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Join Date: Sep 2006
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Kelusky Sparks Riggers To Huge Win
CALGARY - Tracey Kelusky made a triumphant return to the Calgary Roughnecks' lineup on Saturday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
Kelusky scored twice and set up four others to lead the Roughnecks (4-6) to a 15-12 win over the Portland LumberJax (3-7) in front of 18,737 fans at the 'Dome.
"It feels really good to be back here in this building in front of this crowd," said the Calgary captain, who missed eight games with a concussion before being cleared to play for Saturday's game.
Thousands of fans took advantage of a free ticket promotion put on by the Calgary ownership group to show the type of hard-hitting, high-intensity and fast-moving action that the Roughnecks provide on a game-to-game basis. The crowd gave Kelusky a rousing ovation when he was introduced before the contest.
"There's a couple times when I was on the verge of tears coming here to the Dome," said Kelusky, noting that the other time was when the Roughnecks won the Champion's Cup at home in 2004. "Tonight was one of those cases. You come out, you just hear the fans but more importantly to see the group of guys, the group of men that I'm going to go out and battle with. To me, the fans and the team, you can't top that. That's why we play sports."
With the win, the Roughnecks avenged a 13-9 loss they suffered in Portland Feb. 22 to win the season series 2-1 over their West Division rivals. The Roughnecks also beat the LumberJax 13-6 at home on Jan. 26.
"Now we've got the tie breaker," said Calgary forward Curt Malawsky, who had two goals and two assists in the contest. "It's like they have to get an extra win. The most important thing is that we've got Tracey back and we've got our team back."
Lewis Ratcliff had another great offensive showing with three goals and three assists, while Kaleb Toth had a hat trick. Toth, who has played in all but one game during Calgary's seven-year history in the NLL, now has 201 goals as a Roughneck.
With a two-goal, four-assist performance Scott Ranger also reached a pair of milestones. Ranger broke the 100-point barrier for his NLL career, while he has also set a career high for points (now at 18 goals and 31 assists in 10 games this season) surpassing the 24 goals and 19 assists he recorded last season in 16 games.
Kelly Hall scored once and set up three others, while rookie Mike Carnegie recorded his first-ever National Lacrosse League goal. Nolan Heavenor also scored, while Jeff Shattler chipped in with four assists.
Making his fourth consecutive start, goalie Pat 'Paddy' Campbell stopped 36 of 48 shots to improve his record to 2-3.
Dan Dawson paced the LumberJax attack with a hat trick and two helpers, while Ryan Powell had two goals and four assists. Derek Malawsky matched his older brother Curt's output with two goals and two assists, while Spencer Martin (1g, 3a), Peter Morgan (1g, 2a), Brodie Merrill (1g, 1a), Richard Morgan (1g) and Matt Holman (1g) also hit the scoresheet.
King stopped 21 of the 32 shots he faced before being relieved by Dallas Eliuk who wound up taking the loss after stopping 12 of 16 shots.
After Toth opened the scoring 49 seconds into the game, Kelusky put the Riggers up 2-0 when he buried his first shot of the game behind Portland goalie Matt King.
"To get that one right off the bat felt awesome and it helps with your confidence," Kelusky said.
The Roughnecks led 3-2 after the first quarter before the LumberJax rallied to take a 6-4 lead in the second quarter.
Hall, who played eight games for Portland last season, then cut into the middle and fired a shot between King's legs. Just 15 seconds after Martin put Portland up 7-5 with a power-play goal at 12:51 of the middle frame, Ranger picked the top corner over King's right shoulder to pull the 'Necks within a goal.
Toth then counted his 200th goal as a Roughneck late in the second quarter to tie the affair at 7-7 heading into the half-time break. After faking a shot to cause King to fall backwards, Toth deposited the ball into the net behind the prone Portland netminder.
The 'Necks then outscored the Jax 5-2 in the third quarter to take a 12-9 lead into the final frame. Both teams scored three times in the fourth quarter as the Roughnecks were able to withstand a final push by the LumberJax for the big victory.
Next up, the Riggers host the Colorado Mammoth on Friday night starting at 7:30 p.m. Following a 12-8 loss to the San Jose Stealth on Saturday night both Colorado and San Jose are tied with 5-3 records atop the West Division ahead of Calgary.
"We can't get complacent now," Curt Malawsky said. "Win one, lose two has been our record all year. We've got to turn that around and we look forward to going after the division leaders."
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