On paper, the Panther City Lacrosse Club was listed as the underdogs for Saturday night’s matchup against the Calgary Roughnecks, but as the old adage goes, that’s why they play the game. A workmanlike effort netted the expansion PCLC a well-deserved 14-11 road victory and quietly extended their win streak to four in a row. Panther City now sits fourth in the Western Conference and within striking distance of a coveted playoff spot.
After going down early, PCLC dominated the second and third quarter outscoring the Riggers 9-2. A late push by the Roughnecks wasn’t enough and Panther City cruised to the finish line. The stat line perfectly reflected the “scoring by committee” roster assembled by general manager Bob Hamley. Will Malcom, Dean Fairall and Nathan Grenon all had hat tricks. Rookie standout Patrick Dodds scored once and added seven assists while Phil Caputo scored twice and Cam Milligan assisted on four goals.
Not only did PCLC extract a measure of revenge for a home loss in Week 12 to the Riggers, but Liam Byrnes also evened the score in the unusual goals category. Back on February 20th, Tyler Burton heaved the ball the length of the field scoring into an open cage with one second left in the second quarter. On Saturday night, Byrnes accomplished the same feat also with one second left in the second giving his team a 9-6 lead and sapping any momentum that might have been generated with a last-second Roughneck goal.
Fresh off a win against the Rush just two days prior, the Roughnecks looked poised to sweep a Week 16 doubleheader and make their own playoff push. However, similar to other losses, Calgary was plagued with long goalless stretches while giving up large runs to their opponent.
“We had too many guys taking shifts off and making stupid plays and it shows on the scoreboard. We sat at six goals for, I don’t even know how long, felt like probably close to two quarters. That’s unacceptable and something we need to figure out,” said Roughnecks’ captain Curtis Dickson after the game.
It was Dickson that paced the Roughnecks’ attack with three goals and three assists. Tyler Pace chipped in with two goals and four assists. Goaltender Christian Del Bianco made 28 saves on 41 shots. Zach Currier scooped six loose balls to give him a league leading 145.
Both teams will face off against Western Division foes in Week 17 of the NLL season. Panther City (5-8) returns to Fort Worth for a game against the Colorado Mammoth (7-5). Meanwhile, Calgary (4-7) is on the road to take on the Saskatchewan Rush (4-9).
