Dane Dobbie Nets Seven as Calgary Rebounds from Colorado Loss
The Calgary Roughnecks (4-6) defeated the Georgia Swarm (7-2) 18-11 in front of 9,780 fans Saturday night in Calgary.
Calgary was coming off an embarrassing 18-9 loss to Colorado the night before, and now had to face a team with the best record in the league, the Georgia Swarm.
It seemed that the Roughnecks forgot about the prior game as they not only jumped out to a quick five goal lead, but also chased starter Mike Poulin from the net. As the first quarter came to a close the Swarm found out what Calgary felt like the night before and were down 7-2.
The second quarter was almost an exact duplicate of the first, only this time Calgary only scored six times. Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson picked up two goals apiece in the quarter, and Brodie MacDonald was relieved by Mike Poulin who originally started the game. Calgary took a 13-3 lead into the half.
Everything Calgary did wrong the night before, they did right in front of the hometown crowd. Georgia, who had a chance to give themselves some more breathing room in the east after Toronto fell in overtime, just couldn’t solve Frankie Scigliano and the Calgary defense.
As the teams came back out onto the floor, the Swarm seemed to have a bit of fire. Georgia would score four times in 1:53 to cut the lead to six at 13-7. It looked as if the Swarm would climb back into the game quickly. With their high-powered offense and their talent, a 10 goal halftime deficit could be made up. But Calgary would stop the run by getting two of the goals back and lead 15-7.
The final quarter would be an exact duplicate of the third. Georgia would open up with four straight goals before the five minute mark and cut the lead in half. That would be as close as the Swarm would get. Calgary scored the final three goals.
Even with a high-powered offense and the scoring talent the Swarm has, a 10 goal deficit is extremely hard to make up in a half of the game.
Georgia still holds a two game lead over the Toronto Rock for first place. With the win, Calgary stays in a tie with Vancouver for third place in the west. Both teams are only two and a half games out.
Lyle Thompson (2G/3A) and Kiel Matisz (3G/1A) led the Swarm offense.
Dane Dobbie (7G/4A), Wes Berg (2G/4A), Curtis Dickson (3G/4A) and Jeff Shattler (1G/5A) led the Riggers offense.
Frank Scigliano stopped 33-44 shots and picked up the huge win for Calgary.
Mike Poulin took the loss stopping 26-40 shots and Brodie MacDonald stopped 11-15 for Georgia.
Calgary will visit Toronto Saturday night at 7 pm. Calgary will be looking to split the season series with the Rock.
Georgia will visit New England for a Sunday matinee game at 1 pm. Georgia has won the first two meetings between the teams.
