of their doubleheader with a matchup against Panther City Lacrosse Club (4-8) on Saturday. Saskatchewan (3-9) will return home and prepare for the rematch against Calgary on March 26th.
