CALGARY (CP) - After a rocky start, the Calgary Roughnecks are looking more and more like the team that won last year's National Lacrosse League Champions Cup.
Their latest win came Friday night as Kaleb Toth scored four goals to lead Calgary in an 18-16 victory over the rival Colorado Mammoth. The Roughnecks have reeled off four straight victories after an 0-2 start to take over first place in the West Division.
''We had a really good players meeting the other day,'' said Toth. ''One of the things we said we needed to do was get more offence off our transition and that happened tonight.''
Lewis Ratcliff with three, Andrew Biers, Jason Wulder, Andrew McBride, and Jesse Phillips with two each, and Tracey Kelusky, Kyle Goundrey, Travis Gillespie with singles also scored for Calgary.
Brandishing a potent transition game, Calgary jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first quarter and had built up its advantage to seven goals before five straight goals from Colorado late in the game made it close in the end.
Rather than carrying the ball up the floor and then stopping to wait for the rest of the offensive players to come onto the floor as the transitional players normally do, Phillips, McBride and Biers often kept running instead, taking the ball hard to the net.
''Lacrosse is a game of momentum and those transition goals are huge goals that give teams momentum,'' said Toth.
Dan Stroup had four goals to lead Colorado (2-3) while Gavin Prout had three. Pat Coyle, Del Halladay, Josh Sims, Brian Langtry, Scott Stapleford, Chris Panos, Jay Jalbert, Dave Stilley, and Gary Gait had one each.
''Every time we started coming back, they got that transition goal catching us on a change and we can't let that happen,'' said Stroup. ''Especially when those happen right after you get a goal, it really takes the wind out of your sails.''
One of these instances was late in the third quarter after goals from Langtry, Coyle and Stroup 31 seconds apart had whittled a 15-8 deficit down to 15-11. Shortly after the Stroup goal, Phillips broke down the field alone and connected shorthanded. Toth's fourth, on a power play, made it 17-11 and after Ratcliff scored early in the third, the lead was back to seven goals again.
Tied 2-2, the Roughnecks scored four unanswered goals to open up a 6-2 lead and chase starting Mammoth goaltender Gee Nash - who left after making just two saves on eight shots.
Newly acquired goaltender John McLellan took over but the 22-year-old from Toronto had a shaky NLL debut, giving up five goals on 14 shots before Mammoth coach Jamie Batty put Nash back in again.
Calgary welcomed back to the lineup last year's rookie of the year and co-defensive player of the year Taylor Wray, who made his debut after missing the season's first five games with a broken ankle.
''Taylor Wray is the best defenceman in the league in my opinion, and he not only brings a lot of skill and defensive ability, but he's a great leader too,'' Toth said. ''He's not a big talker, but instead a guy that leads by example and he really motivates us.''
However, the Roughnecks lost veteran defenceman Andy Ogilvie, who had to be helped off the floor after hurting his knee in the second quarter when teammate Andrew McBride accidentally rolled over top of it after a collision with a Colorado player.
There was no injury update after the game although there was concern among players and the coaching staff that it could be serious. He did not put any weight on it while he was being helped off.
Notes: After going with the identical line-up for the previous three games, Calgary coach Chris Hall made two changes, both on defence. Inserted into the line-up along with Wray was Ryan McNish. They took the place of John Olson and Devan Wray, the latter being placed on injured reserve prior to the game. ... With just one goal, Gait had a quiet night in his last regular season appearance in Calgary. The 37-year-old from Victoria, the NLL's all-time leading scorer, is retiring at the end of the season.