Calgary hand Stealth rare home loss
Yvonne Pingue / Daily Staff
Stealth defenseman Brenan Day cradles the ball as Roughneck Scott Forbes looks for a hit during the lacrosse match-up San Jose Stealth vers
Stealth defenseman Brenan Day cradles the ball as Roughneck Scott Forbes looks for a hit during the lacrosse match-up San Jose Stealth vers
Diego Abeloos
Daily Staff Writer
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The loss dropped the Stealth into third place in the Western Conference while moving Calgary into second place with a half-game lead.
"We made a lot of errors of omission, especially on (defense)," said Stealth head coach Johnny Mouradian after the game. "Their shots were a lot easier than our shots were. That's probably the worst five-on-five game our defense played."
San Jose managed to tie the score at 13 with 11 minutes, 51 seconds to go in the fourth quarter as Mike Regan, who scored four goals in the game, shot around goalie Curtis Palidwor and into the net while falling to the ground.
"I thought we were a step behind, it seemed for the most part, especially in the first half, and we just couldn't get back on track," Mouradian said. "We tied it at the end there. We'd score one, and they'd score a couple. We were always playing catch-up, it seemed."
Calgary stormed back with a two-on-one breakaway goal by Tyson Leies with 10:22 left and a Jason Wulder goal with a shade less than nine minutes to go.
Another Regan goal with 2:37 to go put San Jose within one, but with just 1:05 to go, Mouradian pulled Miller to put an extra forward on offense, which Calgary exploited for two more goals within 40 seconds, both on turnovers.
"We had to pull the goalie there," Mouradian said. "We thought we had a chance to tie it up again and, in those one-goal games, you've got to put the ball in the net when you get the opportunities."
San Jose went up 4-3 briefly in the second quarter on a goal by forward Gary Rosyski with 9:34 to go.
The lead, however, was the last one that San Jose would hold as the Roughnecks went on a 4-0 scoring run in less than two minutes, capped by a Wulder goal with 6:44 left that forced Mouradian to replace goalie Rob Blasdell with Brandon Miller.
"It felt like every time we worked hard and came back in the game, they would answer quickly and deflate us pretty quickly," Regan said.
San Jose came back within two goals just seven seconds after the goalie change as a shot by Matt Ogelsby hit the crossbar of the goal and was rebounded by Rosyski, who then shot the ball into the net for his second goal of the game.
San Jose added another goal with just over three minutes left as Regan put the ball in the net after eluding and weaving through a couple of defenders.
Calgary responded with three more goals to close out the first half, capped by a Ted Dowling goal with one second left on the clock. Prior to the goal, San Jose pulled Miller off the field and put in an extra offensive player for a six-to-five matchup to close out the half.
The game also featured a more physical style of play than the Stealth's last game against the Arizona Sting on Feb. 28.
"Every team has their own style of play and every officiating crew has their own style," Regan said. "This (crew) let a lot go and Calgary took advantage of it, maybe a little bit more than we did."
San Jose had nine penalties for 18 penalty minutes throughout the game, including a two-minute penalty by Chris White for roughing and four minutes in penalties by Rosyski for slashing and roughing.
"It was a rough game, but I've got to be a physical presence out there and I just took a few dumb penalties tonight," White said. "I just wasn't using my head, and I've got to be a lot smarter and the team does too. We were in the (penalty) box quite a bit."
The Stealth will play their next game on March 20 against the Vancouver Ravens at the HP Pavilion.
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