NLL Roundup: Westervelt leads Wings past Titans

The Canadian Press

4/5/2009 2:41:12 AM

Even when trailing by six goals, the Calgary Roughnecks never lost their poise.

Led by four goals from captain Tracey Kelusky, Calgary roared back from the early deficit to beat the Rochester Knighthawks 12-9 in National Lacrosse League action Saturday.

Trailing 7-1 and struggling at both ends of the floor, Calgary gained a flicker of life late in the second quarter when a pair of Rochester penalties gave the Roughnecks a two-man advantage.

Calgary's league-leading power play took full advantage - getting goals 24 seconds apart from Kelusky - and suddenly the Pengrowth Saddledome crowd of 10,098 was back in it, as was the home side.

"You have to take advantage of those opportunities, especially when you dig yourselves into a hole like we did," said Kelusky.

Jeff Shattler's first of three goals reduced Rochester's lead to 7-4 at half-time.

"We knew coming in we had to stay out of the box. To get those two penalties and they score twice, that definitely deflates you," said Rochester captain Shawn Williams, who had two goals. "There was still lots of game left but now they have the confidence and we know they're a great team."

In other NLL action Saturday, it was: Minnesota 9 Edmonton 7; Philadelphia 11 New York 7; Buffalo 15 Boston 11; and Portland 13 Colorado 12.

At Calgary, things continued to unravel for the Knighthawks in the third quarter as Calgary outshot them 17-5 and outscored them 5-0 to surge in front.

After Kelusky's fourth goal of the game tied it 7-7 at 6:50, Josh Sanderson's first of two goals at 8:27 put the Roughnecks into the lead for good.

"The great thing about this team was that we never lost our composure or pushed the panic button," Kelusky said.

Kaleb Toth added two goals while Dane Dobbie also scored for Calgary (10-3). Sanderson added six assists for a team-high eight points.

The top-ranked Roughnecks have won five of their last six.

Shawn Evans also had two goals for Rochester (6-7). Dean Hill, Jason Henhawk, Craig Point, Andrew Spack and Jamie Rooney also scored. The Knighthawks loss handed the Buffalo Bandits a post-season berth.

Rochester has lost five of six on the road this season. In a dogfight for a playoff spot in the tight East Division, the Knighthawks have two more games on the road next weekend. Rochester's only road victory this year came last night, a 12-8 win in Denver.

Swarm 9 Rush 7

At St. Paul, Minn., Chad Culp's game winner with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter bolstered the Swarm's playoff chances, while putting Edmonton's post-season hopes in jeopardy.

With the win, Minnesota (6-8) drew even with the idle San Jose Stealth for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. Edmonton (5-9) fell into sole possession of last place in the West with just two regular-season games remaining.

"It feels great, we knew it was going to be a battle and that's exactly what it was," said Minnesota head coach Duane Jacobs. "Both teams put together a solid game and we were able to get some timely goals, it was just a great team win."

Aaron Wilson had two goals to pace Minnesota, with Culp, Sean Pollock, Ryan Sharp, Ryan Ward, Ryan Cousins and Kevin Ross added singles.

Ryan Benesch and Callum Crawford each scored twice for the Rush, while Jamie Floris, Jimmy Quinlan and Mike Hominuck had the other goals.

Wings 11 Titans 7

At New York, Drew Westervelt scored four goals as Philadelphia kept its playoff hopes alive with a win over the Titans.

The victory moved the Wings (6-7) into a tie with the Rochester Knighthawks for fourth place in the East. Philadelphia put the game away with a three-goal second quarter that turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 halftime lead.

Merrick Thomson had three goals and two assists for the Wings, while Geoff Snider added two goals and Athan Iannucci and Kyle Wailes each had singles.

Pat Maddalena, Jordan Hall and Mike McLellan each scored twice in a losing cause for New York (7-6), while Casey Powell had the other Titans goal.

Bandits 15 Blazers 11

At Boston, John Tavares erupted for six goals and three assists as Buffalo clinched a playoff berth with a victory over the Blazers.

Tavares scored five times in the first half to lead the Bandits (9-4) out of an early 5-1 hole and into sole possession of first place in the East Division standings. Buffalo became the first team in the East to secure a post-season berth following Rochester's loss to Calgary.

Mark Steenhuis added four goals and two assists in the win, while Sean Greenhalgh and Mike Accursi each scored twice and Kevin Dostie had a single.

Gary Bining, Brenden Thenhaus and Matt Lyons each had three goals for the Blazers (8-6), while Sean Morris chipped in with a team-high seven points (one goal, six assists).

Lumberjax 13 Mammoth 12

At Portland, Ore., Peter Jacobs scored the game-winning goal 4:09 into overtime to lift the Lumberjax past the Mammoth.

The two teams traded blows in the fourth quarter, with rookie Tim Campeau scoring his third goal of the game five minutes into the frame to give Portland a 12-11 lead.

Colorado's Gavin Prout scored off a Brian Langtry feed to tie the game at 12 with 6:10 remaining in regulation.

Campeau and Brodie Merrill led Portland (7-6) with three goals each, while Derek Malawsky and Richard Morgan added two apiece and rookie goaltender Matt Flindell made 49 saves in the win.

Langtry led Colorado (7-7) with four goals and Prout had three. Curtis Palidwor (21 saves) and Andrew Leyshon (22 saves) split time in goal.