From the very beginning of the season, Calgary head coach Curt Malawsky said for this team to be successful they would truly need a “scoring by committee” approach. Saturday night at WestJet Field in Calgary, that’s exactly what the Roughnecks received and it resulted in a convincing 12-5 win over the visiting Panther City Lacrosse Club.
The stat sheet echoed their coach’s prediction with every forward contributing at least two points while Jesse King, Tyler Pace and Tanner Cook led the way collecting six points apiece.
It was a good night all around for the Roughnecks. Their win over PCLC combined with Las Vegas’s loss to San Diego means the ‘Necks will host a home playoff game. Although there are still three weeks left in the season, Saturday night’s game may have been a first-round playoff preview between these two clubs. The Roughnecks will finish in at least second place.
On “Superhero Night” at the ‘Dome, Calgary Captain Jesse King, (and Robin to Tyler Pace’s Batman), got the scoring started with his 35th goal of the season. Phil Caputo responded a few minutes later with a sneaky bouncer that found the top corner to tie the game at 1-1. Unfortunately for Panther City, that would be the last time they’d be on even ground with the Roughnecks. Kyle Waters’ goal at 11:27 of the first quarter marked the beginning of a five-goal run for the home team resulting in a 6-2 halftime lead.
Panther City opened the second half with a couple of goals from Tony Malcom and Cam Wengreniuk to draw within two. Calgary weathered the storm and blasted back with six of the next seven goals. Staked to a seven-goal lead and backstopped by Christian Del Bianco, the Roughnecks’ defense locked down PCLC and held them to five goals on just 31 shots. In fact, this was the ninth time this season where the defense has surrendered under 10 goals – a great recipe for success. The dynamic duo of Zach Currier and Eli Salama accounted for 19 loose balls and six caused turnovers.
While not the showing Panther City wanted, you know that coach Tracey Kelusky will have his young and talented roster ready when these two teams meet again in the season finale in Fort Worth. It should be noted that PCLC was without the services of Callum Crawford as he was out with a lower-body injury. Phil Caputo was the leading scorer with two goals and an assist, while Jonathan Donville, Mathieu Gautier and Will Malcom each had two points.
Only two games remain in the regular season. This week, PCLC (9-7) will travel to Vancouver (4-12) and Calgary (11-5) will host Las Vegas (5-10) in the TSN Game of the Week.
